WSMV Channel 4 Gyms see attendance spike after resolutions made

Gyms see attendance spike after resolutions made

Many people want to get healthier and leaner in the new year, but with fatter checkbooks.

An annual survey of new year's resolutions found the most common goals for 2012 are improved health, better finances and becoming more physically fit.

For many who make resolutions, the goals often die without hitting the desired results.

So how can folks make these common goals stick, once Jan. 1 is nothing but a memory?

A busy day Monday at the Bellevue YMCA suggests new gym memberships are the first step for many people on the path to a slimmer 2012.

Consider that on a normal Monday, some 2,500 people walk through the facility's doors, but this month, officials anticipate nearly 3,200 at the gym everyday.

"I think its really about a connection, be it either to a class, certain activity, a group of friends, or even something as simple as volunteering," said Cleo Griffin, with the YMCA. "If you can get connected to something, then the likelihood that you'll stick to it goes up dramatically."

Kevin and Heidi Fincham are a lot like me and you. They saw things they want to change, but making them stick is the hard part.

So they made a resolution about resolutions.

"We had been doing resolutions and hadn't been very good at it, and we thought 'well, let's write them down,'" Kevin Fincham said.

And so they started a goal book. Career, spiritual, fitness goals all listed in one book and signed like a contract.

"It's been great, we write them down and we talk about them together," Heidi Fincham said. "And then throughout the year we look at them and see what we've accomplished and what we haven't."

Last year was their best year ever. They said they would run their first ever half-marathon, and they did. They said they would eliminate one credit card bill, and they did.

"It makes you feel more successful, not just a resolution. It's just a lifestyle of constantly trying to improve yourself," Heidi Fincham said.

If you would like some help getting started on a new resolution plan, the YMCA has a new fitness initiative called "Thrive" and you don't have to be a member to participate.

For more details, visit: http://www.ymcathrive.com

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