An ode to the resolution.

I don't normally set new year's resolutions, as I've found it easier to just implement those changes throughout the year as they occur to me or as I realize they need to be done. But I still love and respect the resolution, because I love when people make a decision to change their lives for the better -- and I love it even more when they follow through.

As a fitness instructor, I've had a front-row seat for many resolution successes and failures. I noticed a few trends that seemed to indicate whether or not people would give up or not.

Some of those who quit the gym after a couple of weeks were so focused on speeding toward their desired result. Every day that they weighed the same as they did the day before was frustrating and painful. They couldn't seem to wrap their heads around the fact that it took them a long time to gain weight or to fall out of shape -- and it would take awhile to lose it or to increase their fitness.

The exercisers who were able to focus on each workout and appreciate where they were, those who were able to congratulate themselves for a job well done on each particular day, were still in the gym by March, by July, and beyond. It's what yoga has been teaching me all along: the best place to live is in the present.

You can't be plagued by guilt if you're not dwelling on the past -- on too many chocolate chip cookies and too many missed workouts. You can't be frustrated if you're not dwelling on the future -- the hopes of a possibly unattainable body or the fear that you might never get where you want to be. Taking each day at a time was a huge factor in those successfully executed resolutions.

I haven't had a gym for about a year. For awhile, I really missed those workouts -- I missed lifting weights. But I'm starting to appreciate what not having a gym is doing for me.

At first, I felt like those failed resolutionists, freaked out that I was failing my body by not doing the sorts of workouts I was accustomed to. Then I got back to my roots. I ran more (the most portable workout), took long walks, and did a lot more yoga and pilates. Even though my cardiovascular and muscular endurance aren't what they used to be, I'm thrilled with the creative crosstraining I've been doing. I work out every day, but I don't have a routine: I do what feels good. I don't feel guilty if I only run one time this week. And based on what I learned from the successful and failed resolutions, I think this approach is going to do me just fine.

So once again this year, I don't really have a resolution. But if you do, I hope you take it day by day -- and then one of those days, you'll look back and go, wow: that change set in, and I didn't even realize it.