Monday is the most universally hated day. The start of a new work week, the end of weekend fun and back to reality. Mondays in January are even worse, apparently, as the first month of the calendar year is most despised of all. An odd choice, then, to anchor two of the best-known plant-based promotion campaigns — Meat-free (or Meatless) Mondays and Veganuary — at these most hated times.

Trying to encourage meat-eaters to give up the food they love for the sake of the climate, their health or animal welfare is seen as misery enough. Surely, we are making it much harder by timing these major campaigns to align with our annual and weekly low points, right?

Well, wrong, it seems, according to research on the role that timing plays in food choice, which shows that it’s not just what we are eating that matters, but also when we choose to eat it.

Monday might be the most hated day, but it definitely isn’t the unhealthiest. Instead, Saturday takes the trophy, with US food intake data covering 10-year trends showing we consume, on average, an extra 180 calories on weekends compared to weekdays.

This weekend effect is widely replicated across the literature, and is accounted for by extra alcohol and ‘discretionary’ foods (read: fatty, junk), although some older research also suggests that meat intake is higher on weekends too — unsurprisingly, this includes bacon.

Together, these findings imply that Meatless Mondays may be more than just convenient alliteration, but........

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