New Resolutions, same old outcome!

Seven days into 2012 and according to statisticians, 74% of women and 58% of men will have made a New Year’s resolution. I opted for my usual, which is that I resolutely decided to go to the gym more frequently and get value out of my monthly membership fee. The problem is though, I know my newly found gusto won’t last long, by May I’ll most likely have returned to being really annoyed that I’m paying a month membership to a gym that I haven’t seen the inside of for months!

Now I may be weak willed or potentially just a little on the gym going lazy side, but it seems that we are all prone to being strong willed in January. How many people do you know trying out a new detox, or aren’t drinking or eating any carbs this month? Let’s face it, we all do it.

Yet I do have to wonder, if I weren’t pulling myself away from the fridge (for the bottle of wine I know is in there) or away from the bread bin and over to the gym, what else would I be doing? January is notoriously a dull month. We have poor weather and everyone is grumpy at having to settle back into the work cycle, with no light (in the form of the next bank holiday) until April!

So it seems that January really is the month in which to make a fresh start and turn over a new leaf. Most of us over did it at Christmas, most of us are broke until pay day arrives again, most people are staying in, and the BBC, ITV and most of the other free view channels seem intent on driving us insane with excessive repeats. I do wonder how many times ITV and ITV2 are planning on showing “You’ve got mail” – although this is a great film to show your kids, teach them what the internet used to be like in the days of dial up, when your landline was permanently engaged!

So with no one going out and finding it boring to stay in, it seems only too easy for me to make the short journey to the gym – well, you would think! Yet this is all only well and good until January ends, your friends give up on their detox, everyone starts drinking again, and spring and light nights start to draw near. Then, it is surely a case of did I make any New Year’s what now?

I had a quick look at some of the top New Year resolutions and I have to say some of them made more sense to me than others. Two that really could, in my opinion, be summed up into one were; fit in fitness – this obviously made sense to me, and tame the bulge – although am I the only woman assuming that this was a man’s resolution? I feel sure that if it had been a woman it would’ve been phrased much more nicely, maybe; resolve to lose a couple of pounds (meaning probably a stone!)

Some of the others were; quit smoking – I can see the appeal, but then it’s easier for me to say as I’m not a smoker. Also is it wrong to encourage friends to quit so that when January ends and we’re back in the pub, we can sit inside and not all huddle around a heater outside? Enjoy life more – doesn’t seem the timeliest of resolutions, does anyone really enjoy January (assuming that is that you don’t have a skiing / exotic winter break planned or birthday?) Quit drinking – the part missing though is surely, for now?

The last few were; get out of debt – really in January? Granted I suppose it could be a long term resolution. Learn something new – maybe I could adopt this one as well and finally find out what zumba is? Help others – maybe I’ll find the time while “You’ve Got Mail” is on again or I’m waiting for dial up! Get organised – how soon is too soon to start planning on when to use my annual leave?

The final resolution that made its way onto the list though was a complete surprise to me. Spend more time with my family. I have to assume that this was written by someone who was (a) not home over Christmas and (b) is not dependent on January payday, free view or dial up!