Sonia Lucena, psychonutritionist: “To take care of our body we have to be able to understand our mind”

Every year, the same thing happens – and still we fall for it. January arrives at full throttle, loaded with big promises and a quiet pressure many people feel but rarely voice: now it’s time to get serious. No more excess. No more taking it easy. Gym almost every day, a strict diet starting early January, and a thought that keeps circling: the harder, the better. But reality tells a different story. January doesn’t build as many bodies as it seems. January, more often than not, breaks them.

As a psychonutritionist specializing in eating behavior and exercise, Sonia Lucena sees the same pattern every New Year: motivated, disciplined men with a sporting background or a strong performance mindset who, within weeks, slide from euphoria into exhaustion. Not because they lack drive or willpower, but because they adopt an extreme approach that simply isn’t sustainable.

The January spike: numbers repeating themselves

The data is clear. Between 30% and 40% of annual gym memberships are sold in January. Weight rooms fill up, group classes overflow, and “once-and-for-all” routines flood social media as if they were a universal solution. But the enthusiasm doesn’t last. Roughly half of new members quit before reaching three months, and close to 70% don’t make it to spring. Diets follow a similar pattern: more than 60% of people who start a restrictive diet in January abandon it within eight to ten weeks. “The problem isn’t starting,” Lucena insists. “The problem is how you start – the method you use and where you put your focus.”

Punishment is not the solution

January isn’t just about training more – it’s about resting less and often eating worse, because intake is usually restricted too aggressively and guilt creeps in. An all-or-nothing mindset takes over: either you follow the plan perfectly or you feel like you’ve failed. Among men, especially those deeply immersed in sport, this pattern intensifies. Training through injuries becomes normalized, food is slashed “to get lean,” and basic foods are cut out without any real rationale. The body turns into an urgent project that needs fixing immediately – and that’s when January starts breaking things:

• Overuse injuries
• Chronic fatigue
• Food anxiety
• A rigid relationship with the gym
• Psychological burnout

“All of it in the name of discipline,” Lucena says. “But to take care of our bodies, we first have to understand our minds.”

The mistake of starting too hard“The body doesn’t understand calendars,” says Lucena, creator of the Five Method. “But it does react to pressure, and January comes loaded with unrealistic expectations – fast results, visible changes in a few weeks, and constant social pressure to ‘make the most of it.’”

Training six days a week when you were doing two isn’t progress – it’s shock. Eating half of what you used to isn’t nutritional education – it’s restriction. Neither usually ends well, and neither builds muscle or long-term consistency. The paradox is obvious: the most aggressive changes are the ones that last the least. When they collapse, they leave behind a sense of failure that makes starting again even harder – along with the dreaded rebound effect.

What people who actually succeed do differentlyAccording to Lucena, those who make lasting changes aren’t the most extreme in January – they’re the smartest:

1. They train less than they think they “should.” Three or four well-planned sessions with proper rest beat any heroic one-month plan.
2. They eat better, not less. They don’t eliminate food groups or obsessively count calories. They adjust portions, improve quality, and focus on care rather than weight loss.
3. They don’t turn the gym into a debt. Training isn’t about paying for what you ate over the holidays – it’s an investment in how you want to feel long term.
4. They understand that rest counts too. Little sleep combined with heavy training is a guaranteed path to stagnation, injury, and quitting.
5. They don’t dramatize slip-ups. One missed workout or an off-plan meal doesn’t ruin anything. Rigidity does. The body doesn’t need punishment – it needs time.

“January shouldn’t be a test of mental endurance or a physical penance,” Lucena says without hesitation. “The body doesn’t transform through urgency or self-demands, but through coherence and care. And health isn’t proven by swinging from one extreme to another – it’s built by sustaining habits when motivation fades.”

Before shifting into a higher gear this January, it’s worth asking an uncomfortable but honest question: am I building something I can maintain – or just surviving January? Because strong bodies aren’t made by breaking them. They’re made by caring for them with focus and consistency.

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