If you are feeling burnt out already, it might be because you’ve been ignoring the fact that we’re still in winter – a time when the natural world hibernates.

“Just go easy!” says PT Emma Obayuvana. “If I have any fitness goals that I want to achieve over the year, I start to really put work into them from March onwards. January and February should be about getting back into regular movement and choosing things that are easy to commit to. If you want to take up running for the first time or go really HAM on a new wellness habit, it’s better to do that from spring onwards.” Instead, Emma recommends using February as a chance to really listen to your body and think about what you actively enjoy doing.

Also, are you, like us, finding it difficult to maintain a regular fitness routine now we’re all out of austere January? That’s because we’re all stuck on the seesaw of wellness, says Clem Haxby, culinary director of The Salad Project and level 3 PT.

Picture this. “On the left hand side of the seesaw, you’ve got a list of all the things you think make you really healthy,” she explains, “and on the right are all your self-care habits, recovery and treats”.

The more moderate habits are on the far edges (so ‘running twice a week’ might be on the far left, ‘choosing oats over a croissant for breakfast most days’ on the far right) while the most extreme versions of wellness are towards the centre.

Clem says that during January, we sit on the centre-left of the seesaw: “We do whatever we can to be healthy – January is about abstaining from alcohol and being strict, and that leaves us stranded alone, sitting at the top of the seesaw.

But you can’t sit in the air forever, and that’s why, when February comes around and we realise how lonely that seesaw position can be. If we just shuffle back a space or two towards the less extreme habits, we’ll gradually lower the seesaw.”

That might mean aiming to eat three plant-based meals a week rather than trying to go fully vegan, or aiming for 7K steps every day than struggling to do 10K steps a couple of times a week. “And on the right hand side, shuffling back might mean offsetting your targets with reward and recovery. That way you avoid self-punishment if your resolutions goo haywire in February”.

Affirmations to help shake off the February workout fatigue (and glow up your gym bag)