I know, I know, everyone posts this or writes this article every year during what I call the Resolutionary Period of the year. How and why is mine any different? I acknowledge how hard it is. I admit that the gym system and the food culture are built to make resolutions fail. I hexplain ways to avoid certain pitfalls and how to overcome obstacles without downplaying the difficulty of it. The problems that we encounter are:

• Gym memberships are sold in hopes that you buy the membership, continue to pay for the membership, but stop going so as to limit wear and tear on the equipment;
• Winter foods are unhealthy and are socially ingrained;
• The gym regulars make you uncomfortable. This is because they really do hate this Resolutionary Period of each year. You do irritate them;
• Gyms are crowded and often overcrowded during the Resolutionary Period. This continues until late February;
• All the fancy equipment for working out at home is really expensive and confusing.
Let’s address these, one point at a time.

Gym Memberships

If you have not yet, then DO NOT buy a gym membership in January. Seriously. You can still find a trainer to consult about your goals and set up a workout plan for home use during the next six to eight weeks. There are plenty of videos on YouTube or on DVD to get you started. (Soon there will be on here, too!) Right now, even getting an appointment to learn the equipment with a trainer in a gym will be tough. The staff at gyms are busy, busy, busy right now. But a meeting with a trainer to go over your goals and review what you’re doing? That’s a thirty to sixty minute meeting that you could have just about anywhere.
This is not to say that you should not take a class or make appointments with a trainer to work out. In fact, I highly recommend a yoga and/or Pilates and/or a Boot Camp class to get you started. This helps to relieve stress and acclimate you to working out in front of people. Even better: you will not have to wait for equipment. Better still: You will be learning exercises that you can do anywhere, and while you’re learning, there is someone present to correct your form, AFFORDABLY.
Join a gym after you have worked out at home for six to eight weeks and you have researched all of the gyms in your area and where you are more likely to drive or walk and WHEN you are best at working out. Do not be swayed by New Year’s specials. There will be another special, I’m sure. Even if it is not quite as appealing, saving money on a membership you’ll barely use is wasting money. If you won’t go to that gym regularly, then getting this month’s special discount is pointless. Once you know when you can and will work out and you know the best location for your needs, then select a gym to join.
DO NOT LET THE CROWDS AT THE GYM FOR THE FIRST SIX WEEKS OF THE RESOLUTIONARY PERIOD DETER YOU FROM PICKING THE GYM THAT SUITS YOUR NEEDS THE BEST. This is a year boom that, sadly, will go bust by late February at the latest. If you wait until after the Resolutionary Period has ended, then you have a much more accurate assessment of when the gym is crowded and by whom. Yes, we all know that some of us do not want to work out with a bunch of women or the inverse. Some of us want to work out with those from whom we can learn, and others don’t want to be seen by anyone who is experienced and does not appear to share our same struggles. If you know that you won’t work out in front of X, then pick a gym that does not have mostly X during the times that you would be working out. Your fears and paranoia are real, whether they are considered logical by others or not. These apprehensions will come into play, so know them up front and make your decisions based on that, too. You know your mind, so listen to it.
Winter Foods

This is hard. It just is. Cadbury eggs and all the other Easter candy, the St. Valentine’s Day candy: they’re all out before the first day of the year. Our cold weather comfort foods are creamy, cheesy, carbohydrate- and fat-laden. Fresh vegetables are not on our minds and we cook our winter vegetation in butter, cream, and add sugar and/or heavy sauces to it. I will never knock real butter or real cream or vilify carbohydrates, but if you are cutting back on one or the other, these foods that combine both throw a kink into the works. If you know that you will always give in to jelly beans or biscuits and gravy or fettucine alfredo, then cut out your other downfalls and guilty pleasures and just try to limit the seasonal treats and winter foods.
There are two things that you must add if they are missing from your diet: fresh veggies (in salad or other form) and water. Three things that you need to remove from your diet are colas, candies, and chips. Some things vary, but if you want to see real improvements in your health and physique, then these rules are absolutes.
If you cannot cut out the junk food entirely at first, then find what you are comfortable cutting back on at this moment. Be honest with yourself, but do NOT sell yourself short. We all have had events or days that we thought we would never get through or faced challenges that we were not certain we could overcome, but we did. If you can get through your worst day or hour ever, then you can get through a week with only half of your normal intake of cola or only one chocolate bar, or only one snack pack of chips. Or get through the week substituting fresh fruit and vegetables for all of your treats. You can do it, trust me.
What does your daily intake of junk food have to do with heavy winter foods? If you have the occasional pancake breakfast or biscuits and gravy or mashed potatoes and gravy or cookies or St. Valentine’s Day chocolate, this will not set you back very far if you are not already pumping yourself full of junk that will not nourish you in addition to those occasional splurges.
The Gym Regulars

