New year, old resolutions

Yes, the party is over. Your groggy brain is making a hopeless effort of dragging you out of bed. The zest and hope and other happy things that you were brimming over with for the New Year, right until yesterday seem to have all gone kaput. Coffee? Yes, please. And those New Year resolutions for a fitter you? no please.

Difficult to stick to, aren't they? In a recent study conducted by Richard Wise man of the University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, over 3,000 people were tracked while attempting to achieve a range of things including losing weight, quitting smoking or drinking less. At the start of the study, about 52 per cent were confident of success but only 12 per cent actually achieved their goals. Researchers also found that resolutions most likely to succeed were enjoy life more (which 32 per cent people managed to stick to); improve your fitness (29 per cent); lose weight (28 per cent); quit or cut down drinking (25 per cent) and quit or cut down smoking (24 per cent). But no sweat. Relax; nurse that mean hangover for now while we toss over some of those impossible-to-achieve New Year resolutions to the experts and have them tell us how to actually get down to accomplishing them. Quitting smoking is one resolution almost everyone makes but only a fraction steadfastly sticks to. And the most common roadblocks are often losing motivation or simply facing a lack of time1 Quit smoking. This one is the toughest of the lot. Even when you manage to kick the habit, there's no saying when it could creep right back into your routine.

"I had resolved to give up cigarettes by the end of 2007 but haven't managed to. My job is hectic and stressful and I end up smoking, no matter what. I can't control the habit," says Kunal Gupte, a 28-year-old software engineer. Expert speak: "Gradually reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke per day may work better than just giving it all up on one day," says general practitioner Dr Anand Bhave. "Suddenly going from smoking 10-15 cigarettes a day to none will cause withdrawal symptoms such as feeling low or tremors in your body. Come down to five instead and try to phase out the habit. If that doesn't work, consult your doctor and even take treatment like wearing nicotine patches on your body to help kick the habit," he adds. This formula seems to be working for 24-year-old Pravin Gopal. "I used to smoke seven cigarettes a day until November. Now I can manage with just three. And I am doing fine so far. The key, for me, is to reduce the number of breaks I take in my workday. Earlier, I would end up smoking during every coffee break" .
2 Exercise regularly : One resolution almost everyone makes but only a fraction steadfastly sticks to. And the most common roadblocks are often losing motivation or simply facing a lack of time. Says Rinku Singh, a 32-year-old mother and software engineer, "I have a year old baby, a home to take care of, and a really busy job to juggle. I often have to put in extra hours at the office. My resolution last year was to exercise by taking a brisk walk everyday. But I just haven't been able to do it," she says."

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