If you want to make sure you don’t gain two pant sizes over the holidays, try adhering to a fitness-related resolution before your grandmother rolls out her famous buttertarts, and not a month after. Start your resolutions early.

It’s far easier t

o get something done if you are motivated by positive feelings rather than by guilt and a sense of failure or loss of control. This principle applies to many of our goals in life, including goals to lose weight or become more active and healthy.

Indeed, some psychologists have found that those positively motivated towards succeeding yield better results than those motivated by anxiety and the fear of failure. If you gain weight over the holidays and meanwhile assure yourself you can turn it all around come January, you’re starting off on the wrong foot. Don’t let yourself get to this point. Know that you can succeed in achieving your goals by starting today.

Try capitalizing on the festivity and excitement of the holiday season to gain motivation to be active. Engage in seasonal sports before rewarding yourself—in moderation—with holiday goodies like hot chocolate. If you have the money, you could try snowboarding or skiing. A cheaper alternative is to take your children or friends out ice-skating at a local recreational centre. Even more simple, go for a walk around the neighbourhood and check out the holiday lights and decorations, or enjoy some freshly-fallen snow.

As far as diet goes, avoid eating baked goods or sugary foods on an empty stomach. Save them for dessert, if possible, when you have already eaten a full meal and feel satisfied. Are you hosting an event this holiday season? Include healthy alternatives to holiday treats on your menu, like vegetable trays with low-fat dips.

A key to staying positive—which in turn helps you achieve your goals—is to know how to promote good mental health. Again, focus on the positive aspects of the holiday season, like time with family and an opportunity to be giving. Allow yourself to enjoy life; make time for laughter. Many studies have suggested that laughter has numerous health benefits. A 2006 article in Nursing magazine describes what laughter can do for our bodies: it reduces stress-hormone levels, it increases our blood circulation and respiration levels, and it actually makes our immune systems work better.

The cliche “new year’s resolution” doesn’t work for many people, as they tend to use the remaining weeks of the year for unrestrained indulgence. Resolutions, though, do work. Let’s say your goal is to walk from one end of the country to the other. Would you start by spending one month swimming across the ocean in the opposite direction of the shore? Not likely. So, if your goal is to become healthy, fit or slim for the upcoming year, why spend the month of December slacking and eating to your heart’s desire? You will be more likely to fail. Instead, think about starting your new year’s resolution today.

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer. For further information call 604-420-7800 or go to www.karpfitness.com.