Ah, January…

For far too long, I started each new year by diving into whichever diet promised to shift those festive pounds fastest.

One year it had something to do with lots of grilled tomatoes and the odd boiled egg (lasted 4 days); another year it was Slim Fast (lasted a few weeks, spent a fortune, felt horrific, missed real food); way back in Jan ’98 it was satsumas, madeleines and Nesquik (a low point – ditched this after fainting, silly goose); a different year it was Joe Wicks’ 90 Day Plan (lasted 0 days – spent ages looking at the before/after photos, felt worse, had some cake, felt even worse etc etc).

And not forgetting the juices, cleanses, detoxes, fibre pills to make me feel fuller (allegedly)….. all an absolute waste of time, money and energy.

Now, this year, rather than being filled with self-loathing at my lack of December discipline when faced with a packet of mince pies or bag of roasted peanuts and being unkind to myself about how my waistbands are a tiny bit tighter, I am totally owning that I have been fortunate enough to have had a wonderful Christmas filled with love, family and great food.

Having a lovely time doesn’t now need to be punished, or be “balanced out” by restriction, denial and misery.

All that’s happening for me this January is going back to what happens the other 11 months of the year – great food that makes me feel fab, plus the odd apple crumble, Wispa, fish & chips or whatever else I fancy once in a while.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I know what it’s like to give yourself a hard time, and also how much nicer it is not to.

Happy New Year, everyone!