This year, bolstered by an unprecedented onslaught of gym and fitness center commercials. health food specials from Nutri-System and others, and the biggest weight-loss propaganda machine known to man (The Biggest Loser weight-loss prime time show in the USA), the Resolutionary Army managed to clog the arteries of my local gym/YMCA until mid-February.
Life counter-attacked, throwing blizzards, Super Bowl parties, surging/crashing insulin/sugar levels, topped off with a big dose of Valentine’s Day and one last salvo known as Presidents’ Day (actually Washington’s Birthday observation).
It’s over. Signs of defeat: Open parking spaces, no lines, free weights available, treadmills and elliptical machines sitting open, and the list goes on.
The regulars keep plugging away. No holiday, no excuse to binge, no snow storm or other excuse will stop people who are truly dedicated.
I don’t mind that people want to change – I really don’t. But I don’t like this ‘doomed-to-failure’ approach called the New Year Resolution. Everyone exploits the unhealthy in January. No one wants to help you; they just want your money.
(My local Y has a business model that requires a 1000 member surge in January, which must be from people who will pay and not show up for the whole year. It works.)
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