So how’s that New Year’s health and fitness resolution going? I hope it wasn’t a pie-in-the-sky promise of perfection. You know the one I’m talking about — that insane vow to work out for 90 minutes a day, to never eat chocolate or potato chips again and to generally be perfect in every way imaginable.

Or perhaps you weren’t quite that ambitious this year.

Nevertheless, no matter what personal improvements you resolved to make happen in 2010, chances are you’ve already fallen off the wagon or you will soon — especially if you’re an Albertan.

I know, I know. It’s not even February yet! We’re just days into this new decade.

But there’s data to back up my pessimism. According to a new Ipsos Reid online poll, less than one-third (27%) of Albertans said they are still sticking to the fitness and healthy lifestyle resolutions they made for 2009.

The poll, conducted on behalf of equipment company Fitness Town Canada, also included British Columbia. Residents of Beautiful B.C. fare only slightly better than their eastern neighbours, with 37% still plugging away at their 2009 resolutions.

A mere 24% of poll respondents kept their resolution for up to a month. A paltry 26% lasted two to three months, while a measly 16% made it for four to 11 months.

It seems resolutions are made to be broken.

The two most popular reasons for breaking a resolution, according to the poll, were:

• Lack of motivation (42%);

• Lack of time (25%).

The problem with New Year’s resolutions, of course, is that they are often framed with an all-or-nothing attitude and perfectionist thinking. In that frame of mind, even the most well-intentioned people end up throwing in the towel if they have a momentary lapse. Next thing you know, they’re saying: “Well, I ate a few potato chips. My diet’s ruined. I might as well finish off the whole bag.”

But that’s stinkin’ thinkin’. And it’s certainly not realistic.

Perhaps New York-based trainer to the stars Pat Manocchia said it best. He told me this past year: “I’m not going to crucify somebody for having a Big Mac. You can’t eat perfectly every single meal. It just doesn’t work like that. The objective is to do the best you can and make smart choices. And don’t beat yourself up if you don’t make a smart choice.”

Precisely. That’s why many experts advise not to make resolutions. Instead, they suggest writing out a list of realistic goals for the coming year, keeping the list handy and then checking back periodically to gauge your progress.

The point is: it’s all about striving for excellence, not perfection. Many personal trainers subscribe to the 80/20 rule. That is, if you eat well 80% of the time and treat yourself 20% of the time, then you’ve got nothing to worry about.

John Rowley, fitness expert and best-selling author of Climb Your Ladder of Success Without Running Out of Gas, offers the following tips to help keep you on track this year.

FITNESS TIPS:

MOVE MORE EVERY DAY — Make it a daily challenge to find more ways to move your body. Take the stairs over the elevator, walk your dog, take brief walks during lunch breaks, ride your bike to work – any small step goes a long way in improving your overall fitness.

MELT AWAY FAT WITH MUSCLE — Your metabolism is a direct reflection of your muscle mass-to-fat mass ratio. A good resistance training routine will supercharge your metabolism in just 90 minutes a week. Simply do three 30-minute sessions a week. Cardio is great for overall health and burns fat while you are doing it, but when you do resistance training you build muscle and muscle burns calories even at rest, hence supercharging your metabolism.

BE SMART, WORK YOUR HEART — There are many conflicting opinions on cardiovascular exercise and a study to back up each of them. Some say do very short, very intense interval training and others endorse going slower but for a longer time period. I know people that get great results doing both.  I think the best form of cardio is the form you will do on a consistent basis. Getting your heart rate into the fat-burning zone is important and the best way to judge this is that you are exercising hard enough that you can barely carry on a conversation. In other words, you can speak but just barely, but not so hard that you are gasping for air in order to finish a sentence.

THE POWER OF FLEXIBILITY — Keeping your muscles flexible is very important especially as you age. Today with yoga, Pilates, etc., there are many fun ways to incorporate this into your fitness routine both at home and in the gym.

YOU ARE YOUR BEST INVESTMENT — People today are worried about their investment portfolios, their income, their home, businesses, jobs and tend to over look their greatest asset … themselves. You can have the most incredible God-given talents, abilities and skills and the best education money can buy and still fall flat on your face. It happens every day. Action not assets is the key to an extraordinary life and by not taking care of yourself you are minimizing your greatest asset and your ability to take action. It is difficult to take action when you are exhausted. Also keep in mind that the same blood that flows through your body flows through your brain. Do you think you will be more aware and alert if the blood flowing through your brain is fat-laden or if it is rich in oxygen and nutrients? Take care of your greatest asset by following some of these simple tips.

HEALTH AND DIET TIPS

CALORIC INTAKE IS IMPORTANT — This is simple math. Burn more than you consume. Your caloric intake must not exceed the amount you normally burn, since any excess would then be converted and stored energy into fats.

PUT SOMETHING WITH A FACE AND SOMETHING GREEN ON YOUR PLATE — If you don’t like counting calories you will like this. Eat something with a face … protein and green vegetables and avoid all the starchy carbohydrates like bread, cake, potatoes, rice, etc. Then your body will learn to burn fat for energy instead of carbohydrates and you will become a lean, mean fat-burning machine, without counting calories. Then once a week have a victory meal or victory day when you eat what ever you want.

THE SKINNY ON FAT — Cut out the bad fats but get some good fat in your diet. Avoid fried foods, food high in saturated fat and focus on lean proteins such as chicken and turkey breast, fish, egg whites and no-fat cottage cheese. And make sure you get your good fats from fish and fish oil, olive oil, avocado and nuts like almonds.

WATCH YOUR ALCOHOL INTAKE — While recent studies show a glass of wine a day can help protect against heart disease, more than that can cause other health problems such as liver and kidney disease and cancer. And one drink can pack in 100 calories or more and make it harder for you to reach your fitness goals.

DRINK WATER — Drinking water does several things: it keeps you hydrated, it helps flush your body of fat and toxins and it also helps curb your appetite. You should be drinking at least half your body weight in ounces of water a day.

SET A REALISTIC GOAL — Weight loss and fitness goals should be three things: realistic, believable and exciting. Despite what is seen on TV, losing more than two pounds a week can make permanent weight loss difficult. Set a steady but realistic goal and reward yourself for reaching milestones along the way. Make goals believable but also exciting. Challenge yourself and take everything one day at a time, towards an overall goal of a healthier life. The key is to make this part of your lifestyle to enhance your life.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY — Success in an endeavour follows consistent action. Remember, it requires discipline to do the things today that you don’t necessarily want to do, so you can do the things you dream of doing tomorrow!

John Rowley is the director of fitness and wellness at The American Institute of Healthcare & Fitness (www.aihfwellness.com).

Tags: Ipsos Reid, New Year's resolutions