Editorial: Time to resolve to be healthier

Are you one of the 45 percent of Americans who will make a resolution to start the New Year? And one of the many who will resolve to get more fit and healthy?

The Daily Herald has been a big backer over the years of getting fit and staying healthy. This year is no different. We publish a Health & Fitness section each Monday and sponsor the Daily Herald Fittest Loser contest each January.

The holidays, of course, are a time to enjoy family, break bread and raise a toast to each other's happiness. Resolving to get more fit means you stand a much greater chance of doing those things with a loved one next year as well.

What and how to do it? Well, everyone is different. So as an article in Monday's Health & Fitness section submitted by author Ginny Grimsley stated, don't go crazy when setting your goals. Make them realistic, based on your current eating and fitness habits.

"There are plenty of things individuals can do to improve their odds of success if they resolve to become healthier and fitter," said Dr. Virender Sodhi as quoted in Grimsley's article "How to keep your New Year's resolutions."

One surefire way to hold yourself accountable is to work with someone else on those goals, be it a running partner or a fitness trainer. When you have promised to show up for that run or workout and you know someone is waiting on you, you are more likely to get there. And once you are where you need to be to do that workout, that's more than half the battle.

That's the hook for the Fittest Loser. The participants who are chosen will receive 12 weeks of free instruction from a personal trainer and have their progress highlighted in the Daily Herald. As a companion competition, the Fittest Loser

At Work program is open to teams of five from any type of company, organization or workplace.

To apply for the Fittest Loser, go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/FL2015. To apply for the team competition, go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/ATWORK2015. Deadline is Monday, Jan. 5. Prizes are part of the program, in case you need more motivation other than fitting into that bathing suit this summer.

Age does not have to be a factor either, as Marlene Cimons proved in another article in our Health & Fitness section Monday. Cimons, at age 69, runs and swims every day and ran a marathon as well.

"You can't win the race against time, so you have to win it emotionally and be OK with it," Cimons' friend, Amby Burfoot told her. At 68, Burfoot is a former Runner's World editor and winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon. "Anyone can be fast and healthy in his or her 20s. The real challenge is to be slow and healthy in your 60s and 70s."

So this year, regardless of your age or your current situation, resolve to be healthier. You and those who love you will be the beneficiaries.