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It’s turned into a cliché to make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight and get in shape after the excesses of food and drink over the holidays. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.

Actually, a healthier lifestyle is probably the best thing you can do for yourself.

Two key components to either drop that extra five or 10 pounds, or deflate the spare tire around the waistline are diet and exercise.

“Balance is they key. It has to work together,” said Lisa Kranz, wellness trainer at the Batavia YMCA.

Kranz, 46, has worked in health clubs and gymnasiums for more than 20 years and is a certified fitness trainer. A big challenge for an overweight and out-of-shape individual to lose some fat is to start the process.

“Motivation, with fitness first, then diet,” Kranz said.

Batavia resident Debbie Muchard, 60, is a long-time YMCA member whose goal for 2015 is to shed some pounds.

“After I retired I put on some weight,” she said Friday, as she walked on a treadmill in the Y’s fitness center.

Muchard worked in loading and shipping for UPS.

“I went from a very physical job to being couch potato,” she said.

Last year, Muchard took a couple of months hiatus from working out. She’s now at the Y about three days a week, trying to lose weight through exercise and diet.

“I just want to feel better. I’ve got to focus on everything,” Muchard said.

A new health and wellness program begins with an evaluation of a person’s fitness level. That determines what type of exercises are most appropriate.

“My advice would be to find something they enjoy,” Kranz said, such as biking, indoor soccer, swimming or a fitness class.

“You will be more apt to stick with it,” she said.

John Beckler, wellness director at the Y, said the evaluation includes a check of a person’s height, weight, body fat percentage, blood-oxygen level, hear rate and tests for upper body strength.

Beckler said someone who is already in pretty good physical condition may not see significant short-term improvements with a new diet and exercise regimen.

A person who is overweight or obese by 50 or 100 pounds may experience a large weight loss. Beckler said it would not surprise him if one of those out of shape individuals lost five pounds a week.

Someone who starts from scratch on a fitness regimen should ease into it on simple cardiovascular equipment such as a treadmill or recumbent bicycle, then work up to more intense and more challenging exercises, Kranz said.

Eat right

Amy Miller, registered dietitian and diabetes educator at United Memorial Medical Center’s Healthy Living program, said a back-to-basics approach, portion control, is the key to a good diet.

“Eat less, lose more,” she said.

And, as almost every child has heard from one’s mother, eat one’s vegetables. Vegetables are filling, high in fiber and water, contain vitamins and minerals and are low in calories, Miller said.

A good guideline to follow is to fill half of a person’s dinner plate with vegetables, Miller said.

Miller is also one of the coordinators of the Get Fit program for local families. It emphasizes the importance of exercise, education on portion control and nutrition, how to shop and read labels on packaged foods, tips on how to prepare healthy foods at home and substitute nutritious items for ones high in fat, calories and cholesterol.

Baby steps

Losing one or two pounds per week is a good goal to set, Miller said.

Pun intended, someone who begins a new diet and fitness program shouldn’t bite off more than he can chew.

Too many changes at too fast of a pace, such as giving up all foods that give pleasure to a person, can cause an individual to backslide a New Year’s resolution. For example, a person who intends to cut out all sweets could start with giving up all sweet beverages for a month, then focus on something else, Miller said.

“These are behaviors you want to stick,” she said.

The same applies to someone who wants to lose weight and quit smoking. It may be too difficult to do both at once, she said.

Trials and tribulations

Emotional health if also important to either become fit or to stay fit, Kranz said.

Kranz said people who experience emotional trauma such as loss of a loved one or divorce often have problems that manifest in behaviors such as eating too much or too little and poor lifestyle choices such as alcohol or drug abuse.

The Y does not offer life coaching or counseling but it is a component to fitness, Kranz said.

Y member Danielle Conner, 30, can attest to that. Conner works out every day and was an exercise bike Friday afternoon.

The Rochester resident is a recovering drug addict and unemployed teacher who is enrolled in a rehabilitation program in Batavia. Conner was arrested in March 2014 and later convicted of drug-related crimes and is on probation.

She said she just celebrated nine months of sobriety.

Conner, who is thin in a way similar to a long-distance runner, said she lifts weights, takes an abs class and does aerobics.

“Trying to do some strength training and maintain my overall health. I definitely work for it,” she said.

She said she doesn’t diet.

“I pretty much eat what I want. I’m definitely not a salad person,” Conner said.Read more at:long formal dresses online australia