Christmas has finally whistled past us in a flurry of twinkling lights, the Pogues and mince pies, leaving a trail of ambitious New Year’s resolutions in its wake. A considerable number of these are positive changes related to health, fitness and diet, which is really great news. However, as the third week of the year rolls around, some are watching their motivation and resolve crumbling with the leftover Christmas cake. Getting intimate with the practical details of New Years Resolutions often proves to be less gratifying than the process of making them, and consequently this reality can prove to be a major hurdle in sticking to your plans.

 

If this applies to you, I would implore you not to defer to your previous modus operandi just yet. If you have chosen to modify your diet, this article speaks particularly to you. Over my next few articles, I will be talking about how we can make good decisions with regards to what, when and how much we eat, and how to ensure that we abide by those decisions. Being successful at achieving your goal doesn’t need to constitute a dramatic overhaul of you as an individual. Actually, it requires intelligent, often small changes, some of which can be challenging but which are also surprisingly fruitful.

 

When it comes to food, here in the UK we are highly fortunate in that we have pretty much complete jurisdiction in terms of what, when and how much we eat. Global trade allows us to sample delights from across the world and means you can eat strawberries all year round, and the prevalence of packaged snack food means you can pretty much eat at any time of the day or night. There is no longer a social contract binding you to the table for your meals, so you can even eat your lunch as you stroll along the street.

 

This situation, unsurprisingly, does appear to have a dark side. More and more individuals are finding they have a relationship with food which extends beyond the enjoyment of how it tastes and its role in providing nutrition for a healthy mind and body.  As a relationship, it manifests itself as unnecessary eating; that is to say, an urge to eat outside of meal times which is not driven by the sensation of hunger. Of course, there are other reasons for this: popcorn at the cinema and the steady stream of mince pies at christmas time don’t necessarily fall into this category. For the most part, however, we know what constitutes unnecessary eating and we know when we are doing it.

 

To bastardise the words of Spiderman’s auntie (uncle?!): with great power comes great responsibility. When it comes to food, Western society has bestowed upon us the power to make decisions; to choose. A condition of this circumstance, therefore, is the responsibility to make good decisions, and to ensure we act upon these decisions.

 

Making a good decision is fairly straightforward. A classic, for example, is the old “next year I will lose ten pounds” decision. Hands up how many of you made that or a similar decision this time last year. Keep your hands in the air if you stuck to that decision and reflected the decision in your behaviour. See what I mean? As it turns out, acting on decisions, however brilliant they may be, is a different story entirely.

 

In the immediate term, my advice is this: be clear on exactly what it is you hope to achieve this year. Vague weight loss ambitions and random “round numbers” for your goals cannot provide you with either a sound target or a rewarding finishing line. Over the next few weeks, reflect on the decisions you have made, think about the value they actually hold, and, above all, DON’T GIVE UP!

 

Lauren Hull

Exercise Specialist

Better Body Group, Sevenoaks