For the last three years I’ve used January to try and learn something new. Three years ago it was to try 31 days of exercise, two years ago it was 31 days of stretching, last year it was 31 days of learning to play the piano and this year it’s 31 days of… lunch.

And done.

Or not done as I’m going to swap this day 31 with Sunday day 33 as I’ve got an interesting lunch to discuss. So, consider this day 30 and a half and day 31 in full will follow on Sunday.

What have I learned so far though?

At first I was curious whether this would even work as a 31 day challenge. Lunch isn’t a challenge. It’s a routine. I would no more write about 31 days of going to the toilet (though there’s an idea!) than I would write about going to bed. Lunch is just lunch, isn’t it?

What I’ve learned though is that by giving just a small bit of attention to something I rarely think about I have looked at lunch in a new way. I’ve enjoyed lunch more when I think more about it. Instead of eating something because that’s what I’ve always eaten, I’ve eaten new things, even if it’s just to add a chutney or to swap a roll for a bagel – and those small changes have a big increase in the pleasure I’ve taken from it.

The second thing I’ve learned is that, without much effort, I’ve rarely repeated a lunch in 31 days. I used to think I had the same things each day. Now I know I do have a variety to what I eat and that it wasn’t difficult to eat something different each day for a month.

Finally, I learned that having a vomiting bug in the middle of a food challenge is the ultimate irony and the universe must like a good laugh. That’s why next year I’m going to start my 31 day challenge of NOT gambling. That’s right, universe, I won’t win the lottery that month. No siree, not me. I want to gamble my life savings and not receive anything in return. So, universe, please don’t think it would be really funny for me to win £100m on the Euromillions during a no gambling month – that would totally ruin my challenge!

Also, just as I finish, I spotted the following thread on Reddit by someone who could be my challenge nemesis – a man who has eaten the same sandwich every day for decades: https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1id24iz/i_have_eaten_the_same_food_for_lunch_every_day/