Well here we are, happy 2015! I always love the surge of optimism a new year brings. Our bodies are sludgy and hurting and sloshing with drink but we are determined to get ourselves together.

I am not sure about you, but I have eaten Christmas ham twice a day for the past week, I have overdone the after-dinner mints and participated in far too much social drinking.

In my defence, the ham was a Niman Ranch beauty (that I had to remortgage the house for) but there is no real excuse for the rest. So pass the water and a body brush! This year I am going to detox gently, settle into yoga and talk to my children kindly even when I am annoyed and exhausted ... I will let you know how that goes.

The trouble is, New Year’s resolutions are tricky. Setting yourself some goals is a great idea, but not when missing the target makes you feel down or disappointed with yourself.

Too often we fixate on a number on the scale or a time we want to run, but miss the real point completely.

Yes, healthy eating can help you manage your weight, but it should be about nourishing yourself first and foremost.

It should be about adopting a new mindset, approaching food with the knowledge that the choices we make can either build us up, or knock us down. Understanding that what we eat can take us towards our goals or away from them completely.

What we choose to eat can make our bodies easier to live in, or more challenging. So if, for example, you did not lose twenty pounds by March, but you did think more mindfully about what and why you ate, then that would still be success. As the saying goes, strive for progress, not perfection.

But, on the other hand, I do not want to go too easy on you either. While most of us are busy shaking off the cobwebs and getting ready for a fresh start, some of us are carrying burdens from last year, or facing fierce new battles entirely.

Not everyone has started this year with a clean bill of health. We all know someone recovering from heart disease or fighting cancer. Often their lives are clouded with medications and test results and shadowed by anxiety. So if you have the opportunity to eat an amazing variety of healthy food and exercise yourself into a hot sweaty heap, then go for it. Not everyone has that freedom.

With all that in mind, I have pulled together my three wishes for 2015. I have left out the usual front runners — world peace and a lifetime of free blow dries. Instead, here is one for the Government, one for local companies, and one for you. Here’s to a happy and healthy year ahead.

Sugar tax: This one is for the Government. I’ve been told it will never happen but I really, really wish it would.

The fact is our healthcare claims are out of control — and largely spent on preventable disease. Not only are we unable to afford our escalating premiums, but we cannot afford them because we, as a society, have been careless.

I am not pointing the finger at anyone. We all know that we could all do a better job, that we could all have more willpower and that we could all be more responsible.

But we, as a society, are not set up to succeed. For people to choose healthy food it has to be cheap and easily accessible. Conversely, junk food needs to be expensive, harder to find and less socially acceptable.

As it stands we have junk on every street corner at affordable prices and we are always encouraged to celebrate or reward ourselves with some kind of junk. If we choose not to, we feel like a party pooper.

Phrases such as “come on, just have one”, “you have to try it” and “but I made this for you” are common. And so it goes on.

Somehow we are in a position where a large bucket of fried chicken costs less than a box of blueberries. A big bottle of soda is cheaper than a bunch of bananas.

And even if an apple is cheaper than a candy bar, the candy bar is still cheap enough for us not to bat an eyelid. So what if a chocolate bar was double the price? Triple? What if a can of soda cost as much as a glass of wine? Would that impact our choices?

Sure it would. Of course, this could only work if the money made was used — transparently — to subsidise fresh produce. Filling up on fruit and vegetables instead of processed sugar and refined grain would impact our health potential dramatically.

It is a big conversation, I know, but surely one worth having?

Ethical food marketing for children: This one is for local companies. In the United States, the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood exists to prevent firms from marketing their products directly to children.

They have had their hands full tackling Oreo adverts inside school buses and McDonald’s offering reward “points” for good academic achievement — the better your grades, the more points you have to spend at McDonald’s.

We do not have a similar committee here and I am not sure we need this, if everyone could agree that targeting children with junk food advertisements is simply unethical.

Our children should be able to grow up without an automatic association between fun and junk food. Surely it is not fair to teach youngsters about healthy eating and then give them free samples of chips, gummy fruit snacks or pancake mix?

Every single time they are given a branded item at school or at an event, we as adults are endorsing it. Our children are learning that these items are fun and desirable.

And then we wonder why they have a hard time sticking to a healthy diet when they are adults?

Effort-based goals: This is my wish for you. I am all for setting yourself goals, for pushing yourselves and experiencing the thrill of achieving something you thought you could not do.

That is one of the reasons why we love our Beat the Couch programme so much — because we watch people surprise themselves time and time again and it is totally exhilarating.

But it would be wrong of me to pretend that everyone makes it to the end of the 10 weeks. We had an outstanding success rate but this year we were interrupted by two hurricanes, weeks without power and saw some of our clients battle injuries, accidents, grief, relationship problems and surprise pregnancy.

The upshot is that life happens. And sometimes the goals you thought were realistic simply are not going to happen. So instead, focus on progress. Focus on doing the absolute best you possibly can. If you have to take two weeks off training because your whole family is throwing up with norovirus, what can you possibly do? And is there any point beating yourself up about it?

But if after that two weeks is over, you pick yourself up and keep going, and keep working on improving the way you eat and how much you exercise, then that is something to feel proud of.

If you are looking for something to help you get 2015 off to a super-healthy start, then think about joining myself, group trainer Sergio White and success coach Julia Pitt for a six-week sugar detox.

Almost all the evening spots are gone but we have room in the daytime class for a few more people. This will get you on the road to clean, healthy eating and help you beat those sugar cravings for good. For more details, please see my website, www.natural.bm, or Facebook page.

The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns BA Hons, Dip ION is the Managing Director of Natural Ltd and a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist trained by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in the UK. Please note that she is not a Registered Dietitian. For details, please go to www.natural.bm or call 236-7511. Join Catherine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nutrifitandnaturalnutritionbermuda