Do You Need Resolution Rehab?

If your good intentions are in tatters, here’s how to make positive changes that last

Sticking to New Year’s resolutions is never simple. Every January we promise ourselves the same things – get fit, lose weight, save money, drink less – but by February, it seems we’re always back to our gym-dodging, wine-swilling, Netflix-watching ways.

A survey by fitness app Strava found that we are most likely to abandon our good intentions just a couple of weeks into the new year. But if you really want to make a change now that we’re halfway through the year, yet can’t seem to make it stick, you need our expert-led resolution rehab...

Weigh to go

THE RESOLUTION You hit the diet hard in the new year, but the scales barely budged. You lost faith in yourself and rediscovered your old friend the biscuit tin.

THE REHAB The way most of us try to lose weight – following a diet, then judging our success by regular weigh-ins – is doomed to fail, says Jane Ogden, a professor of health psychology and author of The Psychology of Dieting. While your ultimate aim might be to get back into those jeans or prevent future health issues like cardiovascular disease or diabetes, such long-term targets won’t keep you motivated. “Cake right now always wins over avoiding a heart attack in the future,” Jane explains. “Instead, focus on making specific, achievable changes in the here and now.”

Jane suggests writing a list of small aims, such as having wholemeal bread instead of white, eating an extra portion of vegetables and sticking to three meals a day without snacks.