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The presents are bought, wrapped and under the tree. The Christmas cards have been mailed and invitations issued for Christmas dinner. Now that you're almost ready for the big day, your thoughts turn toward the New Year. You realize that, besides the parties and celebrating you are about to embark on a brand new year. It's almost like wiping the slate clean and starting over. You think about the things you'd like to change in your life. New Year's resolutions everybody makes them. But how many keep them?

The trouble with most New Year's resolutions is they are unrealistic and hard to keep. How many years have you vowed to take off those extra pounds, quit smoking or even to be nicer to the people you meet? Noble intentions, true, but ones easily broken. If it were as easy as simply saying so, you wouldn't have to keep making the same resolutions year after year.

Instead of setting yourself up for failure, this year try something different. It took years for those extra pounds to creep on. Instead of simply vowing to lose weight, resolve to give up something that has contributed to your "fluffiness." If, for example, you've gotten in the habit of grabbing a cookie every time you pass the cookie jar, resolve to put the cookie jar out of sight and snack, instead, on apple slices or raw vegetables. Or forego the toast with butter and jam at breakfast. Remember, just 100 calories a day less equals 700 calories less a week or a ten-pound weight loss in a year.

Many folks make a New Year's resolution to exercise more. Exercise is a great way to not only lose those extra pounds but also tone your muscles and increase your energy. You can't go wrong resolving to exercise in the coming year. The reason a lot of people fail with this resolution is they try to do too much at once. Especially if you're not used to a regular exercise routine your body needs to ease into it slowly. Don't try to jog three miles on a treadmill or do fifty arm lifts on the machine at the gym. Start off with a mile of walking and gradually increase as your stamina builds. Do fifteen repitions on the weight machine, rest a few minutes then do fifteen more. If you decide to join a gym for your workouts you may want to enlist the help of a personal trainer or staff member to show you the proper way to exercise for the results you desire. If you start out slowly you won't be so apt to chuck it all in the first few weeks.

Have you've tried numerous times to quit smoking but have

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