It's hard to keep your spirits up at this time of year. Christmas is over and we're left with groaning bank accounts, crappy weather and a general feeling of post-holiday seediness (that's what happens when you spend two weeks living on wine, Pringles and boxes of Roses). And in the middle of this new year slump, we get bombarded with media messages to make some resolutions, cut out sugar, carbs and wheat from our diet and generally become a new, supposedly healthier version of ourselves.
Well, sod that. When you're feeling impoverished, feeble and cold, the last thing you probably want to do is go on a ridiculous juice cleanse that will deprive you of all solid food for a week (you can read about Andrea's experience of that here and it involved her attempting to sell her Granny for an espresso).
Yes, if exercise makes you happy, then of course you should keep on doing it. And everyone should try and eat healthily, if only because as I can now attest, a Pringles, Roses and cheese diet doest leave you feeling brilliant.
But surely in general, this is not the best time to totally deprive ourselves, or to try something arduous and stressful. Surely this should be a time to try and keep ourselves cheerful, so that when the weather and our finances eventually improve, we'll be full of vigour and ready to make the fresh start that everyone bangs on about in January?
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British columnist Bryony Gordon thought so too, which is why she decided to launch a Twitter hashtag, #antijanuary, "for all the people who are going to spend this month having FUN". Soon people started making their own declarations of #antijanuary independence, celebrating their decisions to go to gigs, eat cake, One decided that "I'm going to drive to the gym everyday and not get out of the car".
Of course, keeping even an #antijanuary resolution isn't always easy. Even Bryony herself found it tough at times.
The weather today is not playing ball with #antijanuary. It's just making me want to sit inside and cry.
— Bryony Gordon (@bryony_gordon) January 4, 2015
But a resolution to have fun is hopefully going to be easier to keep than one to deprive yourself. And I think we'd all be a bit happier if we tried, at least a few times a week, to do something that may not be practical, or even very sensible, but that cheers us up, whether that's eating a biscuit, reading a gripping new book instead of doing some housework, going for a walk on a sunny winter's day, or just spending a Sunday afternoon catching up on Coronation Street. Sure can't we can get really active and healthy when the sun comes out?
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What do you think of the #antijanuary revolution? Am I missing the resolution point entirely? And c'mere, tell us, what would you really like to do for #antijanuary?
