Every year many of us make resolutions, and every year, about a month in (two if we’re lucky to get that far) we forgot about them, or “modified” them, or simply quit trying. These resolutions usually have to do with losing weight, working out, dieting, quitting smoking or some other habit, or starting a project you’ve been thinking about.

You’ll find as many tips for resolutions as there are health “experts” on the internet, so instead of telling you how to finally lose your 10 pounds this year, or whatever other feat you want to accomplish, I’m going to give you my take on why the usual way people make resolutions doesn’t work, and what I think might be a better approach.

Most people don’t really have a well-defined vision of what they want to accomplish by the end of a year, or a month, or a week or some other period of time. They don’t have a plan, just a desired outcome. “I want to lose 10 pounds.” “I want to have $50,000.” “I want to travel more.” You get the idea. Yeah, I want a lot of things and outcomes too. But after 32 years of life, I’ve realized that the only outcomes I get are the ones I really prepare for. Not the ones I merely “want.” My weight loss and lifestyle changes, my graduate degree, my cross-country move to a city I didn’t know for the sake of living “somewhere else…”

So what do I mean by prepare? I mean, I’ve done more than state what I would like to accomplish. I have sat down and thought deeply about what that accomplishment would look like and feel like. I set a specific date by which I wanted to be living that vision, and I mapped out a course of action, with milestones along the way. I talked about it. I enlisted the support of people around me. I wrote about it. I put things in my calendar to keep me on track. I programmed in some rewards. I came up with a list of possible reasons why I might fall off-track, and devised a Plan B for each type of scenario so that if something happened, I wasn’t caught off-guard and could continue working toward my goal.

Whatever your desired outcome, it should not be a passing thought, something you just say on New Year’s eve and then forget about soon thereafter. If you really want to achieve something, if you really want to make a change or do something, prepare and get after it.

Sometimes a resolution or goal like losing weight can be much more achievable and realistic if you address the factors that have prevented you from achieving it in the past. Time management is a big one.  Most people don’t manage their time wisely, so they are either too tired from working too much and sleeping too little, or their priorities aren’t straight, and they prefer to go out for dinner and drinks five nights a week with friends, instead of saving three of those nights for the gym and a healthy dinner at home.

Make a list of the changes you need to make in order to achieve your big goal, and consider all those changes little goals along the way - leaving work at 530 instead of 7; getting to bed by 10pm instead of 1AM; performing a workout at home if you miss the gym; cooking your meals ahead for the whole week so you don’t have to pick something up every night on the way home…

I know I can’t speak for everyone and some people have circumstances and commitments for which these examples don’t apply. It doesn’t mean that you’re s.o.l. Look at your situation and see what you can do about it. It might be as easy as making an appointment with yourself on your calendar.

Whatever you resolve to do this year - really do it. Make it a healthy, happy and fulfilling 2009!

My fiance recently wrote a great post on his blog about trigger points, and I wanted to share it with you all. Check it out.

I’ll be the first to say I’m not really a girly girl when it comes to workout wear. The closest I’ve come to girly gym garb is when I wear my pink and black Adidas princess shorts and the matching (yes! matching!) black t-shirt with hot pink “Icarus wings” on the back. I’m also “cheap” and for the most part, I’ve refrained from wearing cute matching outfits because I don’t like spending money on said outfits, since I’m going to go somewhere to sweat and possibly get a little dirty while wearing said outfits.

I’ll also admit though, that this was more true in the past, than it is now, hence the recent purchase of the pink and black Adidas shorts and matching t-shirt. Historically, anything that was “cute”, and functional for working out was also pretty pricey. The lined tank tops… the shorts that wouldn’t cause chaffing… the shirts made of wicking materials that actually wick… I just couldn’t bear to part with $35 (or more!) on one item, knowing it was going to be getting stinky and dirty.

Dance Performance Tank - Adidas by Stella McCartney - $110

Stride Tech Shirt - Lululemon - (no idea on price because they won't even tell you online!)

I’d look longingly at items from the Stella McCartney collections on the Adidas website (Spring/Summer, Fall/Winter). I’d try on a bunch of the Nike things at Sports Chalet or Sports Authority, and then put everything back and grumble about $55 pants. I went bananas when I found out Lululemon would be opening a store in Arizona, and then I refused to buy anything!

The thing is I really like this stuff. I love the way the materials feel when I’m working out, and I love the way most of these well-made pants feel. I love that there aren’t seams in all the wrong places. Bottom line: I appreciate that there is science and technology behind the designs and the choices made for the different materials used in these higher-end clothes – as opposed to “imitation” materials used for cheap Walmart shorts that don’t wick the sweat away from my thighs, or the “imitation” moisture control t-shirts from Target (C9 brand) that smell god-awful after I’ve been working out for 20 minutes.

The older I get, the wiser I get, and the more I’m starting to see that these workout clothes are an INVESTMENT. If I’m working out in clothing in which I am not chaffed or uncomfortable, in which I am not dehydrating, and in which I can move properly because “the girls” are held securely in place, or the shorts have a little give in the hips when I squat… well then, they’re worth every penny.

