It is the start of a new year and all that comes with it. There are several things that make this time of year so memorable.

If you are a football junkie, the traditional New Year’s Day sitting from morning until late at night watching football bowl games is now almost two weeks long. The old days of watching all the games in one day is now a very time-consuming and often confusing name recognition of traditional bowl games.

Of the 30+ football bowl games, there are probably less than a dozen that are worth watching, and many of them are with teams that will be on television for the first time, since more than likely they were not televised during the regular season.

One other item in this season is that New Year’s Day used to be the last day of feasting and celebration; and now the added feasting days include the BCS Championship football game, the chance to see the New England Patriots go undefeated in professional football, with several weeks of playoffs scattered in between before the final Super Bowl game. Not that this is a problem; but when it all adds up it comes to a lot of sitting down, consuming a lot of calories in snacks and drinks without moving, other than to stand up for a touchdown from your favorite team.

I have not added up the number of televised hours this football tradition encompasses; but between calories taken in and calories expended by energy during this time, the traditional New Year weight gain really gets a good head start. And there is a strong possibility that the snacks are not celery sticks, carrot miniatures and bottled water; but more like chips, great fattening dip, beer nuts and beer, with a few sausages and cheese slabs thrown in for good calorie-counting gains. The argument is that it is tradition; and what other way is there to watch a football game on television.

Starting back with Thanksgiving and moving on through the office parties, Christmas gatherings with friends and relatives, Christmas itself and then getting ready for the New Year, it all makes for about a month or more of eating great meals. And this is good, as it makes the New Year’s resolution of losing some weight back to pre-Thanksgiving totals an easy number-one resolution on the list.

Resolutions are seldom kept that I am aware of. If the resolution is not written down and posted somewhere visible, it will probably be forgotten by late February or early March at the latest. When you post the resolution, the most common and recognized place is on the refrigerator so that you see it every day. The problem with that, from what I have seen on friends’ refrigerators, is that all important notes, Post-it papers, pictures of family, cards and telephone numbers are also stuck to that big door. The chance that your resolutions will remain on top where they can be seen for more than a few weeks is minimal. Try putting it on a mirror in the bathroom where you will see it everyday without any other messages getting in the way.

Not that resolutions are bad; but not many people really take it seriously beyond a quick mention of effort that you have good intentions to do better at some things this coming year. The one thing that is important to everyone is trying to do something about your health this coming year. Whether it is losing weight, stopping smoking, cutting back on the drinking, or being aware of eating a better selection of food choices, the selection of a couple of resolutions is an easy task.

One of the easiest ways of accomplishing all of those things is just to add a few hours a week of exercise. It might be taking a walk for an hour a day, going to the gym to lift weights a couple of times a week, joining the group that meets Tuesday evenings at 6:00 p.m. down at the courthouse for a short jog, going for a bike ride or going for a swim. It sounds like a really bad time to go swimming in the clear waters of the San Marcos River, but the water temperature is the same all year long. In the winter, the water feels warm on chilly days.

If you don’t believe me, meet down at the river for the traditional jump into the water and find out for yourself. I think the big jump is at noon on Tuesday, and weather reports so far say that it will be a cold day.

Whatever you plan to do for the New Year, make it a good year and make a resolution to get some exercise this year. It will do you wonders by the time the next football season arrives.