Yes, you annoy us. We can be real jerks about how your cars take up the entire parking lot, and we have to wait to park. Then we have to wait for you to use or misuse a machine, wait to use the weights, wait for open floor space or benches, et c. We have to do all of this knowing that it is for nought. We know that most of you are causing this disruption to our routines yet you will not stick with it to make our inconvenience worth it for your own health. If you wait six to eight weeks to join a gym, then you avoid this problem. Plus, the gym regulars are more likely to help out or just be friendlier if we know that you’re not a mindless Resolutionary.
Now there are a few things that you can do to minimize to annoyance that you cause the regulars. These are just basic gym etiquette, and they are effective:

• Talk to them and be nice and not fearful, BUT NOT WHILE THEY HAVE ON HEADPHONES!
• Ask for help. Nobody wants to wait for a machine only to discover that you broke it.
• Do not hog machines or weights. Using something – even floor space – is fine as long as you don’t monopolize it.
• Equipment that has a seat built into it is not to be used as a couch, a table, or a chair. Do not sit and talk on them or sit and use your phone on them.
• Don’t stink. Surely you know how to bathe, right?
• Leave your purse or bag in a locker or just don’t bring such a thing.
• Dress so that nobody has to see your junk.
• Phone calls happen. Even bad calls. Just keep it short and at a low volume.
• Do not stare.
• Wipe up your own sweat.
• Clean up your own spills.
• DO NOT GET ANYONE ELSE IN YOUR SELFIES! DO NOT TAKE SELFIES IN THE LOCKER ROOM IF ANYONE ELSE IS IN THERE!!!!!
• We all have to eat. Let me introduce you to the protein shake and protein bar. Leave your smelly food at home. Oh, and no matter what you think of food allergies (yes, people have opinions on such things), wash your hands after you eat and before you use equipment. Besides, sticky and/or greasy handles are disgusting. Also, none of us want to see somebody have a severe reaction to food particles.
Gyms are Crowded in January

Yup. So plan accordingly. Wait to join. If you are already a member, be patient and plan for this. Just know that the crowds do ease up and it does get better.
Fancy, At-Home Gym Equipment is Expensive and Confusing

It is. So don’t buy anything besides some weights that you can AND WILL use (ten pounds and above), maybe some resistance bands, and a yoga mat. Do buy good shoes. You want to run? Put on a jacket and earmuffs and run outside. You want to do yoga? Pop in a video. You want to gain muscle mass? You can do a lot with bodyweight exercises to start. You want to do barre? Grab the back of a sturdy chair. You want to do decline plank? Use a stair, a table, a chair, some blocks, a box, et c. Push-ups, burpees, jumping jacks, jump rope, body weight squats, and plank are all great exercises for beginners that do not require any equipment. Do this until you (and the gyms) are ready for a gym membership.
Spiritual

Have you prayed for the desire and ability to get out of bed early or go to the gym during lunch? What about asking God to deliver you from the temptation of foods you should not eat? Have you prayed for the strength to go five more minutes running? If so, have you said “thank you?” Are you praising and being grateful for this? For every step that you can take toward physical fitness? Remember to do this. Remember to have faith and to believe that yhis is working and that you are not alone in this process.