My 2021 Resolutions: Living Better with Psoriatic Arthritis

I must confess that I am not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. The reason is that I, like most people, are guilty of setting unrealistic expectations or unattainable goals.

With that said, I still make them, but with the mindset that they are things I need to work on rather than perfect. In the past, the only way I would look forward to a new year is I made resolutions. An example would be wanting to lose weight. Instead of coming up with a realistic goal, I would set a lifelong goal.

Setting a resolution to live better

Another way I set myself up for failure was by failing to look back on why and how I gained the weight. With that said, I recently took a journey back in time and examined some of my behaviors.

Then I created a plan to change those behaviors one step at a time. I'm happy to share 2021 New Year's resolutions.

Changing my diet

2020 was not my best year for making wise food choices. Frustrated with health issues, fear of COVID, and anger over not having access to my typical physical therapy, I gave up and began eating my feelings.

It might not have been too bad had I only ate for one emotion, but NO, I indulged them all My careless eating led to angering my non-alcoholic fatty liver and worsening my bowel blockage.

What’s this have to do with psoriatic arthritis? The additional pain and distress from other issues triggered more psoriatic arthritis flares than I had experienced in the two years prior.

After just a few weeks of slowly removing some of the offending foods, I have already begun experiencing some relief. My goal is to continue learning what foods my body can and cannot have.

Move my body

You may remember that I was a woman on the go during 2017 and 2018. Broken ribs slowed me down in 2019 and 2020 has been no better. One reason I have become so sedentary is that I gave up.

Instead of being patient with my body, I expected to go back to living full speed ahead after my ribs healed. That may be a realistic expectation for a healthy person, but it is not the case with multiple chronic illnesses.

My 2021 goal is to move my body as much as it will allow without throwing into a flare or injuring myself. Part two of that goal is to accept that amount no matter how big or small.

The final part of this resolution is to not do more than my body is ready for after a flare or injury.

Speak up and ask for help

One would think that for living with psoriatic arthritis for as long as I have (diagnosed in 2003), I would have asking for help down pat. But I don’t!

To this day I still struggle with asking for help. It could be as simple as asking my husband to reach a glass on the top shelf or feeling obligated to help decorate the Christmas tree. Looking back on the past two years, I see where my pride and stubbornness were the cause of some unnecessary pain.

Throughout 2021, I plan to keep track of the times I should have asked for help but failed to do so. Then when 2022 comes around, I will have an idea of how much improvement was made or is left to make.

How do you plan to make life with psoriatic arthritis better in 2021?