The season of eating and drinking to excess is over. Perhaps you’ve made a resolution to be heathier. You may even think your waistband is a bit too tight. For many, the start of a new year signals a more positive mindset to become healthier and fitter.

But good intentions often fall by the wayside come February. Susie Ramroop, transformational mindset coach explains why that might be: “It is often because we are being over ambitious. We want to go from couch potato to super active daily sports person overnight… and it simply isn’t realistic. Doing this leads to physical injury and mental injury when our inner critic kicks in to berate us for not doing what we said we would.”

Instead, she advises you start small. “One way to do this is to reinstate something you already know you can do, and start gently, not from where you left off! Be consistent and give yourself 30 days to do the same thing every day. Schedule it in your diary with an achievable 15 minutes per day. Making a commitment that is 100 per cent doable means that you are more likely to honour it, and will be proud of yourself when you do.”

“Instead of leading you to fail, these steps will give you the chance to over deliver. Begin a new soundtrack in your head that sounds like ‘you CAN do it’, rather than provide fodder for, ‘you haven’t done it again’.”

2019: the year of positivity

Says Lara Milward, award-winning health and fitness coach and co-founder of Blitz Fitness: “Change your language. Don’t make it about what you can’t eat or what you can’t do – make it about what you love doing and what food is nourishing. So you might say, ‘I love dancing and I choose to eat more vegetables because I am investing in my future health and happiness’.” Also benefit from the power of the pack. “Health behaviours are contagious, according to Harvard Medical school; find a workout buddy or a group you can join; it’s much easier to find motivation with others. And get outside. Fresh air and nature have beneficial effects on mental and physical well-being.”

“Fresh air and nature have beneficial effects on mental and physical well-being.”

Healthy holidays

Spa weekends are all well and good but, according to Health and Fitness Travel, 2019’s trends include wellness holidays that focus on everything from ‘sugar detox’ and ‘silence’ to preventative wellness retreats that remove you from stimulus-inducing environments in order to kickstart healthy regimes, and triathlon holidays

Sleep optimisation

When it comes to health, sleep is often pushed aside while focus moves to nutrition and exercise. Sleeping is vital for the body to restore itself and rebuild metabolic function. Sleep deprivation is linked to obesity and serious health conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease. Sleep experts can coach their clients to get a good night’s rest, however, there are many things you can do to help yourself, such as not using any devices a few hours before bed and going to bed at the same time every night.

Rowing is the new spin

Did you know that 85 per cent of the body’s muscles across nine of the largest muscle groups are used when rowing – so this is a surefire way to really get your heart pumping and fitness levels up, all the while being high intensity but low impact. Although spin classes are still extremely popular, there are now rowing studios where you can row in a group to music popping up all over London and coming to a gym near you!