Ringing in the New Year usually means coming up with resolutions to eat healthier and exercise more often.

However, the diets usually last for a short period of time, and then the person goes back to his normal habits of eating and working out less.

“These diets do not work because people change way too much and are not able to keep their resolution,” said James Painter, chair of the School of Family and Consumer Sciences.

“Saying ‘I won’t eat chocolate anymore’ won’t work, but saying ‘I won’t eat when I am sitting down’ will be more effective,” Painter said.

He said for these diets to be effective, all people need to do is make one lifestyle change, such as not eating in front of the TV

or snacking after 7 p.m.

Painter said people typically go on a weight-loss diet, or fad diets, for a certain period of time, like when they want to fit into a summer bikini or, more recently, as a New Year’s resolution.

Typically, when a person restricts a food, he thinks about it more often because he cannot have that food. So people should try and stay away from resolutions that say they will not eat certain foods, such as fat, carbohydrates, greasy foods, pop or bread.

“People should make one change they can keep for a continuous amount of time,” Painter said. “An example of this could be not eating half of a candy bar, which is equal to 100 calories.”

Another way to do this is to eat out of smaller bags and with smaller plates, bowls and spoons.

Eastern students said they have seen friends and family members make resolutions on the basis of restriction.

“Some family members wanted to work out more and cut out certain things like pop,” said Brittany Salisbury, a sophomore elementary education major.

Students have also made resolutions to exercise more.

“Exercise is more difficult,” Painter said, “It is harder to do that for one hour a day than to eat healthier, but exercise is also extremely important.”

This has not stopped Eastern students from flooding the gym and the Student Recreation Center.

“The gym is always more packed around this time of year,” said Rachael Jannusch, a sophomore dietetics major. “My personal goal is to exercise more.”

Neil Jernegan, a senior accounting major, said he does not need to make a New Year’s resolution to eat better because he has eaten healthy his whole life.

Heather Holm can be reached at 581-7942 or haholm@eiu.edu

Sophomore chiropractic major Trish Garvey breaks a cigarette in half to represent her quitting smoking on Thursday afternoon outside the Alpha Phi sorority house. (Audrey Sawyer / The Daily Eastern News)

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