In November last year I decided to turn to a plant-based diet. This would be the second time I removed animal products from my diet – the first was a 5 year period between the ages of 17-23. Aged 23, I was living in Milan, and had spent two years in Italy struggling to be given anything other than a side of vegetables as a main when eating out! One Sunday, the smell of bacon just got me more than usual... and I was a meat eater again. Looking back, it’s interesting how even the terminology has changed in that time. When I first became a vegetarian 20 odd years ago, the phrase ‘plant-based’ hadn’t entered people’s vocabulary. Today, I rarely hear the term vegetarian – it’s either vegan or plant-based. I’d always known I would one day return to a vegetarian diet. And last November was the moment for me. There was no catalyst – just a conscious choice. Choosing to change your diet The reason to eliminate animal-products from a diet is very much personal. For some, it’s ethical and principles of not eating sentient beings (my primary reason). For others, it’s environmental and for some like my parents, faith-based. And the more you ask people; you discover there’s a plethora of other reasons too. Whatever your reason may be to stop eating animal products or animal by-products, it helps to remember you don’t have to justify it to others. 20 years ago, I was constantly challenged to ‘stop being fussy and just eat meat’. Much like when I was a smoker and was constantly told to ‘just stop’. There’s definitely an element of willpower when it comes to dietary change as there is with giving up smoking – and I’d argue addiction. Having an awareness of these before making any changes helps. So I set out with a mindset of being ready for days where I’d be ‘transitioning’. A few burgers were had. Oh and a bacon sandwich following a festive-period hangover in December! Ditch the labels and throw away the rule book

Research shows that about 60% if us make new years resolutions. And a month later, only 1 in 4 of us is sticking to them. Only 8% of people who make new years resolutions actually accomplish them. So why is that? Take a look around you – there’s the mate doing dry January who went to more Christmas parties than the Beatles had Christmas number ones. There’s Red January – doing some form of exercise every day in January – all for a good cause. And of course, Veganuary – giving up eating animal products for the first month of the year. We all have done challenges or made resolutions at the onset of a new juncture. Inevitably, we do these challenges or make these resolutions, in the hope to do this for longer than a month. We hope this month will kick-start a fresh approach to wellbeing. And we bank on not being in this place next year (regretting how much drink, poor food or lack of exercise we’ve had during the previous year). Resolutions and month-long challenges don’t work for the majority for a few simple reasons: 1. Research shows writing down goals and aims provides an increased chance of achieving goals compared to verbal intentions 2. The new year-new me approach of heading head first into restrictions has a negative effect on commitment and outcome – restriction mentality doesn’t work 3. When we’re part of a national campaign and momentum and it ends, we lose our accountability and motivation 4. Inevitably many resolutions are about restriction and avoidance rather than achievement and behaviour change ‘stop smoking’ rather than ‘improve my asthma/cardio fitness’ 5. Our minds are set for fixed terms – the first month of the new year Add to this, our inner dialogue which berates us for 'failing' on a particular day, which speaks unkindly to ourselves. Do your respond to kindness or cruelty from others? So why would we think unkindness to ourselves is going to get results? The writer James Clear, touches on another critical point: “If two people have the same goal, you nothing about the similarity of their results. But if two people have the same daily habits, you can infer quite a bit about the similarity of their results. Your results are largely a by-product of your habits.” In essence, it’s not one month of drinking more alcohol than is advisable, nor a stream of indulgent weekends which have caused poor physical or mental wellbeing. Its our daily habits over the course of 365 days. Avoiding the all or nothing noise So here’s our tips to avoiding starting yet another December of all and another January of nothing - the all or nothing mindset: 1. Go beyond the first month and write down your wellbeing goals as intentions for the first 3, 6 months and year 2. Look at your intentions and see how you can make them measurable 3. You have your intentions, now identify what will help you achieve them – actions, learning, behaviours 4. Don’t enter into a restrictive mindset – ‘eat a more plant-based diet’ not ‘stop having meat’ 5. Revisit your goals and identify your WHY. Why do you want to achieve these goals – without a why you understand, you’re less likely to achieve your goal 6. Turn your commitment into actions in your diary – exercise, mental wellbeing practice, healthy food prep, time with loved ones, time alone 7. A final one, we champion the practice of journaling. Why not head to your local stationery shop and buy yourself a handsome notebook. Keep it by your bedside and each evening, note 3 things your grateful for each night that may have happened that day. And use it to note your progress and commitment to your goals. Intent on a year of kindness In short, there’s a lot of money behind the January new-year, new-me campaigning. It can be a lucrative time of year for many in the diet and fitness space in particular. Money is made from our 365-day yo-yo cycles. This year, try doing things that will provide a lasting change. Don’t strive for perfection and unrealistic expectations. Set your intentions, write them down, and don’t expect to be perfect. Not even on one day of the year. Try to be kind to yourself for each of the next 365 days

If we want to be well, we need to take care of our physical and mental states. At The Hour we believe this means forming daily habits in four wellbeing foundations: physical fitness, mind, nutrition, and sleep. By habits we mean behaviours. But not all behaviours are habits. One of the reasons our corporate wellbeing clients and their employees struggle with forming wellbeing habits is that there is a misunderstanding around what a habit is. Some of our behaviours or actions are done automatically (habit), some are done out of needing to (responsibility), and some because we are incentivised to (motivation).