The New Year and the resolutions that are made with it are just around the corner again. With each new year comes weight loss programs that seem to be forgotten, exercise equipment that gathers dust, personal trainer appointments that get cancelled, and goals to get in shape and burn fat that are never met. It's unfortunate that out of all the New Year's resolutions that are made each year, most of them are fitness related and over 80% of them are not kept.

Despite the endless market for exercise machines that make false claims, a lot of equipment is available that, when used correctly, can be very beneficial to your health and fitness and can become a useful part of your weight loss program. There are several factors to keep in mind when choosing the equipment that best suits you. For starters, it is best to start by assessing the shape you are in, and then determining what your goal is. From there, you can select the appropriate equipment to lose weight, build/tone muscle, and tone your ab muscles and waistline.

Losing Weight and Getting in Shape - It can be fun!

Many fitness goals and weight loss programs fail because the person who wants to get in shape loses interest. Let's face it - running on a treadmill is boring and monotonous. The key to ensuring that you stick to an exercise program is to find activities that not only burn calories, but also keep you entertained.

Swimming is one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercise. Unfortunately, most people do not have a pool that is large enough or designed for lap swimming. For those situations, the ExerSwim Portable Swim Current Generator is the ideal solution. It installs in minutes on most swimming pools and, using an enclosed propeller drive, provides you with an adjustable speed current of up to seven miles per hour. The ExerSwim uses two rechargeable low voltage batteries and is easily transportable. If you do not consider yourself to be a strong swimmer, the Exerswim can be adjusted to a lower setting for walking and other aquatic exercises.

Much like running on a treadmill, swimming laps can be a boring exercise as well. With the SwiMP3 V2 Waterproof MP3 player, you can listen to your favorite music downloaded from your Mac or PC while you swim. The device includes an integrated rechargeable battery, easily clips to most goggle straps, and uses a special "bone conduction" technology to provide you with crystal clear sound under water.

If the weather is too cold for aquatic exercise, or you just consider yourself to be more of a land person, the Pilatesstick Portable Body Sculpting System is a completely portable device designed to allow you to perform a highly-effective form of exercise anywhere. Pilates is a method of physical movement and exercise, coupled with focused breathing patterns, designed to help stretch, strengthen, and balance the body. It has been used world-wide as not only a lone fitness endeavor, but as an important addition to professional sports training and physical rehabilitation. The Pilatesstick includes a heavy-duty cable system, its own carrying case and Pilates mat, and a Full Body Basic Training DVD.

Building and Toning Muscle - Say "Good Bye" to the Hassle of Weights

For years lifting weights has been the method of choice for building and toning muscle. Unfortunately, a wide variety of weight machines and weights are necessary to give your muscle groups the workout needed to improve definition and build mass. Why waste your time and money while risking injury with these machines? A variety of simple and affordable devices are available that accomplish those same goals.

Chances are you have seen the Perfect Push Up advertised on television. Because it has been seen on television, most people dismiss it as just another useless device... this is not true! The Perfect Push Up takes the ageless push up, an exercise that is highly effective for strength training, and enables it to work more muscle groups while taking strain away from your wrists. The rotating ability of these push up handles allows your arm to follow its natural rotation as your arms go from being near your chest to being fully extended from your body. The height of the hand grips allows you to lower yourself farther into the push up, working your arms, shoulders, chest, and back. The Perfect Push Up is also available in a Travel Edition that collapses and comes with a travel case. Both versions include an exercise program to get you started.

If you are more interested in muscle tone and definition than bulk, the Thera-Bands Exercise Bands Set and the Ultra Toner Bowtie Exercise Tubes are a simple yet effective form of training. Available in different levels of resistance to accommodate your individual strength levels, these two products are small enough to make them perfect for travel. The Thera-Bands Exercise Bands can be cut into different lengths and offer a variety of available exercises. The Ultra Toner Bowtie Exercise Tubes are sold in set lengths but have built-in foam handgrips to make holding onto the bands during exercise easier. This form of muscle toning and training is used by Olympic swimmers and professional athletes all over the world.

Toning Your Abdominal Muscles - Getting Rid of That Gut!

Commercials and infomercials for machines designed to help you lose belly fat and get six-pack abs are all over television year-round. The population as a whole is obsessed with this hard-to-obtain look and will spend money on products that promise impossible results. The common misconception is that, if you want to get a slim waistline and toned abs, you need to use a specific ab machine to do so. Unfortunately, that is not the case. If you have a lot of excess fat at your waist or are very overweight, diet and cardiovascular exercise are the first steps you should take towards achieving this goal. The devices mentioned in the first section are great for getting you started on the path to this goal. Once you have slimmed down from diet and exercise, you can begin using ab machines to tone your existing abdominal muscles.

One of the most simple and inexpensive, yet very effective devices for exercising any part of your body is a gym ball. You can select from the Gymnastik Maxafe Ball, FitBall Exercise Ball, or the Physioball Maxafe Ball. They are available in a variety of sizes and colors, and many include exercise charts and pumps. Besides offering an assortment of abdominal exercises, exercise balls enable you to tone your arms, legs, chest, and back as well.

The Slendertone Flex Abdominal Toning System is another product that is often dismissed as ineffective and a waste of money. This is primarily because consumers expect this product to drastically reduce their belly fat and give them six-pack abs. The Slendertone is an effective product but only when used in conjunction with diet and exercise. If you already have a stomach with very little fat and need a way to gain that extra edge to reach your fitness goal, the Slendertone Flex is the ideal piece of fitness equipment for you. Electrical impulses cause the muscles of your entire abdominal area to contract and relax, giving you an effective workout while you go about your busy lifestyle. This product is perfect for those who sit at a desk all day or are too busy to get that extra ab exercise in their schedule. The digital display allows you to easily set the desired level of stimulation and choose from four preprogrammed workouts.

Who says ab exercises need to be boring and painful? The Bongo Board is a unique device designed to give you an effective and fun core workout. At first glance it looks like a skateboard with one set of wheels. The Bongo Board is fun to ride and requires only a small area indoors or out for use. Its patented design allows you to learn proper distribution of body weight to achieve constant equilibrium and tone the muscles used for balance and stability, such as your abs, lower back, glutes, and obliques.

Getting Fit Through Nutrition - A Healthy Diet is the Key to a Healthy Body

America's obsession with weight loss and the desire to have the perfect body with minimal effort has lead to a flood of weight loss supplements on the market. Many of these supplements promise fast results by suppressing your appetite. Unfortunately, these methods of weight loss carry serious health risks and side effects such as damage to your heart from overworking it, stomach problems, mood swings, nausea, and headaches.

Supplements should never take the place of a healthy diet and exercise program, but they can be used to help augment it. Sublingual B-12 is a supplement that contains vitamins B-12 and B-6 as well as folic acid. It helps increase energy and improves cardiovascular health. Unlike other supplements that are swallowed and can take hours to enter your blood stream, Sublingual B-12's fruit punch-flavored tablets dissolve under your tongue to enter the blood stream in a fraction of the time.

Finally, Set Realistic Goals

The products mentioned above are not miracle devices. While they are very effective tools to help you lose weight and get in shape, you typically will not see results immediately. Do not over-exert yourself to try to achieve faster results as this can cause injury. Above all, be patient - if you want to go from a "couch potato" to an athlete it will take some time.