With the holiday feasting behind us now, many Americans turn to another of a yearly New Year’s obsessions.

The annual resolution list of things people want to change, or do without.

The quest to find out more on this topic led us to a nearby fitness center to talk with someone about where they sit or don’t sit on the resolution issue.

The first person we met as we entered the gym was its manager, Sindy Dickey.

“When some people hit a certain age, they just give up. For women that age seems like 40. I was told so many times that when I hit 40 that was it,” Dickey said.

Dickey has been working at Anytime Fitness since August.

“It began for me last year on New Year’s,” Dickey said. “I was 25 pounds overweight and I told myself that I was going to lose it.”

For many that try making a resolution, studies have found that most make it only a couple of weeks, Dickey said.

“A whole year is just too overwhelming. I knew if I was going to make my goal of losing the weight that I was going to have to, first of all do it different.”

The first thing that Dickey did in her taking a different approach was to take it one day at a time.

“When people vow to do something or to go a whole year without something,” Dickey said, “That is usually when a person encounters failure and they quit and go back to their old ways.”

Another thing that Dickey found to do was to involve others.

“When I got to certain place in my journey,” Dickey said, “I knew at this point I had to involve others to help me keep going.? What Dickey found was not just one other but 88 others that joined year in her quest towards weight lose and better health.

“I made an event out of it, Dickey said. “I got sponsors and prizes and made it fun.”

Dickey went through many other reasons why people don’t make it through to the end when they make a resolution. “New Years is a very good time to start something like this,” Dickey said. “You just need to have a good plan.”

Suggestions that Dickey gave on weight loss was to first think about burning calories.

“When people come into the gym I tell them first that they need to do cardiovascular and that starts with elliptical training,” Dickey said. “If you keep going, you will win.”

The next suggestion Dickey said people need to learn is how to shop for their food.

“When we go to the grocery store, we should stay away from the center of the store. The center of the store or the middle isles is where the processed food is. The vegetables, fruits, dairy and meat are on the long the walls around the store,” she said.

Dickey had one last suggestion.

“Find a friend who you can do your workouts with and you will be more successful,” she said.

Dickey sees a lot of people start on a workout program. “People shouldn’t beat up on themselves up just because life happens. Don’t quit. There are many fitness centers in the area where a person can find help in accomplishing their fitness goals this year.”