Reset, not restrict

A look at the growing move towards a more sustainable, and recovery-led wellness trend

- Anjali Kochhar

January has always arrived with a familiar soundtrack: calorie calculators, "clean eating" declarations, before-and-after posts, and 30-day challenges that promise a new body by Republic Day. But as 2026 begins, the mood has quietly changed. Conversations in fitness studios, on WhatsApp groups, in corporate cafeterias, and across wellness content online are less about shrinking and more about stabilising. Less about "burn" and more about "recover".

Clinical dietitian Dr Ridhima Khamsera puts it plainly: every New Year has traditionally come with "new diets, new formulas and new workout plans," and an unspoken message "Start the year by fixing your body." But this year, she says, feels different.

"The loudest wellness conversations are about recovery, sleep correction, focusing on breathwork, hormone health and gut care." It is a shift that feels cultural, but it is also deeply physical - and it is being backed by what doctors are seeing in clinics, and what data is revealing about how tired, stressed, and dysregulated people have become.

What people want

If the last decade sold wellness as hustle early alarms, intense workouts, restrictive eating, relentless optimisation - the years after the pandemic have revealed the cost of treating the body like a machine. For many urban Indians, January no longer begins with extra energy; it begins with depletion.

That's the core difference Dr Khamsera points to: "Weight loss challenges assume surplus energy. Recovery-focused wellness acknowledges reality. Most people are not lacking motivation. They are depleted." The shift can also be seen in how people are framing their goals. Mridula Kaplish, 30, a merchandiser from Delhi, says, "My new year resolution is all about a healthy mind, soul and body. No big plans of chasing numbers." And in Mumbai, Ankit Choudhary, 29, shares, "Wellness has always been my priority.

This year, I will add meditation to my routine."