January Is Not a Sprint. It’s a Reset.
Every January, I have the same conversation with people…
They’re motivated and they want change. Stricter diet. Harder workouts. No slip-ups.
And every year, I end up saying the same thing back.
Your body doesn’t work on a calendar.
We’ve been taught to treat January 1st like a starting gun. But biologically, that just isn’t how humans are designed to change.
Your body’s job is to keep you alive and stable. Not to help you win a January fitness challenge.
Why “Going Hard” Rarely Sticks
Most people have tried the January diet at least once. When it unravels by February, it feels disappointing.
Why Does It Take So Long To Loose Weight?
Your body has a defended weight range. When weight drops quickly, it responds by turning hunger up, and fullness signals down. Then there’s the constant food noise people describe, which is a sign that your gut hormones are flatlining and not working as effectively as they could be.
And here’s the part that surprises most people. Those changes don’t just snap back once you lose weight.
Studies show that appetite-regulating hormones can stay disrupted for over a year after weight loss, if dieting is the only strategy (1). So even when you’re eating well, your body still feels like it’s being deprived.
Modern diets don’t help either. A lot of the food we eat is absorbed high up in the gut. That means it never reaches the sensors deeper in the digestive tract that are responsible for switching off appetite.
If those sensors are not activated, key satiety hormones like GLP-1 and PYY are not released properly (2). Without those signals, your brain never really gets the message that you’re full enough.
So how do you reset your body for lasting and meaningful change?
Deep in the lower gut are specialised cells called L-cells. When they detect certain nutrients, they release hormones like GLP-1 and PYY (read more about how Elcella works here!) (and here!). These hormones travel directly to the brain and send a very clear message: I’m satisfied now.
This is the mechanism we focus on at Elcella.
Not forcing yourself to eat less.
Not relying on willpower.
But helping the body remember how to regulate appetite on its own.
When those signals are working, eating becomes calmer and you stop thinking about food all the time.
A Different Way to Think About January
January doesn’t need to be a sprint. It can be a reset. When you stop chasing calorie deficits and start restoring appetite regulation; weight loss becomes the positive side-effect of your system working optimally.
Less food noise.
More trust in your body.
Results that last.
How to Get the Most out of 2026
References
- Sumithran P et al. Long-term persistence of hormonal adaptations to weight loss. New England Journal of Medicine, 2011
- Peiris M, Aktar R, et al. Decoy bypass for appetite suppression in obese adults. Gut, 2022
- Pontzer H et al. Constrained total energy expenditure. Current Biology, 2016
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