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London is a huge place, there’s no denying it, and given that there are 40-plus universities based here, it’s not a surprise that they mirror the capital’s dense urban sprawl. Read the rest of this entry »

  One in ten New Year’s resolutions are destined to fail, according to researchers at Hertfordshire University. Take losing weight for instance. With roughly half of adults overweight, and many more miserable with their size regardless, it’s unsurprising that it’s one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions. But when you vow to shed the pounds but inevitably run out of steam, not only are you still unhappy with your body, but you’re also a failure! A double whammy of guilt and depression just in time for Valentine’s Day is not my idea of a fun way to bring in 2009.

Along with the empty wallet and that slightly acidic feeling of overindulgence, New Year’s resolutions are one of those post-Christmas tragedies that will probably be around forever. But if almost all New Year’s resolutions are destined to fail, what’s the point? That said, why shouldn’t you resolve to lose weight, or indeed quit smoking, organise your finances and whatever other life-changing elements you find appealing? Well, it’s just the timing.

A sad fact is that January is one of the most depressing times of the year – the return to university and all the wonderful assignments you find out you have to hand in is just one of the highlights of this dull and dreary month.  And therefore it’s possibly one of the worst times to try to change your life permanently.

Despite that, if your New Year’s resolution is ‘I will lose some weight – no seriously this time, I mean it!’, you won’t be alone. Gyms across the country are swamped by newcomers determined to beat the bulge, first-time joggers are hitting the streets, and thousands are choking down a new, healthy and unsatisfying diet. This decision is sometimes spurred on by a devastating experience in ‘The Sales’ trying to find something – anything – that fits.

Psychologists have recommended the best way to keep up with your resolutions is to only make one, and to reward yourself when you succeed, to help keep your motivation up. It might be a good idea not to reward losing a couple of pounds with a huge bar of Dairy Milk though. You can also try the Paul McKenna route by trying think positively -‘I am losing weight’, not ‘I will lose weight’.  Other advice from the researchers at Hertfordshire University was that men should be more specific with their goals, whereas women should tell the world about their resolution if they want to succeed.

The Telegraph recommended us girls to: “write down your resolution on a large sheet of paper, sign it, and place it somewhere prominent in your house. Tell your friends, family and colleagues and ask them to provide you with helpful nudges to assist you in achieving your goal.”

Can you imagine? The only thing worse than being on a weight-loss mission is having all around you constantly watching and commenting on everything you eat.

Of course, it might help if you make a resolution that will be dead easy to keep – maybe you should resolve to stop espousing conspiracy theories at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, or try to stop gorging yourself on endless jars of mustard.

Or you could simply make one resolution, a realistic one that you can achieve, and feel good about managing. In Fight Club, Tyler Durden says: “self-improvement is masturbation.” It would be easy to buy into cynicism à la Durden, but there is a lot to be said for making a go of changing your life.

But January is no time to be hitting the rain-soaked pavements for jogging. And for those of you who manage, somehow, to keep up with your resolutions and come out the other end a better person, I envy you. My New Year’s resolution, by the way, is to floss more often.  

The reclassification of cannabis is easily one of the most newsworthy things to come out of Gordon Brown’s flailing term as Prime Minister. Whether you’re a smoker of the drug yourself, fiercely anti, or simply know people who smoke it, this huge issue is causing arguments left and right. Read the rest of this entry »