Gyms across the city are filling up as many look to act on new year's resolutions, what can you do to make sure you stay committed?

By Tommy Osborne

Healthy Habits

How to keep your resolve for your New Year’s resolution

Jan 2, 2026 | 3:57 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It’s the early days of 2026, and with that many across the city are acting on their New Year’s resolution. Whether it’s learning a new skill, committing to a new habit, or the very common health and fitness, many are often eager to start and hit the ground running. However, a common sight is fewer and fewer people hitting the gym as the year goes on, so how can you ensure your resolution is a permanent change, and not a fad?

“What we need to realize when we set goals is that we may need to reevaluate those goals at some point in time. We may have taken on too hefty a goal and it won’t fit with our lifestyle. so the opportunity there is to maybe revisit and align yourself with something that’s more realistic for you,” said Shannon Johnson, Fitness Manager at the Prince George Family YMCA.

When setting off on your New Year’s resolutions, many often shoot for the moon and have very high ambitions, but can quickly feel overwhelmed or burned out, leading to giving up entirely. To help prevent this, Johnson recommends setting realistic goals that git in your lifestyle, and also allowing yourself a slow start as you get acclimated to your new habits.

“We have people set goals at the beginning and then progress them as they gradually increase the amount of exercise they do, or maybe try some new things,” Johnson said.

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“People come in and they’ll want to exercise five days a week. That’s probably not realistic for a lot of people, given their other factors of their life that they need to meet: family, work, those types of things. Maybe try starting at three days a week,” she continued.

Johnson emphasized New Year’s resolutions are often lifestyle changes, and changing your life is often quite challenging. To help yourself adjust to a lifestyle change, she recommends your resolution is one you can enjoy doing and look forward to achieving.

“This is something you want to be sustainable, something that you want to actually do for the rest of your life. So you want to make it something that fits into your life, something that’s fun,” she said.

As far as health and fitness are concerned, there are many opportunities to find what fits for you. If the traditional gym and treadmill aren’t working for you, there are also sports teams, daily walks, or a wide variety of unique programs like Zumba that could fit what you’re looking for. Johnson adds these programs also get you involved with new people, an additional benefit in trying to make your resolution stick.

“Those types of programs also provide a community for you, so you’re not just getting out to get your fitness, you’re also getting out to be involved more with your community, which is really important nowadays, really important for mental health, and ultimately is what helps people get success,” she said.

Regardless of what your goals are, be it fitness or anything else, any progress is better than giving up, so Johnson emphasizes that allowing yourself the opportunity to retool and shift your goals to better align with where you are at the moment is key to ensuring your resolution is one that you properly execute for the year and beyond.