Whether it’s lashings of turkey, mince pies, roast potatoes, or boxes of Quality Street, delicious food is synonymous with Christmas. And while it’s nice to indulge from time to time, many of us look to start afresh come January. In fact, statistics show that improving diet and losing weight remain consistently among the most common New Year’s resolutions.
However, while it can be tempting to try and do everything all at once by signing up for the next fad diet, resetting your diet gently is most likely to leave you with lasting results. Plus, taking smaller, simpler steps makes the process more enjoyable, too!
With that said, here are eight gentle ways to reset your diet in January.
1. Skip the guilt and avoid fad diets
If you’ve enjoyed some indulgence over the holidays, you might now feel a strong urge to restrict – particularly with New Year fad diets that promise instant results.
However, it’s important to remember that, while setting health goals is good, there’s no need to feel guilty for what you’ve eaten over Christmas or to see January as an opportunity to punish yourself with severe dieting.
Research shows that this is actually one of the most harmful things you can do – both for weight loss and mental health. In this study, 71% of people who tried a fad diet didn’t lose weight or didn’t lose as much as they wanted, and 11% gained weight. Another study found that three years after completing a strict weight loss programme, 40% of participants had gained back more weight than they’d originally lost.
Plus, aside from being unsustainable, fad diets can have other negative consequences – including nutrient deficiencies and disordered eating patterns.
For this reason, it can help to take a gentle, more intuitive approach to eating. This means eating according to your body’s natural hunger signals rather than following strict diet rules. Intuitive eating has been found to have significantly higher retention and success rates than dieting.
Check out these 5 tips for eating intuitively to get started. You might also find our beginner’s guide to mindful eating useful.
Note: If you’re struggling with your relationship with food, it’s important to reach out for support. Mental health charity Mind has information on eating problems on their website, as well as a helpline and a list of other organisations offering support.
2. Prioritise your protein and fibre intake
Research suggests that when it comes to resetting your diet and establishing healthy eating habits, prioritising your protein and fibre can be particularly beneficial.
Aside from their health benefits – for example, boosting bone health and digestion, and reducing the risk of disease – protein and fibre are also among the most filling nutrients and can help to regulate appetite.
Protein has been found to reduce levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin, meaning it can help you feel fuller with less food. Take this study, which found that when overweight women increased their daily protein intake from 15% to 30%, they ate an average of 441 fewer calories every day, without intentionally restricting.
Similarly, fibre can help to regulate appetite and prevent overeating because it moves through the gastrointestinal tract slowly and undigested. As a result, it’s been found to help people regulate a healthy weight by causing them to eat less without intentional restriction.
In this study, when people increased their fibre intake by 14g a day, they consumed 10% fewer calories and lost significantly more weight. Another study found that people who ate more vegetables lost more weight and felt less hungry than a control group.
Check out our articles, 12 high-protein meal ideas and 10 easy ways to add more fibre to your diet, for ideas on how to increase your intake.
3. Load up on whole, plant-based foods
Alongside protein and fibre, basing your diet around whole, plant-based foods is one of the best things you can do to reset your diet. Whole, plant-based foods are typically free from the added salt, sugar, and saturated fats found in ultra-processed foods.
Aside from their health, immunity, and the environment, research has also found that eating more whole, plant-based foods can help you maintain a healthy weight. One reason for this is that, unlike processed foods, which are known to increase the risk of food cravings, mindless eating, and weight gain, whole, plant-based foods are high in satiating nutrients like fibre.
For further reading, check out our article: What are the benefits of a whole food, plant-based diet?
4. Allow yourself treats too
Eating healthy doesn’t have to mean missing out on your favourite foods. In fact, being flexible and allowing yourself a treat every so often can be key for helping you stay on track by preventing feelings of restriction.
While this can mean treating yourself to your favourite chocolate bar, it’s important to remember that delicious snacks can be healthy, too. Simple swaps, such as replacing sugar with cinnamon, trying lower-calorie brands, and choosing snacks that you look forward to eating can make all the difference.
