We often get hung up in routine. We tend to do the same thing over and over again, same 5 pound bicep curl, same number of pushups, same Bootcamp class. But mixing it up is a great way to keep the body lean, keep your mind engaged, and keep you plugged in to regular exercise.

The Gruve is a little device that clips onto your waist and keeps track of your movements throughout the day. You download the days activities into a computer program and it shows you how many calories you burned during the days and which times of day had the most activity.

How much do you need to exercise every day? Some new research points were just released from the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Eat at a table. Our “rush, rush society” has led us to shove food down our throats as an afterthought to our schedules. Eating at a table allows your brain some real down-time and usually results in fewer calories consumed. And, no you can’t bring reading material or check your email!

I’ve been emphasizing small goals for New Year’s Resolutions because they’re the easiest to keep. Also a little success gives you a boost as you work towards your final goal. So here’s my plan, what I actually do, to lose five pounds. Depending on how much you have to lose, just take a week off and then repeat.

Studies show that 5 out of 6 people fail to keep their New Year’s resolutions. For 2010, why not follow some of the ideas below which are geared towards success instead of failure. Why? Because these ideas are easy to keep.

I did a little research and found one sobering statistic. A survey done this time last year found that 66% of Americans have made New Year’s Resolutions and 17% actually managed to keep them.

Every year we purchase gadgets hoping they’ll magically make us thinner. If we buy this pedometer, or those cool sneakers we’ll have solved our problems and be skinny forever. We all know that’s not how it really works, here’s what I’d really like on my Christmas wish list this year …