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Many people across the world like to set goals for themselves, known commonly as New Year’s Resolutions, at the beginning of the new year. However, not many people know how to stick with them for longer than six weeks.

According to statista.com, approximately 45 percent of Americans set fitness or weight loss goals as resolutions for 2018. Bodybuilding.com states that of the people that set these goals, about 73 percent will give up at some point throughout the year and nearly half of these people drop out of it within their first six weeks or sooner. These people said they had the following reasons for this: 42 percent said it was difficult to follow a diet or workout program, 38 percent found it hard to get back on track once they had an off day, and 36 percent simply stated that it was hard to find time.

Nicholas Costonis, a former Triton student, said that he had the resolution to get healthier for nearly every year he played football. He said he stuck with it for nearly as long as he played but fell out of it soon after.

“After football I kind of just fell out of it,” said Costonis, “I guess that’s just how resolutions work.”

Triton math teacher Irene Thompson says that sometimes it can be difficult to keep up with a healthy lifestyle. This can be especially hard on emotionally draining days at work or school. Having the right mindset is an important part of dieting and exercising.

“People think of a diet as a special solution but really it’s monitoring what’s going into your body all the time, which is exhausting,” said Thompson, “Some people just don’t understand it’s more of a life change than just going on a diet for a few months and losing a certain amount of weight.”

Jon Trelfa owns his own food microbiology laboratory in Salisbury, Massachusetts called Trelfa Labs. Trelfa has owned the laboratory for almost 10 years and has worked with large companies such as Hannah Foods, the now out of business NECCO Candy Company, and Kayem Foods, along with other local companies that Triton students and faculty may know well, such as Joe’s Playland, Hodgie’s Too, and multiple Edible Arrangements stores throughout Massachusetts. One of his more frequent jobs is producing nutrition labels for the food products of his clients. These nutrition labels provide the information about the products they represent.

“If you’re really looking to lose weight, your protein intake should be approximately double your carbohydrate intake,” stated Trelfa, “The typical food label on any shelf in any grocery store will be almost the opposite. You’ll see two to three times the carbohydrates.”

Trelfa goes on to say that the human body runs off of the same things that almost any living organism runs off of: water, protein, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, etc. This means that it’s not good to completely cut carbohydrates from a diet for general health reasons.

Many people like to set health and fitness goals for themselves each new year. While many people may fall out of it soon after they start, some are very successful and happy with the progress they make. All it takes is a few healthier decisions and small, achievable tasks for each day. Overall, it’s important to keep personal health in mind and not go crazy with diets or exercise that may only make things harder.