Jan. 1 is a clean slate, and there’s no one who doesn’t like to start out fresh, especially when it comes to diet and weight loss. But being fit and eating a nutritious diet shouldn’t be a once-a-year goal, because it gives you 364 days to fail.

Sure, the first week of the New Year is filled with dedication to hitting the gym every day and throwing out old Christmas cookies or Hanukkah potato latkes. People think, ‘In with ‘insert-year-here’ and out with the holiday weight.’

‘It’s usually in the backs of people’s minds – ‘oh, that’ll be my New Year’s resolution, to jump on the treadmill and lose the weight that I just packed on,” said Eliza Decker, the assistant director for Facilities, Wellness and Aquatics at Syracuse University.

But there’s a bigger picture to keep in mind when setting New Year’s resolutions, especially when it comes to living healthily. While resolutions are a good starting point, there is sometimes too much pressure on a person when there’s that little voice in his or her head saying, ‘Go to the gym. If you don’t, you might as well wait until next year.’

Instead, focus your resolution on a new attitude, not a specific weight or waist size. Making a lifestyle change allows room for mistakes and sweet treats, which can be just the motivation needed to keep going.

‘People are just thinking, ‘I just need to lose weight,” Decker said. ‘I think people need to change their thinking a little bit. What we see in the gym is it’s packed for about a month, and then it goes back to normal, and you might get a rush around spring break. That is the rush because people are saying, ‘I need to lose weight,’ not what they should be saying: ‘I need to be healthy.”

The problem with setting a specific goal – like nixing muffins at brunch, even if you love muffins – is that it’s a setup for failure. Deprivation only makes a person want the forbidden fruit more. Instead, have a cookie with a glass of skim milk to help you feel full. It’s all about moderation.

Even exercise should be in moderation. Becca McAvinue, a junior health and wellness major and Archbold Gymnasium supervisor, finds that students who work out intensely as a part of their resolution soon get worn-out.

‘(Working out) should be to the point of a lifestyle change. It’s part of my schedule,’ she said.

Seeing results for weight loss, muscle tone and increased strength takes time – at least four to six weeks of solid training, Decker said. Yet I only wait in line for an elliptical or a weight bench a few weeks during the spring semester. Students should realize a week of hitting the gym won’t make them the next Victoria’s Secret model or Arnold Schwarzenegger.

‘Working (at the gyms), you can see some new faces. You can pick out the regulars and people that you can tell are avid gym goers,’ said Scott Iseman, a senior student supervisor for the SU fitness centers and an exercise science major. ‘It doesn’t always seem to last.’

Decker and the Healthy Monday staff have a way to let people who set goals and resolutions either ‘fix mistakes’ or create an easy starting point for lifestyle change. Created by Sid Lerner, Healthy Monday offers free fitness classes at Archbold, free fruit and free massages every Monday, providing a way to refocus plans to be fit.

‘Every Monday is your healthy day,’ Decker said. ‘If you don’t make your New Year’s resolution, every Monday of every week you have another chance to get feeling healthy.’

The biggest thing to remember when making your 2009 to-do list is that Jan. 1 is just day one of living healthier. Getting and staying in shape starts with a lifestyle change, and it will take at least four weeks to see results – there’s no quick fix. Note for those going to Cancun in March: Working out six days before your flight won’t get you that bikini bod you’re dying for.

‘If you’re thinking about your health and your well-being as your goal instead of the weight loss, if you mess up or you cheat, don’t let that stop you … overall, you’re going to feel healthy if you keep going,’ Decker said.

Heather Mayer is a senior newspaper major with Spanish and nutrition minors, so she does have some idea what she’s talking about. E-mail her at [email protected]

Published on January 15, 2009 at 12:00 pm