Around 8.4 million Brits will break their New Year’s Resolutions this Sunday (14th January), according to research published today.
The study from Bio-tiful Dairy, the UK’s leading Kefir brand, finds that many of us fall in to the trap of making idealistic New Year’s Resolutions, with almost a quarter (24%) breaking them within the first 14 days of the year.
The research shows that while 35% of us never make New Year’s resolutions, 16% of the public make the same resolutions every year and never stick to them. Added to this, around a seventh of the country (14%) admit to making unrealistic resolutions. The top 10 are shown to be:
- Lose weight
- Quit drinking
- Quit smoking
- Stop spending money on shopping
- Stop ordering take-aways
- Get more sleep
- Travel the world
- Find ‘the one’
- Give up social media
- Go vegan (5%)
Despite the commitment challenges, 62% of the country has made diet and fitness related goals for 2018, while almost a third (30%) of resolutions fell into the friends and family categories, as we aim once again to be a healthier and better version of ourselves.
With the high level of unachievable resolutions made and 59% admitting they feel disheartened and disappointed when they fail, experts are encouraging Brits to avoid faddy and unrealistic goals to overhaul their lives, in favour of smaller, more achievable aims.
Lucy Jones, MRES BSC Hons RD MBDA, Award-winning Dietitian & Broadcaster, comments:
“It is clear that whilst people have good intentions when it comes to improving their health and wellbeing, most of us Brits need to work on making our goals smarter and more attainable in order for us to succeed with them. Repeatedly setting out of reach or unsustainable goals can leave us worse off than when we started, both in terms of our health and our confidence. Making easy diet and lifestyle changes, such as introducing a drink of Bio-tiful Kefir every day, can help to make positive differences to long term health and nutrition.”
Fermented foods such as’s Kefir provide health benefits such as better immunity, healthier bones and skin, and improved digestion. Bio-tiful Kefir is now more widely available than every before, and is stocked in many stores nationwide including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Crussh and Holland & Barrett.
Natasha Bowes, CEO and founder of Bio-tiful Dairy, comments:
“We’re delighted that 2018 will see Bio-tiful Kefir available in many more stores and supermarkets around the UK, making it accessible to all. The entirely natural and highly nutritious bio-live drink, which comes in a variety of exciting flavours to suit everyone, can be easily incorporated into diets, helping people make small but important changes to boost health and wellbeing.”
Top tips from Lucy Jones:
- Before you resolve, audit your lifestyle. Work out what you do well and what you could improve in terms of achieving balance. Keep a diary for a week; look at your food, exercise, alcohol and mood through that time to work out the best thing to focus on.
- Think about whether the change you’d like to make is both important to you and how confident you feel in achieving it. Mark both out of 10 and if either score is below 6, have a think about why. If something isn’t important because of bigger priorities, you are unlikely to stick to it!
- Be realistic and specific when setting yourself a goal. Don’t make it vague or long term, think about the next 4 weeks and what you can achieve in that time. For instance, if your aim is to get fit, your short-term goal might be to take a walk for 15 minutes 3 times a week in your lunch break.
- Avoid the fads and quick fixes. You can spot them because they make big claims and usually involve cutting out whole food groups or other drastic steps. These aren’t generally based in sound science, aren’t necessary and could actually place your health at risk.
- Go for small changes and take baby steps. For example, in order to improve your gut health, aim to add a glass of Bio-tiful Kefir to your breakfast every day. Changes don’t have to be hard to make a difference.
- If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Don’t let slips, blips or even a complete blow out spell the end of your efforts. Lapses are a completely normal part of changing habits, it’s the way you respond to that lapse that matters. Take stock, reflect and get right back on track – don’t wait for Monday. The longer you leave it, the less chance you’ll have of going back.