LOSE THE CHRISTMAS GUT
Ditch the diet Extreme diets=guaranteed weight gain. If you choose anything that’s impractical and unsustainable – be it a no-carbs regime or six days a week sweating down the gym – then you’re already on a hiding to nothing. Aim for consistency, not extremism. Once you’ve got your head round this, everything else will fall into place.

Keep some healthy fat in your diet It’s a myth that all fats are bad. The body actually needs some fat, but obviously only the good kind. Meat, fish, avocados, nuts and olive oil are good sources and prevent the loss of body mass.

Eat protein with every meal This will help build lean muscle. When you have more lean muscle you burn calories faster and look generally firmer all over.

Eat snacks Sadly, we’re not talking a caramel macchiato with a double-choc chip muffin here. Rye toast with peanut butter or crudités and hummus are more the ticket. The way to stave off hunger pangs and sugar cravings is to balance protein with complex carbohydrates, ideally at a ratio of roughly one-third to two.

Is it worth it? Ask yourself if that sticky toffee pudding is worth the calories. If the answer is “Yes”, then is it worth the whole thing? Make a decision to have a couple of spoonfuls and share the rest - that way you won’t feel so hard-done-by and consequently are more likely to stick to the weight-loss plan.

DOES YOUR KNEE CLICK AND FEEL PAINFUL?
If so, you could have a torn cartilage in the knee. There are two cartilage shock absorbers, called menisci, in the knee, one on the inside and one on the outside. They are important for helping our knees absorb the stresses and strains of various activities in life, including many sports.

Unfortunately, they can tear when the knee twists under a load, such as, in a rugby or football tackle. As we age, the forces required to damage them decrease and something as simple as climbing out of the car can cause a tear. If the damage is causing your knee to click, lock, give way, swell or be painful it is worth seeking medical help. In younger patients, a tear can potentially be repaired. Damaged unrepaired cartilage that continues to cause the knee to click, lock or give way may lead to further structures in the knee being damaged.

The articular cartilage (specialised tissue that lines the bones in our joints) in particular is at risk of damage. This damage can lead to the premature onset of arthritis in the affected area of the knee.

An MRI scan is the most common investigation used to help in the diagnosis of cartilage problems. Smaller tears can often settle down with rest and physiotherapy. More often than not, a problematic meniscal cartilage can be sorted out with a simple key-hole procedure (arthroscopy). Recovery from this type of procedure is usually quick with little discomfort. There have been significant recent advances in the treatment of knees with significant cartilage tears. If the cartilage is irreparable in younger patients, replacement of lost tissue with donor cartilage or a synthetic tissue can be considered in an effort to prevent arthritic problems.

CALLING IT QUITS
If your New Year’s resolution is to pack in the fags, you’re not alone. Of the UK’s 12 million smokers, three million attempt to quit each year but the bad news is only 3% manage to stay on the wagon long-term. As an ex-smoker, I know how hard kicking the habit to the curb is, because I’ve been off the nicotine for three years and I still get the occasional craving. If you want to take the sting out of stopping then smoking cessation programmes are becoming increasingly popular, primarily because they’re more likely to work. The late anti-smoking tsar Allen Carr’s much-vaunted course is probably the most famous. Spread over five hours of one day in groups of about twenty, it uses a psychotherapy/hypnotherapy double whammy approach and focuses on why smokers continue despite the obvious disadvantages as opposed to concentrating on why they should quit. It’s successful because it’s about cognitive behavioural therapy: changing your behaviour to change the way you think. The course costs £220 - private sessions are a couple of grand - which sounds a lot but is a mere drop in the ocean compared to how smoking dents your wallet over a lifetime - and this will actually prolong it - and if it doesn’t do the trick then there’s a money back guarantee to boot. For details of your local Allen Carr therapist log onto the website: www.allencarreasyway.com 10 WAYS TO BEAT THE WINTER BLUES
1. Don’t sheep-flock to the gym with the masses this January, take up a team sport instead. Try not to barf, but the camaraderie can be a real mood elevator
2. Take up a new interest. I know this sounds Simon Says simplistic, but sometimes simple is best
3. Lay off the drowning-your-sorrows approach, as alcohol is a potent depressant. You may feel a temporary lift but the high is soon goodbyed
4. Eat spicy food. The substance that makes chillies hot, capsicum, stimulates the release of feel-good endorphins in the brain. Think about it: have you ever seen a depressed Mexican?
5. Drink green tea. It contains high levels of antioxidants that help fight mild depression as well as protect against cancer and heart disease
6. Take vitamins. Zinc is especially effective at upping the brain’s good mood medicine, serotonin
7. Do a negativity edit. If you’ve got a whinger mate who’s always on the moan, limit the amount of time you spend together. Or, harsher still, hit the delete button
8. Change your routine. Experiment by chopping and changing the ingredients of your life to keep things fresh
9. Have a Thai massage. This is much more energising and rigorous than other forms of massage, literally extracting stress from the body
10. Remember winter doesn’t go on forever so enjoy some of its perks, like long walks on crisp, frosty days or having a Sunday roast in front of a crackling country pub fire

Jason Jones has the essential guide to our New Year recovery