Giving things up for January is a bit of a cliché, but giving up alcohol is a big cliché. So this year I decided to try something different, and give up meat.

Being too ambitious about these things is a certain way to defeat yourself, so I decided fish would remain on the menu.

For purposes of this experiment, “January” began on the 3rd and finished at midnight last night.

So how was it? Well, with the possible exception of a Saturday morning bacon roll, I was surprised to find how little I missed meat.

Breakfast was most straightforward, as I often have cereal and a bagel anyway. No more fry-ups but I did try some fake bacon which was better than the last time I ventured off piste.

Lunch, well, let’s say I got a bit fed up of tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches, but there are a decent set of veggie/fish options out there, so overall it was fine.

Dinner was a good chance to expand the range of things I cook, and I can now claim to have prepped something involving a butternut squash, which I hadn’t previously.

Icing on the cake? I lost weight. Not a lot, but without having to change anything else, which was an unexpected bonus.

I did have a substantial fry-up on day 32, but it’s odds-on there will be less meat in my diet going forward. Less of it, higher quality.

Onwards and upwards we go into 2023(!)