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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nA<\/span>t the beginning of 2025, I made a bold decision that probably tells you everything you need to know about my ridiculous \u201call or nothing\u201d personality type. Having eaten and drunk myself into oblivion in December, I was now going to do the opposite: take on board all <\/em>the healthy advice I\u2019d ever heard but never followed for at least two months. <\/p>\nAnd when I say all, I mean all. I cut out refined sugar, alcohol and processed food. I drank 1.5 to 2 litres of water a day, aimed for 8-9 hours sleep a night and upped my exercise regime to four times a week. I paid for the Fast 800 diet app and meal plans, the brainchild of the late Dr Michael Mosley and his wife, and followed them to the letter \u2013 which meant, initially, only two meals a day constituting around 800 calories in total. High-protein recipes were stacked with vegetables, grains, pulses and dairy; carbs were rarely, if ever, invited to the party. Even fruit was kept to a minimum due to unwanted sugar spikes.<\/p>\n
By mid-March, I was a stone and a half lighter, fizzing with energy and my mental health had never been better. All the boring guff that\u2019s spouted about \u201cwellness\u201d and what\u2019s actually good for you turned out to be totally true.<\/p>\n
My experiment was somewhat on the extreme end of lifestyle overhauls \u2013 there was no way that I could realistically keep everything going indefinitely. But making all those changes at once and seeing the results for 10 weeks did permanently rewire my brain in unexpected ways. <\/p>\n
Though I started drinking again, my relationship with alcohol shifted into something far more moderate and in control. This December, I decided to go sober for Christmas party season and managed it without any real difficulty, which also perhaps explains why I\u2019m heading into the holidays feeling fresh and excited rather than like Demi Moore\u2019s rapidly-ageing character in The Substance<\/em>. <\/p>\nThough my diet is far from perfect, the lessons I learned while cooking all those wholefood meals fundamentally altered my relationship with food: for the first time in my life, I see it as a tasty energy source, packed with nutrition to fuel me, rather than swinging between viewing it as my nemesis or the answer to all of life\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Cutting out processed foods can rewire your palate (Getty\/iStock)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAn entire year later, I\u2019m still running, doing yoga and lifting weights every week. I haven\u2019t put any of the weight back on. I still feel good in my body and contented in my mind; I still feel well<\/em>.<\/p>\nPeople often naysay the idea of New Year\u2019s Resolutions, claiming that they never really work long-term or that we\u2019re just setting ourselves up for failure. But I politely disagree: pick the right changes, stick with them for more than just January, and they can make a deep and lasting impact that improves your life long-term.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t have to be anything big or dramatic, either. Here are some of the small hacks the Independent<\/em>\u2019s features team implemented in 2025 that they\u2019ll still be benefiting from in 2026:<\/p>\n
Committing to a morning walk<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n We all know that being outside in nature is the miracle drug that lowers stress hormones, eases blood pressure and regulates circadian rhythms. But it\u2019s one thing knowing it, and another thing altogether committing to a daily come-rain-come-shine 20-minute morning walk in the marshes \u2013 phone free \u2013 which is what I did this time last year. <\/p>\n
It started while I was in the middle of navigating a particularly stress-filled time. I\u2019m lucky enough to live a few minutes away from a new nature reserve that has been left to go wild to encourage birds and other wildlife. I began to notice that just walking through the gates brought about a physical change; as each walk progressed and I was distracted by the sight of, say, a heron or a psychedelic flock of parakeets, my stiff, hunched shoulders miraculously lowered. My babbling mind slowed. My breathing became deeper as I bathed in invisible feel-good phytoncides being released from the canopy of trees above. <\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Getting out in nature can have a huge impact on our mental and physical health (Getty\/iStock)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThat 20-minute window of silence became a sturdy, daily constant. And looking back on the last year, what it really did was slowly but surely re-introduce a sense of calm and optimism that at one point felt like it might have evaporated for good. Yes, the world might be going to hell in a handcart \u2013 but for 20 minutes a day, it\u2019s just me and nature. Victoria Young<\/em><\/p>\n
Getting up 15 minutes later<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n This might seem a tad out of character for someone who spends their days interviewing athletic go-getters, but I found that spending an extra 15 minutes in bed each morning made a world of difference to my energy levels. <\/p>\n
The idea came from an interview with Dr Sophie Bostock \u2013 AKA The Sleep Scientist. Rather than give me a strict prescription of supplements, sci-fi eye masks and 12 hours nightly between the sheets, she suggested tinkering with my existing routine and seeing what worked. \u201cThis is where experimentation comes in,\u201d she says. \u201cStart with 15-20 minutes of extra sleep in the morning, then if you feel a bit better, consider half an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\nThe world might be going to hell in a handcart \u2013 but for 20 minutes a day it\u2019s just me and nature<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
