Keeping resolutions: Lifestyle changes
are ultimate goal
Feb. 23, 2004

By RENEE GAMELA
Special to the Observer-Dispatch

Utica College students Abigail Ruff, left, of Oneonta and Kathy Romanski, of Queens, work out at Curves, on Commercial Drive, in New Hartford, Monday, Feb. 09, 2004. The pair are working out together to stay motivated so they can keep their New Year's Resolution to stay in shape.

If keeping a New Year’s resolution was part of some cutthroat reality TV show, then nearly half of America would have been voted off the island by now.

Forty to 45 percent of American adults make one or more resolutions each year, and the most popular time to declare the vows is when “Auld Lang Syne” starts playing. Statistics show that only 64 percent of people who make resolutions get through the first month without quitting, according to Proactive Coach, a New York City-based personal coaching company.

“People have the best intent in the world (to keep resolutions), but sometimes they fall off track,” registered dietitian Pat Palmisano said. “What people need to realize is that you can immediately restart at any time.”

Palmisano, who is employed at Heritage Health Care Center, said that many New Year’s resolutions have to do with health, exercise and weight loss. She stressed that people should look at the resolutions as permanent changes and not just “a diet.”

“Diets are negative,” Palmisano said. “They’re drudgery, but a lifestyle change is more exciting. There are more options and it’s more empowering.”

Setting realistic goals is one way for people to maintain the attempted changes. Practical and realistic goals that have specific actions will be easier to keep track of, she said.

“It doesn’t happen overnight that all this weight came on and it won’t come off that way either,” Palmisano said. “Health needs to be a priority, and ultimately a healthy lifestyle will result in a good weight for people.”

Another health-conscious resolution that many Americans make each year is to quit smoking. Many people turn to help-groups to aid in making the lifestyle change permanent, and rely on meetings, classes and hypnosis to kick the habit.

“Quitting smoking is the single best thing someone can do for their health,” said Take Control Program Coordinator Karen Miller. Take Control is a three-week program offered through the Regional Cancer Center at Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare that began in 1996. Participants meet once a week from 6:30 to 9 p.m. and the program rotates throughout Utica, Herkimer and Rome locations.

There is a $10 registration fee for the program, which covers several topics including stress management, hypnosis, withdrawal symptoms and nicotine addiction.

“It’s typical with the New Year (that enrollment increases),” Miller said. “Our facilitators are certified and our hypnotherapist is nationally certified. We also follow people for one year to track their progress.”

Christine Maynard of Whitesboro smoked for six years before she attended the stop-smoking program last January.

“I’ve quit smoking in the past, but it’s never lasted — like for Lent — but after the 40 days, you can bet on Easter Sunday I would be smoking a cigarette,” Maynard said.

After making her resolution to quit for 2003, Maynard, who has now been smoke-free for more than a year, knew the only way would be to participate in the Take Control program.

“Now that I quit smoking I feel like it’s a huge accomplishment,” Maynard said. “It was successful because we were all in the same group, we had support,” she said, “and we didn’t want to let each other down.”

Thom Brown, professor of psychology at Utica College, agrees with Maynard’s tactic that being part of a group helped maintain the resolution.

“Having someone help you is really important, and even better is someone with the same resolution,” Brown said. People just can’t “will” something to happen, he said, but people need constant reminders of what they are attempting to do.

Abigail Ruff and Kathy Romanski are two people who made the same New Year’s resolution and the pair has been successful thus far. Ruff, 21, and Romanski, 22, are vice-president and president, respectively, of Utica College’s Physical Therapy Society. Since they have learned so much about healthy lifestyles, the pair made the resolution to be more active and eat healthier for 2004.

“I guess we just want to ‘practice what we preach’,” Romanski, a native of Queens, said. “One of the main reasons I feel I am doing this is just for my overall health and wellness.”

Ruff, who is from Oneonta, said keeping the resolution has been easy because of the partnership.

“You’re not just depending on yourself,” she said. “You have someone else there; it’s easier that way. If one of us is down we know the other one will pick us back up.”

Brown agrees that making a pledge with another person to change a certain aspect of your life is often a good way to keep one’s drive and enthusiasm up.

“Going public sometimes solidifies your commitment,” Brown said about joining a group or working as a team to continue a lifestyle change.

Most people who fall by the wayside when attempting to maintain New Year’s resolutions do so because they have not: committed to change, set reasonable goals, created a help or support system or constantly reminded themselves of what they are attempting to do, Brown said.

“People have to recognize they will not be perfect,” he said. If someone overeats or smokes a cigarette or misses a daily workout, then there is always tomorrow to get back on track, Brown said.

“No matter what you’re attempting to change in your life, you need to get enough sleep, enough variety that you don’t get bored,” he said.

Brown encourages people to remain positive while working toward maintaining resolutions and to reward themselves regularly, whether it be purchasing a book or outfit or indulging on one great dessert at the end of a good week.

“Ultimately we’re talking about changing behavior and lifestyle, and if it were easy we wouldn’t have to be making resolutions in the first place.”