Holiday Peachy: New Year’s FITNESS Resolutions By Mover and Shaker Laurie Towers

This is the time of year, that in between moving around furniture to accommodate family volume, making mental notations of what's not present in the refrigerator for our celebrated recipes, we silently, sometimes outwardly, make our promises for the year to come. Pledged in earnest and with every intention of fulfillment, why does it take a wrong turn as we shake the New Years Eve confetti from out hair? Many reasons. Those of us who "drank the Koolaid" as far as fitness being a way of life know how to make it a part of our daily routine.

Since logic is the only true method in approaching this, here are some suggestions on keeping health a top priority for the New Year.
- joining a gym is on the top of the list as it is every year, but what if that is not financially feasible in these economic times?
- Walking or biking to work if at all possible, or getting off a stop or two before you need. Weather permitting this is a good way to jump start your metabolism a bit and engage in a bit of functional fitness.
-Same rules apply here with the elevators in your building. Unless there are specific restrictions placed upon you joint-wise, walking up as well as down the stairs certainly burns more calories than pressing the "up" button.
- Invite a friend to engage in an outing of a walk on the weekends, or to join you in a sport of shared enjoyment. As we are social beings, the incentive of a "buddy" joining us, triggers our innate sense of camaraderie and makes the undertaking of any task far more enjoyable.
-Bring your food to the office. By doing this you will ensure portion control as well as knowing the preparation and ingredients involved and will have a better hand on caloric restriction if need be.
-Variety of activities. Even the most enjoyable things and events can become routine and monotonous, especially cardiovascular activity. A switch up in your work out plan can be just the shot in the arm you need. If you tend to like biking and walking, if at all possible do it outdoors so that your surroundings supply ample stimulation and create a better backdrop to whatever you are doing..
- Accountability in working out...this is where the buddy system really shows its worth. You are far more likely to show up to a workout if you know someone is relying on you to be there. As you wouldn't necessarily want to give up in front of an audience, you will more likely get there even if you didn't want to and create a more seamless routine because of it.
- Substitution in cooking. Especially when preparing those wonderful baked goods and pies, one might want to substitute a healthier sweetener such as honey, cinnamon or brown sugar, instead of the syrups, extracts and sugars that allow the calories to mount.
-Holiday parties...there is nothing harder than trying to reduce the amount you are consuming when all that egg nog and fruitcake keeps whistling you over every time you pass by. Your best bet is to eat a bit before you arrive, so that you won’t arrive famished and tend to eat on impulse rather than good sense.
-Realistic goal setting. To achieve a desired goal you have to be able to meet it reasonably. If you set the pole way too high there is no way to launch yourself over, and you tend to either sabotage the act, or walk away in defeat. Create a lifestyle change in diet and exercise rather than a harsh and sharp contrast to your present routine: something that has the potential to become a way of life that you can easily adapt to long term. It takes away a lot of the anxiety-induced binge eating born of depravation. Keeping in mind that it’s perfectly natural to want to have a "cheat day" and indulge in the worse foods possible. We all do. The key is to use that day as a reward for a well balanced nutritional investment you abided by the rest of the week.

The worst part of any resolution is the feeling that you have failed your attempt . Allowing yourself flexible and reasonable goals will let you become your own cheerleader and continue a healthier past long after we put our party hats away......

-Laurie Towers is the CEO of both Physical Advantage PC (www.physical-knead.com) and the Bridal Body Shop (www.TheBridalBodyShop.com)