London

Order in
Get healthy the lazy way by calling in all of your meals for a week (or as long as you can feasibly afford). We’re not talking KFC, but healthy, organic, even – gasp – detoxing foods. Nosh Detox Delivery (www.noshdetoxdelivery.com/ 0845 2576674) provides three fully organic, gluten- and dairy-free meals plus smoothies and herbal teas from £39 per day. You could also try Pure Package (www.purepackage.co.uk) for a tailored meal roster each day. If this all sounds a bit extravagant, sign up for a fruit-and-veggie box from The Organic Delivery Company (www.organicdelivery.co.uk). The colour will be back in your cheeks in no time.
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Exercise outdoors
Everyone knows exercise makes you feel better (eventually), but we also know it can be boring. This is why Move Your Butt’s Run with a View (www.moveyourbutt.com) – running programmes taking in London’s most stunning views – is such a marvellous idea. Get the endorphins going and your muscles pumping while taking in an awesome vista – better than staring at a wall or breakfast TV. If motivation is the missing link for any New Year exercise resolutions, why not sign up for a charity challenge? Some of the more manageable options include the Swimathon (www.swimathon.org) and Super Sprint distance at the London Triathlon (www.thelondontriathlon.com). More ideas at www.charitychallenge.co.uk.

Get cultured
If all that talk of exercise has you reaching for the duvet, hole up with mates at a movie night. Hire the movie room at The Garrison on Bermondsey Street (www.thegarrison.co.uk) or indulge in Belvedere Vodka’s ‘Private View’ – where a director, producer or actor will be delivered to your home along with a Belvedere mixologist so you can chat movies while becoming pleasantly inebriated (contact Alex Field on 020 7245 4213 or email alex.field@mhuk.co.uk). There’s also a film club at Charlotte Street and Covent Garden hotels (www.firmdale.com) – dinner and a classic movie in their plush screening rooms from £35. If art’s more your thing, you’re spoilt for choice in January – 80 of London’s main galleries, including White Cube and Whitechapel, are doing late-night openings. Get inspired.

Take up a course
If you’re channelling that back-to-school vibe, sign up for some quirky tutoring. We’re limbering up for a butchery course at Allen’s of Mayfair (020 7499 5831), jewellery-making classes at Nude (www.nudejewellery.co.uk), floristry courtesy of McQueens (www.mcqueens.co.uk) and cookery from Cake Boy (www.cake-boy.com).

Get your winter glow
Okay, so spa treatments are indulgent, but if you’re going to indulge, now is the time. The Winter Glow ‘Lift Your Spirits’ treatment at Glow Urban Spa in Knightsbridge (020 7752 0652/www.glowurbanspa.com) is the perfect antidote to January misery and sloth. The treatment – a blissful combo of body brushing, massage and wrappage – uses essential oils like bergamot, white grapefruit and ylang ylang, which are known for their antidepressant qualities, as well as for boosting the digestive and immune systems. Plus you get to lie down and be pampered for an hour and a half.

Volunteer
Solve that self-loathing and do something worthwhile. Try the TimeBank (www.timebank.org.uk) and Time Together (www.timetogether.org.uk) mentoring schemes or i-to-i (www.i-to-i.com), which has loads of volunteering abroad options if you fancy planning an adventure. A little closer to home is the Food Chain (www.foodchain.org.uk), a gourmet-style food delivery service for housebound HIV-positive Londoners. Join more than 1,000 other volunteers on the occasional Sunday morning and help to cook or deliver mouthwatering, homemade dishes from locations around the capital.

Get some sun
If you are suffering from SAD (seasonal affective disorder), log on to www.sada.org.uk for useful tips. Alternatively, book a cheap week away in the sun. Try Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula (www.travelyucatan.com) with its pretty beach resorts and amazing Mayan ruins (almost as impressive as the Egyptian pyramids), which has a pleasant average of 27°C. Or how about the Canary Islands? Lanzarote has an average temperature of 21°C in January and provides excellent surfing holidays away from the hideous touristy bits – try Time Out-tested www.surflanzarote.com.