January food goals

January tends to do odd things to our eating (and drinking) habits.

There’s Ginuary and Veganuary to contend with. Dry January if you fancy it (it’s a bit at odds with Ginuary though).

Even if you don’t subscribe to any official awareness ‘months’ or ‘weeks’ likelihood is you may have made a New Year’s Resolution. There’s something about January which makes you feel like you should be making a dramatic change and looking at a fresh start. Given the over indulgences of the Christmas period those changes often seem to link to food and drink, as we know we can’t carry on in the manner to which we’ve become accustomed. Apparently chocolate and a mince pie for breakfast is not a balanced meal, and nor is it socially acceptable to wash it down with a Bucks Fizz outside of Christmas week. Bah humbug.

According to a poll a couple of years ago, a third of resolutions made were to lose weight and a third were to eat more healthily. But sometimes the mind is more willing than the body. It can be a shock to the system going from 2000 calories by mid-morning to 1200 all day, and from the most exercise you get being a leisurely walk to the fridge to trying to hit the gym five times a week.

We’ve already passed what was dubbed Quitter’s Day – 11^th January (the second Friday in January)– which does seem a very short length of time! Less than one in 10 actually count themselves as having achieved their New Year’s Resolution, which leaves more than nine out of 10 of us feeling a bit of a failure.

The key to making it a success? Well most experts seem to say making sure your goals are manageable and not too generic/huge, having an action plan and taking baby steps to begin with, making it fun (as much as you can) and being kind to yourself if you slip up. Apparently, it takes 66 days to break a habit – so any bad habits formed over Christmas are going to take well into March to reset.

So, maybe you’ve set yourself a resolution to eat better, to try new foods, to give vegan cooking more of a go – whatever it might be, we’re here to help. As well as lots of tasty treats (everything in moderation!) we also have tonnes of fantastic ideas for cooking, for zinging up a salad or some veg, for healthy snacking – as well as some amazing soft drink and zero alcohol ‘booze’ to give you choices to help you achieve your goals.

Whatever your January food goals, it’s National Croissant Day on 30^th. Sure that’s something we can all get on board with! Pass the jam will you?