It’s that time of year again, folks – we renew our gym membership, sign up to a series of boot camp sessions and buy the coolest active wear that we plan to sweat out in every day. But haven’t we been here before?

Then there’s the trending juicing fast, the latest detox herbal kit or some celebrity diet – all guaranteed to make us look and feel our very best. Meanwhile we must deprive ourselves, become unsociable and probably feel miserable with it! Haven’t we been here before also?

If the above investments in our health work so well, then why are we in the same situation now as last year? Having spent a small fortune on fitness and detox regimes, we probably feel no better, weigh no less and are not any healthier. We’re back where we started – a 360-degree circle in 365 days!

In fact, many of us do this every year of our adult lives. Wouldn’t it be nice, for a change, to put our New Year’s efforts into spending more time with our family, traveling, or taking up a new hobby? What a relief it would be to NOT have to invest time and money in the latest fitness craze or detox, which we know by now, from experience, is likely to be short-lived.

What are these New Year health resolutions about anyway? Making up for our vices during the past year … our overindulgences in sugars, processed and junk food, alcohol and more, resulting in a toxic overload on our bodies?

Here’s a novel thought – why don’t we work on being healthy throughout the year, allowing ourselves some treats in moderation. This way, we enjoy the little pleasures in life, but without going overboard and deteriorating our health.

Easier said than done, perhaps, but if we truly understood how our body is taxed as a result of overindulging, then detoxing, and then overindulging again, surely we would be motivated to calm it all down a little and simply treat ourselves well, all of the time.

This includes occasionally satisfying our sweet tooth, preferably with healthier versions of sweetness, enjoying some alcohol in moderation and learning about the short and long-term benefits of being healthy so that we are motivated to eat and exercise well, all year round.

For the cost of a three-day juice fast or one month’s gym membership that you may never use, invest in learning about the many small changes you can make in your daily health routine so that the same old New Year’s resolutions become a thing of the past.

_{Edited by Nedda Chaplin}

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