New Year's resolutions to reflect the economy

If you still find it hard to believe how

far the U.S. economy has fallen, here's another bit of evidence: The

percentage of health and fitness-related New Year's resolutions is

expected to be way down this year, while those focusing on family and

finance should go up.

That is according to the folks at Arizona-based myGoals.com,

a Web site focused on helping people set and reach personal and

professional goals. Every year, the company predicts what resolutions

people will make based on the current year's third-quarter goal-setting

activity.

Based on an anonymous, random, unscientific sample of 250 goals

people have set at the site, the most popular New Year's resolution for

2009 will, once again, be related to health and fitness. But the

percentage of resolutions focused on those themes should be only 23

percent, down five percentage points from last year.

Greg Helmstetter, CEO of myGoals.com, said in a prepared statement

that the No. 1 goal for people — including me — will once again be, "To

lose weight."

"Most people who indicate that they would like to lose weight are

only seeking to lose about 10 pounds," Helmstetter said in the

statement. "Big, dramatic resolutions, such as goals to run marathons,

are not going to be as common in 2009. In fact, health and fitness

resolutions are very consistent with the general trend toward security,

comfort and nesting that we're seeing in other categories."

I could stand to lose more than 10 pounds, and I hope to do better