Nutritionist Kaisa Kopliste: Why New Year’s food resolutions so often fail — and why it’s not about willpower
January brings, for many people, a desire to start fresh. Plans form around eating more healthily, moving more, and shedding the extra weight that's crept on. But within just a few weeks, the initial momentum often fizzles out. The usual conclusion is that discipline or willpower ran out. According to Meliva nutritionist Kaisa Kopliste, though, that conclusion is misleading.
“We know, both from our own experience and from the statistics, that resolutions like this usually don’t work. And yet, year after year, many people step onto the same rake again, thinking that if they just try harder this time, it’ll finally work. In reality, it was never about effort or willpower,” she says.
The resolution itself already feels good
Kopliste explains that simply thinking about the future and imagining a fresh start affects our brain chemistry.
“Making plans for the future doesn’t require any real effort, but the prospect or hope of a new beginning stimulates the brain’s dopamine system. We’re all driven towards a sense of satisfaction, yet evolution has wired us to avoid effort whenever possible, unless it’s tied to an immediate reward. Changing eating habits or exercising to lose weight is simply too long a game for that connection to form right away,” Kopliste explains.
That’s why making the resolution itself can offer the brain a kind of quick fix. “A resolution is a good shortcut. You don’t have to actually put in the effort, but the imagined outcome briefly creates the feeling that you’ve already arrived. It triggers a dopamine response in the brain. Unfortunately, that mental image doesn’t actually deliver the expected result, and motivation can quite quickly turn into frustration,” she says.
Often, the issue is the wrong strategy rather than too little effort. Kopliste offers a comparison many people will recognise.
“We’ve all seen a bird trapped indoors, trying to reach its goal — the blue sky — and repeatedly hitting the glass. It tries again and again. You can’t say the bird isn’t trying, or that it lacks willpower. It’s putting in enormous effort — but its chosen strategy, flying straight ahead as fast as possible, simply doesn’t work. That leads to exhaustion and giving up,” Kopliste illustrates.
According to her, the same thing often happens with New Year’s resolutions. “People set unreachable goals and then try to force their way toward them with sheer effort. And when that doesn’t work, the conclusion is that they need to try even harder — fly even faster into the glass. What’s actually needed is a completely different approach,” she explains.
Life’s variability isn’t a slip-up — it’s normal
Discussions about nutrition often frame any deviation as “falling off track.” Kopliste sees this as a mindset rooted in diet culture.
“In my view, healthy eating behaviour is one where the whole concept of ‘falling off track’ doesn’t really exist. Eating differently on different days or during different periods is simply part of life. Our food choices are far less within our control than we tend to assume — there are so many factors at play,” Kopliste explains.
Routine can be helpful, but disruptions to it are inevitable. “Trips, celebrations, stressful periods, hormonal changes — all of that is a natural part of life, not some kind of deviation. It would be absurd to expect eating habits to stay exactly the same during those times as during a calm, everyday routine. The problem arises when we try to maintain the illusion of total control in situations where the rest of life has changed,” the nutritionist says.
Kopliste stresses that lasting change can’t be built on motivation alone. “Motivation is a feeling. Feelings come and go. Willpower is like a muscle — it tires with use. You can’t rely on it for long. In my view, there’s actually very little overlap between nutrition and willpower,” she explains.
She adds that before setting big goals, it’s worth asking whether they’re even necessary.
“We’re always trying to make something better, but sometimes we just need to recognise that things are already good enough. Nothing will ever be perfect anyway, and if something is working reasonably well, it might not be wise to keep poking at it,” she says.
Is the best New Year’s resolution to give up on resolutions altogether?
Kopliste doesn’t see the turn of the calendar year as a meaningful moment for changing habits.
“You don’t need to look at a calendar to find the right time to change habits. These kinds of changes should be made thoughtfully, not by force or on the back of a momentary dopamine hit,” Kopliste explains.
Her advice is simple:
“Basically, I’d suggest giving up on nutrition-related New Year’s resolutions altogether. It’s much wiser to ask what small change would actually be achievable in your life right now, and then start moving forward calmly from there,” the Meliva nutritionist sums up.
