Welcome to the start of the healthiest, fittest, most nutritious and enjoyable year of your life. We're going to show you how easily you can keep your New Year's resolutions and achieve the amazing goals you've set yourself.


New year: new you. At best it's triggered by your Tigger-like, start-of-term excitement. At worst it's fuelled purely by fear and self-loathing. Whatever the motivation, now's the time to set goals for improvement in the year ahead.

Trouble is, too often goals are over ambitious: "I'm going to go to the gym six times a week", "I'll never touch booze", "I'm going to bed Scarlett Johansson". At Men's Health, we believe that small steps = big results. For example, simply by making your own food twice a week, you could lose five kilograms and gain 500; a big result for a small step.

As any convent seamstress will tell you, good habits are hard to make. We're all full of good intentions in January, but by February we've given up. It needn't be that way. A 2005 study in Health Psychology found new exercisers took five weeks to make sessions stick. The implications are as huge as your biceps are going to be; by the time the next issue of MH comes out, you'll have overcome your worst habits and replaced them with healthy ones. Read on and you'll discover that it is far from impossible to stick to a healthier lifestyle.

Happy New Year! It's going to be your best ever.

MUSCLE AND FITNESS

Skip the gym, have a sit down and talk more - think you can do that?

January is "ker-ching!" time for gyms and health clubs up and down the land. And if we're honest about it, the January/February issue of Men's Health is traditionally a good seller, too. The reason is obvious. If you conducted a Family Feud survey to find out the number one New Year's Resolution, Bert would reveal that "getting fit" is the top answer. But our survey says, come March and April, 49 per cent of men have given up their fitness kick. Here are our tips for prolonging that initial burst of fitness fanaticism until it becomes a year-round habit. No missed days, no maybe tomorrows, no excuses. No, really. It's Darwin updated: the survival of the fitness regime.

1 THE RESOLUTION: " I AM GOING TO RUN A MARATHON"

In a month's time: you'll be able to go for a run without hocking up a lung.

Your stealth move: chat while you jog.

Because: conducting a conversation while you run works for two good reasons, says conditioning specialist Michael Mejia. First, making an appointment to go running with a friend encourages you not to procrastinate.

And second, researchers at the University of Wisconsin in the US have found that running at a pace at which you can talk is roughly the same as exercising at your "ventilatory threshold" (science-speak for being just short of coughing up phlegm).

This means you exercise hard without killing yourself, which is always a bonus. You'll soon be leaving Paula Radcliffe in the gutter (if she gets caught short again).

2 THE RESOLUTION: "I AM GOING TO TOUCH MY TOES . . . WITHOUT CHEATING"

In a month's time: you'll be able to sprint for the ball without your hamstring going "twang".

Your stealth move: learn to pull your own leg.

Because: flexibility works on the principle of use it or lost it. You don't have to spend hours in the lotus position on a higher plane of consciousness than everyone else to be as bendy as a Beckham free-kick. You just need to stretch yourself a little and often.

"Always stretch with warmed-up muscles," advises sports-massage therapist Dave Green. Now grab your Swiss ball. "Sit on the ball with legs straight, feet hip-width apart, heels on the ground and back upright," says Green. "Tense your abs and gently curl your toes up. Keeping your legs straight, slowly lean forward from the hips until you feel a slight stretch. Hold for 30 seconds and then relax. Try this after each time you exercise and you'll be more flexible than a happy-go-lucky contortionist.



3 THE RESOLUTION: "I AM GOING TO GET A SIX-PACK"

In a month's time: you'll exercise daily.

Your stealth move: don't join a gym. Yet.

Because: if there's ever a bad time to join a gym, it's January. Your short of money, it's beautiful outside and the gyms are full of resolution makers.

Added to that, personal trainers cannot give you a tailored program because they're overrun with inductions. For now, get a Swiss ball ($39.99, rebelsport.com.au) and a chin-up bar ($39.99, workoutworld.com.au) and start your fitness habit at home. A survey for US Men's Health revealed when readers skipped a workout, there was a 62 per cent likelihood they would also miss their next session. But if you keep up the workouts on your bedroom floor, then by the time you do join the gym next month, you'll have formed a habit that will make you more likely to keep going and make the most of that monthly direct debit. Just think, in 12 month's time you could be on the cover of this magazine.


HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Eliminate bad habits the MH way and you won't even notice the effort

After a heavy festive season, during which you pickled your internal organs in booze and encased them in a new layer of fat, January is everyone's detox month - the "cold turkey" after the cold turkey. But the truth is, the New Year is probably the worst time to force your body to clean up its act. This doesn't mean you can continue to swill down pies with both hard liquor and impunity. But it does mean you can ease yourself into cutting back on life's naughty niceties.