Check out our articles, 14 quick and healthy snack ideas and 8 healthy and filling evening snacks, for inspiration. You might also find our article, 15 quick and easy diet swaps for a healthier lifestyle, useful.
5. Fuel up on an energy-boosting breakfast
While it can be tempting to skip breakfast to compensate for overeating, research suggests that starting your day with a healthy meal can help you get back on track.
Not only is breakfast a good time to start afresh, but it can also help kickstart a routine of making healthier choices throughout the day, too. For example, studies suggest that sticking to a consistent eating pattern may be linked with less binge eating.
That said, what you eat in the morning is important, too. Generally speaking, a high-protein, high-fibre breakfast is best and more likely to leave you feeling satisfied. In this study, eating a high-protein breakfast reduced ghrelin (hunger hormone) levels more effectively than a high-carb breakfast. And another study found that eating oats (which are high in protein and fibre) for breakfast led to increased feelings of fullness and better appetite control throughout the day than breakfast cereals.
For inspiration, why not make something from our articles: 9 healthy breakfast ideas to kickstart your day, 10 airfryer recipes to jumpstart your day, or 8 ways to enjoy oats for breakfast?
6. Try new recipes and reset portion sizes
It can sometimes feel tricky to return to normal portion sizes after the holidays. For this reason, many people find that planning their meals in advance and following healthy recipes can help keep things simple.
Head to the food and drink section of our website for recipe ideas. Here, you’ll find everything from seasonal recipes to easy dinners for one. You might also like to read our article: 9 tips to prevent overeating and encourage portion control.
7. Prioritise good quality sleep
Research has found that getting enough good quality sleep after overeating is an effective way to fight off cravings and regulate appetite. And, establishing a consistent sleep schedule can help you make healthier food choices in the long term.
Studies have linked a lack of sleep with increased appetite. In particular, a lack of sleep may impact ghrelin and leptin levels – and these hormones are involved in hunger and appetite regulation.
In this study, getting eight hours or less of sleep each night was associated with higher body weight. Short sleep duration was also linked with higher levels of ghrelin and lower levels of leptin. In another study, men who slept for only four hours a night were found to eat 22% more calories the next day than those who slept for eight hours.
If you’ve been struggling to sleep recently, check out the tips on the sleep and fatigue section of our website. Here, you’ll find information on everything from insomnia to creating the ideal environment for sleep.
8. Get moving
As well as helping you drop excess weight, research suggests that exercise can help regulate appetite and reduce cravings.
For example, studies have shown that aerobic exercise, such as running, cycling, and swimming, can decrease appetite by altering levels of hormones that influence hunger. Other studies suggest that regular exercise can increase brain function and make it easier to regulate junk food consumption.
However, while sticking to a regular exercise routine remains the most common New Year’s resolution, studies show that many people fall off the wagon within weeks. For this reason, it can be helpful to take a simple approach to exercise and focus on setting smaller, more sustainable goals. This could be as simple as increasing your daily step count, or trying out a new team sport.
For example, in this study, obese women who walked for 50-70 minutes three times a week for 12 weeks lost 1.5% of their body fat, including a significant amount of belly fat.
Research has also linked other benefits of exercise with better diet habits. For example, by stimulating the release of neurotransmitters like serotonin and norepinephrine (which can help to improve mood and protect against anxiety and depression), exercise has been found to help prevent future episodes of binge eating. Other studies suggest that walking may help to accelerate stomach emptying, and relieve uncomfortable feelings of bloating or fullness caused by overeating.
If you’re yet to find a form of exercise you enjoy, head over to the fitness and exercise section of our website. Here, you’ll find information on everything from home workouts to martial arts.
Final thoughts…
For many of us, January marks a time of change. And, the good news is that, if you’re one of the many people looking to reset their diet this month, there are lots of simple and gentle ways to do so. From upping your fibre intake to getting into a pattern of good-quality sleep and exercise, why not take the first step today?
For further reading, head over to the diet and nutrition section of our website. Here, you’ll find information on everything from healthy cooking methods to making healthier drink choices.
Do you have any more diet tips that you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
