New Year, New You! How many times have you seen this cliche headline (or some version of it) on the cover of a magazine? Cosmo, Mademoiselle, Self, Glamour, Men's Health, GQ - I guarantee that all of them have used this tag line to lure in desperate people seeking the promise of a life change in the new year. People believe that this elusive idea of happiness will materialize if we make a renewed effort to get rid of those last fifteen pounds of belly fat.

But why do people always make resolutions at the beginning of a new year? Why don't people make a resolution to start exercising, quit smoking and eat healthy on the third Thursday in June? Are we as a population so fixated on time, schedules and numbers that January 1st is the only logical, albeit superstitious way to start anew?

Not surprisingly, the most common new year's resolution is to lose weight. According to the National Weight Control Registry, 90-95 percent of dieters re-gain the weight they lost, or more. Those are incredibly terrible odds, so why do people continue to make resolutions each January 1st that they can't keep?

I hate the month of January not just for the cold, but also because the gym is over crowded with people you never see again come March. For this reason and many others, I have resolved not to make a new year's resolution and I am sticking to it! Perhaps in May I will feel the need to shape up for swimsuit season, but that's just the procrastinator in me talking. Sadly, I too am an American bound to my schedule and routine.