So my new year’s resolution is to lose weight. Big surprise there!!! I think many people have tried to lose weight over the years as their resolution. Unfortunately, last year I decided not to make losing weight one of my resolutions and I ended up gaining weight. Ooops.

What I’ve come to realize is that it can be expensive to lose weight. There are many aspects of losing weight that incur a cost.

Jason, my partner, and I have decided that in 2008 we plan to eat more organic foods. We are also going to try to purchase more locally produced items. However fresh and local items tend to cost more. The good thing in Indianapolis is that we have a lot of farms in our state. A recent Indiana blogger wrote how buying local, can actually help your state’s economy.

Health club memberships are another arena where you could be spending money to become healthier. I’ve been paying for a gym membership for a few months and I can count on one hand the number of times I visited the gym since Thanksgiving….fortunately, most of those visits have been in the past week.

Finally, if you are successful’¦as I plan to be. You may have to go out and buy new clothes. I have some tubs of clothes that I used to fit into, but I’m sure many of them have gone out of style.

There are alternatives to spending money that can help.

Involve the people you care about. Let your friends and families know that you have a goal and don’t be afraid to share your failures and successes. Keith Ferazzi, author of Never Eat Alone created a free Facebook application that could help you keep motivated toward your end result. It is called the goalpost.

Find spots in your neighborhood that you can go for a walk or a run. Years ago I dropped almost 100 pounds almost entirely by walking. Thankfully, I don’t have that much to lose this time around, but walking is FREE. Indianapolis has a ton of local trails and I’m sure your town does too.

Finally, there are clothing swaps. I’ve never participated but I have friends who have. The idea is that you gather all of your unwanted clothes. You bring them to the event and you put them in a huge pile. Then everyone jumps in and starts taking what they want. The remainder of the items get donated to goodwill. You can also check out Swapthing to trade your unwanted items.

Good luck in your resolution and feel free to help me in mine!