I fine-tuned my mornings by packing my bag and laying out my clothes the night before, then pushed my morning alarm back 15 minutes. Almost immediately, I felt like I had more get-up-and-go, and this trick has added up to hours of extra sleep over the course of the year. Harry Bullmore<\/em><\/p>\n
Gatekeeping the first half of the week<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n I have a tendency to overbook myself and let my battery get very low. So two years ago, I made the resolution not to do anything social (dates, drinks, dinners etc) from Monday through to Wednesday. Those are my days to rest, read, take dance classes or cook a nourishing dinner \u2013 without being beholden to anyone else. Now, when I see my friends, I show up as the best version of myself thanks to the time I\u2019ve taken to recharge. It was the easiest and most beneficial change I\u2019ve ever made to the way I live. Lydia Spencer-Elliott<\/em><\/p>\n
Buying a Kindle<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n About a year ago I realised I had almost completely stopped reading for pleasure. For most of my life, I had inhaled books. There was a brief break-up when my children were small, but they\u2019re teenagers now, so I could hardly blame them for the untouched pile of novels gathering dust beside my bed.<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Getting a Kindle could reenergise your reading habit (Getty\/iStock)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHow did I go from someone who regularly binged on books in one or two sittings, to someone who barely opened one? Concentration shot by scrolling? Sure. Eyes struggling with teeny-tiny print? Absolutely. General life overwhelm, plus a job that requires making sense of a head-spinning news cycle all day? Yes, all of the above \u2013 but what was the solution? <\/p>\n
When a friend told me to get a Kindle, I said absolutely not. I spent all day staring at screens; the last thing I wanted was to take one to bed. And I loved actual, real books. But, as she pointed out, loving them doesn\u2019t count for much if you don\u2019t actually read them.<\/p>\n
So I gave in. I bought a Paperwhite Kindle \u2013 no blue light, no squinting \u2013 and, after a few early panics about losing my place, I took back control of my reading life. From Demon Copperhead<\/em> to Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn\u2019s Long Island<\/em>, and my absolute favourite read of the year, Hello Beautiful<\/em> by Ann Napolitano, I\u2019m back in my reading groove. <\/p>\nBetter still, driven by the need to know what those characters are up to and how their stories end, I’m going to bed earlier and my sleep has improved as an unintended but very welcome side-effect. My imagination is fired, but my mind is calm and distracted from any whirring anxieties. Only by turning my reading brain back on have I been able to truly switch off. It has been life-changing. Victoria Harper<\/em><\/p>\n
Meditating 20 minutes a day<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n I\u2019ve always known that meditating works \u2013 my mum taught me to do yoga and meditate when I was just a child to calm my anxious mind \u2013 but I\u2019ve always struggled to actually do it. Until last year, when I decided it was time to turn it into a daily commitment. As a perfectionist, I hate breaking promises \u2013 even to myself \u2013 so I knew that telling myself I had to meditate for 20 minutes every single day meant I really would.<\/p>\n
I made it easy for myself, arranging my cushions so I could meditate without having to even leave my bed straight after I woke up. For the first couple of months, I did it reluctantly, dreading those 20 minutes of nothingness. But over time, I started to look forward to my morning stillness, eventually relishing the space to simply be, before getting caught up in non-stop messages, emails and errands. <\/p>\n
Now, if I don\u2019t meditate, I can instantly feel the difference; I\u2019m more stressed, quick to react and generally anxious. But when I do meditate, I feel calmer all day, no matter how many emails come my way. I no longer meditate each day because I have to, but because I want to. Radhika Sanghani<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more At the beginning of 2025, I made a bold decision that probably tells you everything you need to know about my ridiculous \u201call or nothing\u201d personality type. Having eaten and drunk myself into oblivion in December, I was now going to do the opposite: take on board all the healthy advice I\u2019d ever heard but never followed for at least two months. And when I say all, I mean all. I cut out refined sugar, alcohol and processed food. I drank 1.5 to 2 litres of water a day, aimed for 8-9 hours sleep a night and upped my exercise regime to four times a week. I paid for the Fast 800 diet app and meal plans, the brainchild of the late Dr Michael Mosley and his wife, and followed them to the letter \u2013 which meant, initially, only two meals a day constituting around 800 calories in total. High-protein recipes were stacked with vegetables, grains, pulses and dairy; carbs were rarely, if ever, invited to the party. Even fruit was kept to a minimum due to unwanted sugar spikes. By mid-March, I was a stone and a half lighter, fizzing w…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10247"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}