Most of us struggle to last a week on a new regime before sliding back into bad old habits. We lack the staying power to make deep and lasting changes in our lives. What we really want when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve is a quick fix.

Motivation is tricky to address, as it really is a case of different strokes for different folks. Case in point: the dreaded scales. An undesired number could fuel you to train and diet your socks off for the next month, or it could knock you flying off the wagon into a 'why do I bother' downward spiral.

You may think once you've acquired the running bug, you're set for life. Once a runner, always a runner - right? If you're reading this as a former r...

A third of Britons stop their New Year's fitness regime after just one month, figures show. After 30 days of exercise, 34% of people who started a ...

When it comes to healthy eating, I view my family as a work in progress.

In the last two weeks I've been told to eat nothing at all after about 5pm, nothing at all on two days of each week, five small meals every day; drink tea instead of coffee, coffee instead of tea, and tea made from the leaves of the coffee plant.

Many people seem to have a visceral objection to forcing an 'excessively rational' approach onto the personal, emotional sphere. There's a sense, for example, that planning your life too much will take out the romance.

What do you do when that 'one in three' statistic becomes your own mother? In November 2011 my world came to a halt as I found out mum had terminal cancer of the pancreas, with a diagnosis of just six months to five years to live.

While Britain is entering its traditional period of detox after the festive excesses, commuters ought to be re-assessing the all-round gains that can be made by taking to two wheels and celebrating rather than loathing their journey to work.

It shouldn't be that noteworthy to abstain from alcohol for 31 days; has society become so defined by the 'binge drink' that it is a struggle to go without it for 8.3% of the year?

Start 2013 with a realistic, sensible goal. People often work in extremes. Horrible Christmas, impeccable New Year. Be patient, implement change gradually.

My new year's resolution this year was to start smoking and so far it's going very well... I needed another guilty pleasure because a second new years resolution is to give up the booze since my folks - monitoring my lubricated antics over the festive period - have threatened me with rehab.

Ordinary people can do extraordinary things when properly motivated. New Year and New Year resolutions are not the place to start.