Balancing act

If ever there was a time for new resolutions, the year after a pandemic and a personal crisis would be it, says Sam Woulidge. Cue yoga and a deliciously satisfying lentil salad

- Sam Woulidge

January. New beginnings. Yes, again. A few years ago I said that I would not end a year being heavier than I was the year before. Obviously I had no intention of withering away year by year. As if. But it was my way of keeping myself on track so that I could keep a stable weight.

2020 delivered not only a pandemic but also a family crisis, a personal crisis and menopause. So, of course, I turned to food, my most familiar comfort. My friend and my foe. And I ended off the year a lot heavier that I was the year before. In short, 2020 really kicked my fat ass.

There has to be another way, I told myself. A way free of denial and shame. A way of eating food that nurtures me, as well as food that I believe will fill an emptiness that has nothing to do with being lucky enough to have been matched in this lifetime with a very likable husband and an enormously loveable son.