This should be easier at this time as we tend not to get as hunger during the warmer months. Appetite decreases with heat partly because the body is trying to keep cool. All of the body's functions, including digestion, create heat within the body. A body working hard to keep cool will suppress appetite in an attempt to lessen its workload.

1 THE RESOLUTION: "I AM GOING TO FINALLY GIVE UP SMOKING"

In a month's time: you'll be on just two "social cigarettes" on a night out.

Your stealth move: think of all the money going up in smoke.

Because: if the health implications of smoking don't encourage you to give up, try thinking about the financial ones. Main brand cigarettes now cost more than $10 for a packet of 20 and even more than that in the flash bars you might be frequenting.

If you cut down from 20-a-day to just five-a-day you'd save yourself $2738 over the course of a year. Quit altogether and you'll have around $3650 in your back pocket instead of a pack of Dunhills.

Although, instead of carrying it around you might want to use it to clear that massive overdraft you've run up on fags, pay for an engagement ring or just blow it on the gee-gees. Your choice. Ring the Quitline 131 848 or visit quitnow.info.au for more information and advice on the best ways to kick the habit.

2 THE RESOLUTION: "I AM GOING TO BE MORE POSITIVE"

In a month's time: you will look and feel happier.

Your stealth move: avoid the moaning sessions.

Because: "Collective moaning can start out as cathartic and bring about a ‘we're in it together' camaraderie," says life-coach Yehuda Shinar. "But it can quickly reach a tipping point where it becomes unhelpful and destructive. A pessimistic outlook is often a self-fulfilling prophecy. Avoid group sessions you think are based on cynicism and negativity and your mood will lift, making you ultimately more successful."

Want proof? In an experiment by psychologist Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania in the US a group of optimists and pessimists were recruited to be salesmen. By the second year of the experiment, the optimists were outselling the pessimists by 57 per cent.

3 THE RESOLUTION: "I AM GOING TO CUT DOWN ON DRINK"

In a month's time: you won't have to lie when your GP asks you how many units you put away a week

Your stealth move: don't give up completely.

Because: that's just too hard and will make you miserable to the point that you fall off the wagon big-style. Instead, alter your social habits so that the pub is not the default option. "Commit to not going to the pub at lunchtimes," advises Dr Dan Rutherford, GP and member of the medical panel for netdoctor.co.uk. "Perhaps go for a run with your friends instead. And suggest an alternative meeting point after work such as someone's house or a restaurant. When you do drink, eat first so you're not drinking on an empty stomach and try not to get involved in rounds as that way you end up drinking at the speed of the fastest drinker."

FOOD AND NUTRITION

Eat more, cook more and go on a blender to shrink your gut

Who wants to eat salad in January? Unless it comes as an apologetic garnish on the side of a ruddy great meat pie, no one. But it is possible to cook up healthy comfort food very easily without resorting to the M&S gourmet kitchen range. "When I was working very long hours as a trainee chef I used to make my own ready meals on my day off," says Michelin-starred chef Chris Horridge of The Bath Priory. "During the cold months it would be a huge pan of simple lamb, beef or pork stew which I would freeze in individual portions and heat up in a saucepan when I got back exhausted. It takes no longer than putting a ready meal in the microwave, but you can make it much healthier if you use lots and veg and pulses in it. It also saves you a lot of money."

1 THE RESOLUTION: "I AM GOING TO COOK FROM SCRATCH"

In one month's time: you'll have swapped the speed-dial Pizza Hut for the Jamie Oliver cookbook.

Your stealth move: leave your kitchen a mess before you leave for work.

Because: "If you deliberately get the healthy, non-perishable food such as brown rice and pulses that you intend to cook that night out from the cupboard, you're far less likely to call for a takeaway when you get in from work, when you're too tired to think, let alone cook," says dietician Lyndel Costain (lyndelcostain.co.uk).

"Planning your evening meal before you leave the house means you won't be tempted to resort to the default unhealthy option. It also means you already know what missing ingredients to pick up on the way home. Soon cooking will become more the norm."

2 THE RESOLUTION: "I AM GOING TO LOSE MY BEER GUT"

In a month's time: you will have lost as much as 5kg of fat.

Your stealth move: have a starter as well as a main course.

Because: whatever you do, don't go on a crash diet or fad eating plan as losing weight quickly is unhealthy and ineffective, according to nutrition specialist Dr Keith Barnard, also involved with Netdoctor. This is because such weight loss tends to be mainly water and muscle rather than fat and so is quickly replaced once your diet stops. "Start your meal with a crisp fresh salad or a bowl of healthy vegetable soup," says Costain. "Studies show they fill you up, meaning you don't need such a big main course or feel the need to indulge in dessert. Therefore, a starter helps you eat fewer kilojoules overall and keeps you feeling satisfied."

