Set some clear goals

If your healthy eating plans keep falling through, there can be several reasons, according to Dr Rachel Evans, a

psychologist. She says: “Clear intentions and goals are important when it comes to setting out long-term healthy eating habits. If you start by outlining targets that are too vague, or too restrictive, you could be at risk of plans failing right from the outset.

“Goals can often be too vague and it’s

not enough to say that you just want to eat ‘less sugar’ or ‘more fruit and vegetables’, as it’s then difficult to know exactly what you’re working towards. Without clear goals, you could be left feeling unsure about what action you need to take when eating healthily, which can lead to no action at all!

“Then, when we don’t consume enough, we often end up thinking a lot more about food, which is a survival mechanism and can cause us to become irritable and crave ‘junk’ foods. When we cut out certain foods, it can actually make them more attractive.

“If you believe you have ‘blown it’, you may feel that you may as well eat everything you want and start again with healthy eating on Monday. That means people often eat more unhealthy foods than usual, because they believe they won’t be able to eat that food again when they get back on plan.

“If you ever feel like you know exactly what you should be doing to stick to your plan, but something is keeping you stuck in old habits of overeating, it can often feel like you are sabotaging yourself over again.

“This behaviour is likely to be driven by deep subconscious beliefs about food and yourself which can be difficult to break.

“It’s important to be clear on goals, to ensure that they aren’t too restrictive, and to take small sustainable steps. Try to learn from slip-ups and form new healthy habits instead of relying on willpower.”

“This postcard may interest your agricultural readers,” says Jim Howie of Broughty Ferry. “It dates from 1909, and shows a ‘modern self-binder’ in a field with the Wallace monument in the background. It was manufactured by The International Harvester Company of Chicago.”