Students resolve to change habits

Eat healthier. Hit the gym every day. Go home to visit Mom and Dad more often. Study harder. Making a list of New Year’s resolutions is effortless, but sticking with those goals throughout the year is the challenging part.

As GCSU’s spring semester began Monday, the Wellness Depot was flooded with students eager to begin new workout regimens. According to records, 629 people signed in at the Depot on Monday, which was a significant increase from the weeks leading up to Christmas break.

“I am going to go to the gym more and actually work on parts of my body that I don’t like the most,” senior community health major Amber Green said.

The most popular resolutions deal with losing weight and exercising. However, many people fail to remain motivated and end up quitting what they had committed to during the beginning of the year.

According to a national survey, 45 percent of Americans set a New Year’s resolution. However, only 8 percent of those are effective in accomplishing their goals. Many fail within the first couple of weeks. Over half the people who make resolutions will give up after six months.

With such bleak statistics, it can be difficult to stay motivated.

Often, students tend to get tired of going to the gym or eating the right way. Thinking about the outcome can sometimes increase motivation and help people stay on track.

Joe Samprone, GCSU cross country coach for eight years, said he believes that, in the end, a person will feel better about themselves by accomplishing his objectives.

“If you succeed and stick with (an exercise program), you’ll not only feel better, but the discipline it takes to stick with an exercise program will spill over into other parts of your life,” Samprone said.

Having a partner could motivate, energize and inspire a person to keep up with their daily routine.

“With running I stay motivated by … making people hold me accountable,” said senior mass communication major and cross-country runner Heather Raines.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 22 2010. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry