Sadie Macleod, Editor of Hip & Healthy, gives us her top tips on how to lose those extra few pounds this January!

  Exercise There are no two ways about it, if you want to lose that post-holiday tum then you're going to have to work out for it! The weapon of choice is up to you, but the most important thing is to choose something that you actually enjoy as that way you are much more likely to stick at it. If you like to sweat, try running. It's cheap and you can pretty much do it anywhere you want to. If you're not a fan of the outdoors, why not try spinning? This will get your heart rate up quickly and you can burn up to 600 calories per session! Not into cardio? Then give yoga a try. It's amazing for toning and there are tons of different classes out there, so you are sure to find the one for you. Namaste!   Add in Healthy Snacks A detox where you are asked to add something in? Could it be true? Indeed, as we believe that the more good stuff you add in, the more bad stuff that will just make its way out naturally! And by healthy we mean healthy... no added sugar, and try to avoid dairy if you can as it can be taxing on the body to digest. Nuts are a great protein fueled snack, and for something really tasty we love the dried fruit and nut bars from the clever people at Nakd.   Say Sayonara to the Sweet Stuff Cutting out sugar is a great way to give your body a break this January. After a festive season of sweet treats your blood sugar level is likely to be in overdrive causing you to have energy surges and crashes and even more sugar cravings. We suggest going cold turkey! That's right, ditch the sugar dirt from the word go. Not only will your body and mind thank you for it (goodbye sleepy 4pms) but your skin will be overjoyed to!   Lose the Booze And yes... when we say cut out all sugar - that includes booze. This is actually quite an easy ask in January as the whole world seems to have a dry January. So instead of hanging out with your friends at a bar, or catching up over a glass of wine at the pub why not think of other ways you can spend time with friends that don't involve knocking back a couple of drinks! Go for a walk, have a chat over a green juice, or meet up for a run in the park.   Cook from Scratch The only way to truly know what is going into your food is to make it yourself. Cooking from scratch needn't be a chore or expensive - in fact we have tons of healthy, yet uber quick and easy recipes on our website that will inspire you to don an apron in no time: http://www.hipandhealthy.co.uk/category/food/recipes/. Make sure that you have a good selection of healthy staples sitting in your cupboard too such as lentils, quinoa, coconut oil, spelt pasta, and tinned tomatoes. Plus, as long as you keep your fridge filled with lots of delicious fresh vegetables then you'll always be able to rustle something up. For veggies we like to make sure we always have kale, broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, peas, courgette and spinach.   Drink More Water We've said it before but we'll say it again - that's how important it is to drink more water! Not only does dehydration make you hungry (your mind will often mistake the thirst for hunger), which will have you reaching for the cookie jar, but dehydration is also a sure fire way to tiredness, lethargy and lack of concentration. Top Tip: Keep a water jug on your desk, that way you'll be able to monitor exactly how much you are drinking in a day. There are also a few phone and device apps that you can get for monitoring intake levels. These are really handy to remind you when to drink some water. You can even get a desktop version to use on your work computer! Try the Water Coolers Direct drink alarm app, it's free and works really well!