As January approaches, many local residents will be hitting the gym as part of their New Year's Resolutions. But some experienced gym members are cautioning that it takes more than just exercise to make a healthy lifestyle change. 

Gary Blad has been making the gym a regular habit since 2012. 

Gary Blad has made exercising a habit for six years"I started to have some health issues, hypertension, I was not happy with the way I looked, and then my son who was trying to get into the college baseball program in the U.S. asked if I would come to the gym with him. And that basically started it...it was a pretty short conversation; 'Yes, I will.'"

Blad says that while a determined mindset can be a good place to start, it is also important to find accountability, as well as make healthier eating choices.

"I would pick a diet that you feel you can stick to, there's lots of them out there...you just have to pick one that suits your lifestyle. The gym is a good habit to get into but you can't out-train a bad diet."

Dana Fast works at Fitness Zone in Steinbach. She says that though the amount of people at the gym definitely increases once January arrives, the drop-off numbers are not necessarily as steep as some people may think.

"We expect it to pick up into January, and it's generally busy until around May."

Fast agrees that working out is only a part of a healthy lifestyle change, and that exercising is not an excuse to continue eating snack foods such as potato chips and candy.

"Stuff like that makes your workout irrelevant."