The holiday parties are over. It’s time to take a break. No need to make excuses for the libations and over indulgences. It was fun. You did it. You enjoyed it. Out with the old and in with the new. Now it’s time to move on and make yourself better by looking after yourself and your body. And no better time than the present. January means re-group and re-organize your life (and your lifestyle) and move toward the direction of feeling and being fabulously-fit in 2011. In order to become fabulously-fit you should probably first understand what fabulously-fit is not. You are not fabulously-fit if: you can’t squeeze into your favorite pair of “fat jeans” even when wearing Spanx, you lose your breath after jumping up and chest bumping your buddy while letting out a “Go Chargers!” after Rivers hurls a game-winning touchdown pass, when lacing up your sexy Jimmy Choos you see sausage toes hanging over the edge, you constantly use “the dog ate my pizza” to deny the stink (unpleasant odor) when friends come over, or if you’re fist pumping to your favorite song and your biceps wear out — that is not being fabulously-fit. So, what is fabulously-fit? In my opinion, it’s effortlessly sliding into your sexy little black dress, being able perform 10 jumping chest bumps and recover within moments, slim toes in sling backs, a non-offensive gastrointestinal tract that functions like a well-oiled machine due to clean eating, being able to endlessly pump both fists in the air to your favorite song, and of course, loving the way you look and feel because you take good care of yourself. No matter where you are in life, you’re only a few concerted steps away from becoming fabulously-fit. The trick to getting there is to take it one step at a time. But take baby steps. Try not to overwhelm yourself with big goals; you have to walk before you can run, you know. The two most basic steps are to move your body and to eat well. Move it. Move it. Move it. There are endless ways to get yourself up off the sofa and get fit. You can walk, jog or run. You can swim, ski or skate. The opportunities to burn calories in our fabulous city are limitless. It sounds simple and it is. It’s all about calories “in” (which you do very well) vs. calories “out” (which takes some effort). So many people get overwhelmed because they think they have to immediately run a marathon when all they need to do is walk around the block. Choose an exercise you enjoy. Do it. Then gradually increase the time you spend doing it and keep on doing it. Our bodies are designed to move. Our ancestors used to hunt and gather. If they had the luxury of grocery stores and remote controls we would probably have regressed into pure slothdom. Sloths are not fabulously-fit. Your mama knew what she was talking about when she told you to eat your veggies. Instead of eating steamed broccoli and carrots, most Americans eat their vegetables in the form of French fries or popped corn (which isn’t even a vegetable after it’s been popped). Other popular processed food culprits include sodas, frozen foods and breakfast cereals. Your body simply can’t function properly on a diet of processed foods. There is no nutritional value in most any food that comes in a box or a plastic wrapper. If you want to feed and fuel your body the right way, you have to eat clean. Eat food the way it occurs in nature. The strawberry is good for you. The strawberry Pop Tart — not so much. Food loaded with preservatives robs you of all the nutrition your body needs. Processed food is like taking a dollar bill, mashing it up, putting it though a shredder, then trying to glue it back together so you can take it to the store and buy something with it. It’s not worth much, although in some way it’s still money, but it really does you no good. That’s the same with processed food. You have to eat well to feel well and to be well. Eating well may sound challenging because few people truly comprehend it. However, with some research and some effort, you will learn that eating well is easier than you think (just Google it!). Or, if you want your food handed to you (almost on a silver platter) and prepared by a chef who spends his life educating himself and making perfectly proportioned, natural meals, then you can join our Food at Fit program and take all the guess work out of eating clean food that is good for you. The Food at Fit program was developed to help people achieve their fitness goals and become fabulously fit. You can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet, so we created a perfectly-balanced, natural food program that pleases your palate and simplifies your decisions. You order, Fit delivers. See for yourself how easy it is at www.foodatfit.com. It’s the first week of the rest of your life. It’s time to brush the dust off your Nike’s, dump the chips and dip, and climb on board the fabulously-fit bandwagon to become the healthy person you were made to be. — Connie Cook is fitness director at Fit Athletic Club