3 THE RESOLUTION: "I AM GOING TO GET MY FIVE FRUIT AND VEG A DAY

In one month's time: you'll have had half a fruit bowl by 9am.

Your stealth move: get rid of your microwave and buy a smoothie maker instead.

Because: drinking smoothies is the easiest and most effective method of getting the right vitamins and minerals in your diet. Nuking food in the microwave is the easiest and most effective method of stripping it of any nutritional value it once had.

"Fruit and veg. Veg and fruit. It doesn't matter which way round they go, so long as you are getting them in your diet, along with popcorn and toast and all the other vital food groups, of course," says Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent drinks in the UK.

"Each of our smoothies contain your recommended daily intake of fruit, but you can make them at home if you like. For example, try this natural detox which contains lemon for vitamin C, honey for natural antioxidants and energy (try Bee Products Honey Active Manuka - you can buy it from Woolworths, 500g/$10.25), along with some ginger to help cleanse, purify and make it taste nice." It's a bit like a posh spa in a bottle.

Ingredients
3 1/2 apples, diced
1/2 banana, mashed
juice from half a lemon
1 spoonful of manuka honey
Ginger (to taste)
Dash of fresh orange juice
Ice cubes

Instructions
Stick the lot in the blender, put the lid on, press go. That's it!

WORK/LIFE BALANCE

Less work and more life makes Jack a happy boy, in three easy steps

Overspend, did we? Christmas presents, parties, festive boozing and January sales all add up to the kind of red letter day from the bank that might lead you, head in hands, to reassess your out-of-control spending habits. Or perhaps your spending problem isn't caused by the lack of money at all, but is actually down to lack of time. We'd all like to have more free time, to spend fewer hours at work and more with our friends and family. Okay, maybe just with our friends. Whatever, it's time for you to redress your work/life balance.

1 THE RESOLUTION: "I WILL SAVE $4500 THIS YEAR

In one month's time: you will have made a mockery of the January sales.

Your stealth move: learn to read the retail code.

Because: "You can save yourself a lot of money and regret in the sales if you learn a few tricks of the retail trade," says Martin Lewis of monesavingexpert.com, with a conspiratorial wink. "In preparation for the sales, shops often put a red or black dot on the label of a garment to secretly indicate to staff that it's going to be lowered in price. If you see this on a full-price item you want to purchase, hold back. You'll kick yourself if you buy it and a few days later its been reduced by 50 per cent. Also, always look at the last digit in the price. Large electrical appliance stores sometimes use a price code to secretly communicate to staff, which product models need to be sold as a priority to make way for the new stock. If the price ends in an eight (eg, $19.98), it usually means that the particular model has been discontinued. If the price ends with a seven, the item is usually clearance stock. You should definitely ask for a hefty discount in both cases."

2 THE RESOLUTION: "I WILL GET MORE OUT OF MY JOB"

In one month's time: you'll have got a pay rise.

Your stealth move: just ask for it.

Because: now is a good time of year to ask as March is when a lot of companies review people's pay. "But companies will not shell out money if they don't have to," says Saira Khan, runner up on The Apprentice and author of PUSH for success (Vermilion, $9.99). "Many businesses play on the fact that people are too scared to ask for a pay rise. The culture is: if you don't ask for it, you won't get it. So, of course, you have to ask. When you do, make sure you have prepared evidence to show why you deserve one. Perhaps use phrases like ‘I have demonstrated a consistently high performance and have met all my objectives' or ‘I have taken on more responsibility in the role than is outlined in my job description and that needs to be recognised in a rise'."

3 THE RESOLUTION: "I WILL LEAVE WORK BY SIX - AT THE LATEST"

In a month's time: You'll be able to spend more time with friends and family.

Your stealth move: don't sit down.

Because: having a sit-down meeting can be a waste of time. "Keep meetings short and efficient by removing the chairs," says Sebastian Bailey, co-author of Give Me Time (Little Brown, $12.99).

Sociologist Allen Bluedorn conducted an experiment where groups of five people were placed in a meeting room to solve the same problem, which demanded at least moderate amounts of creativity and judgement. For half of them there was no furniture in the room, while for the others there was a table and five chairs. The quality of the results was statistically identical for the groups that stood up as for those that sat down. However, the sit-down meetings took, on average, 34 per cent longer.

What is your new year's resolution? Let us know: