How to keep your New Year's resolution past January

With the new year beginning, many of us are out trying to make positive resolutions for the year ahead.After recently stuffing our faces with turkey dinners, sweets galore, and avoiding regular appearances at the gym, it is no wonder that fitness centres, seem to be more full than they have at any time since September. However, like countless new years' resolutions, many of these fitness and health goals stand a good chance of not lasting into the future months.

A feeling of accomplishment may be reached after losing the pounds that have managed to add up and get packed on over the holidays, but why stop there? It is a known fact that being regularly active provides more energy, satisfaction, and an increased state of overall well-being. Not only does committing to a more active lifestyle promote better health, but it will also get your body into better physical shape. In turn you can gain the confidence that you desire to conduct yourself on a daily basis.

Fatigue should decrease as your body becomes more accustomed to activity. As a result you will feel less lazy and feel more productive to do things like homework, perhaps.

The cost for a membership to The Zone has once again been lowered, so there are unlimited excuses as to why you should not get into a fitness-oriented mind frame to start off 2005. If you do not like weightlifting or cardiovascular training on your own in a gym setting, then there are many group fitness classes that you can take that will get your heart pumping and your adrenaline racing.

Keep in mind that exercising alone will not provide the results that you might long for. A healthy balanced diet is necessary to attain best results in combination with physical activity.

Remember that you have to select the type of healthy eating plan you are going to follow and try not to combine too many different types of diets. Mixing certain aspects of low carbohydrate diets with low calorie diets is not always a good decision as there are different guidelines for different diets. This is because high calorie foods might appear as low carbohydrate items for a carbohydrate counting diet, but will end up putting you over your daily caloric intake for another diet.

Even if you are not willing to commit to a strict diet, simply try to eat from each of the food groups on a daily basis, and try to opt for the healthier choices whenever possible.

If you are trying to lose weight, try to remember that eating next to nothing will not provide you with long-term results and may cause your weight to yo-yo as you go through spurts of eating nothing and then bingeing. Eating multiple smaller portioned meals throughout the day is much better for you than eating a couple of large meals because your body can digest and break the food down more efficiently.

When I recently went through the McDonald's drive-thru over the Christmas break, they asked if I would like a garden salad or french fries with my grilled chicken sandwich. I was amazed and impressed that they actually offered me the option of a salad without me having to ask for it myself.

The next time you are out for dinner and just cannot help to order a double bacon cheeseburger deluxe, replace your side of fries with a side salad, because every choice you eventually make will affect your outcome.

As far as weight loss pills and protein supplements go, talk to a nutritionist or salesperson at a nutritional store to find out which types, if any, are appropriate for assisting you in accomplishing your short or long term goals.

Keeping a positive mindset will hopefully make your personal goals more easily achievable and assist you in gaining the confidence and satisfaction that is desired. Good luck with all of your resolutions, and I wish you a happy year ahead.