Still, I just can’t seem to shed the frugal mentality, and that’s why I absolutely love that more and more I am able to find great deals on high-end workout clothes at places like Ross, Marshall’s and TJ Maxx. Online, too, at Overstock.com, Nordstrom.com’s Sale, and through services like ShopItToMe.com.

ShopItToMe.com, especially! What a great website! You set up how many times a week you want to receive alerts on great deals online, and you pick what kinds of things you want to know about. They send you an email with all the items on sale from various websites. Absolutely LOVE this website! I’ve found a few great workout pants and tanks via their service. They have a sub-section called ShopItToMe Running, where you can search specifically for fitness apparel and shoes.

I think I’ve found a happy compromise - finally! Comfort and functionality aren’t the only upsides to investing in some good quality workout apparel either! I used to get annoyed when I saw girls in girly-girl outfits at the gym, assuming they were dressing up to be noticed by others, but I’ll tell ya, it makes me feel young and pretty, too, to look in the mirror when I’m working out, and not see the usual sloppy-looking girl in an oversized t-shirt and gray shorts staring back sometimes!

With the Olympics wrapping up this weekend, the past two weeks have been full of excitement around my house! We love the Olympics. I can’t help but get into the spirit. I find myself looking forward to sports I don’t even think about the rest of the year, like trampoline, synchronized swimming, and table tennis as well as the stuff I love, like track and field and weightlifting. Every morning before work, and every night after work, and all weekend long, the boy and I are glued to the TV, or surfing the web for highlights from things we missed.

I can’t get enough!

What I can get enough of, and actually, I’m sick of seeing, is media coverage on “How to look like an Olympic athlete!” or “How to train like this or that Olympic athlete!” or “So-and-so’s winning diet plan for that lean Olympian physique!” There is so much emphasis on appearance! Are these folks not watching what the athletes are doing? Face it ladies, most of us are not part of that elite population. We can’t just do a watered-down version of some athlete’s training regimen, or aspire to eat the way some of those folks eat, and suddenly have our bodies transform to look as buff as Dara Torres or Lauryn Williams. And eating 12,000 calories a day will not turn us into lean machines, either. So it is driving me nuts to see articles all over the web, and features in the nightly news telling us how with just a few simple exercises we, too, can achieve an Olympic-caliber body.

The truth is this: with well-rounded and consistent training plus a sound nutrition plan, we can all look (and feel) fit, healthy, strong and beautiful. What’s more, even among Olympian ladies, you’ll see a wide variety of body types and just as many varying levels of muscularity and body fat. They are all beautiful bodies, not because of what they look like, but because of what those bodies can do. It is crazy amazing to me how fast these ladies run, how high they jump, how gracefully they twist and turn mid-air, and how much weight they lift off the ground and over their heads in a single, swift move! That’s what’s inspiring to me when I watch Olympics coverage. That is beautiful. When I watch these women kicking ass in their sports, I’m inspired to run faster, lift stronger, and eat better (no matter what they are eating!), not to look like them, but to be a better me, all over!

These women of all ages, and all walks of life, have turned the conventional meaning of “beauty” on its head.

There are two exercises that I love to do - push-ups and pull-ups or chin-ups. I am pretty good with push-ups, but I am still working hard on getting more than a handful of pull-ups per set. I try to incorporate some kind of version of these exercises in most of my workouts. But there are versions, I just won’t do. Stuff like the “girl push-ups” and the “assisted” pull-up machine (some call it the Gravitron - but that sounds like an old thrill ride to me).

Today I’m going to take a look at the push-up.

I recently took a group fitness class at a local park. The instructor, also a female, encouraged women who couldn’t do a full push-up to go down on their knees and do “girl push-ups.” Just like that. That’s what she called them. Here we were at a park full of benches, walls of different heights, even bleachers at the baseball field, and the only alternative she could come up with to modify the exercise was to take half your body out of it.

The Girl Push-Up: really… you’re stronger than that. You deserve better.

Let’s get something clear - the push-up is a lot more than a “chest and arms” exercise. It is a superb way to train the core, and increase not only your strength and stability, but also your self-confidence. Performing the exercise from your knees, instead of your toes, yes, takes away some of the weight making it easier. But it also reduces the work your core has to do, and you end up losing most of the benefit of the exercise.

A better way to do it, is to stay on your feet, and elevate your upper body. As you get stronger, place your hands on a lower surface, lower, lower and lower, until you can successfully complete that exercise on the floor, like the strong girl you are. As the saying goes, “The only way to get good at push-ups, is to do push-ups.” That couldn’t be more true. If you never train your body to do this exercise the way it’s supposed to do it, you’ll never be able to do it. Your chest and arms may get stronger doing the machines, and “girl push-ups” but your core won’t be able to support good posture. Here’s an easy way to train your push-ups:

Start as high as you need to in order to keep your spine straight from your head to your tailbone, to your feet.

As you get stronger and this height isn’t challenging anymore, find a lower height, and start there. It may take only a few workouts, as your body begins to make the necessary adjustments.

Eventually, you will find yourself on the floor, performing a set of full push-ups, and those “girl push-ups” will just be something to giggle about with each rep.