Spring break will be here before you know it, so it`s about time to make sure all those holiday meals and Christmas cookies leave your waistline for good.

Data from a Nielsen survey done in January 2015 highlights that the two main resolutions most people make as the new year starts are staying fit and healthy (37 percent) and losing weight (32 percent).

The first month usually goes pretty smooth for most, but as days and weeks go by the motivation and those healthy meals begin to fall apart.

Statistics published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology by the University of Scranton show that at the end of January, some 64 percent of resolvers are still hanging in there, while six months later that number drops to 46 percent.

However, it doesn’t have to be like that. Three-time New York Times bestselling author and nutrition and fitness expert J.J. Virgin has a couple suggestions for you to keep those holiday pounds off of you for good.

Virgin said that one of the biggest mistakes most people make when starting a diet is undertaking everything at once. They tackle fat loss, exercise, stress management, sleep and whatever other obstacles arise.

“These things are all super important for fast, lasting fat loss, but tackling them all at once just sets you up to fail,” she said.

If you jump into dieting drastically, hardly eating anything all day and cutting too many calories from your daily intake, you might end up doing more harm than good.

In the beginning, you will feel tired, mentally unclear and even cranky as your blood sugar level falls very low between meals. Then your body will begin to get alarmed that it`s not getting enough nutrition and will store fat instead of metabolizing it.

Not to mention, as you exercise while on this aggressive fat-loss diet, you may force your body to burn muscle instead of fat.

You have to work your way through it step-by-step, gradually decreasing your caloric intake and increasing your physical activity.

Virgin suggests transitioning off high-sugar impact foods as a starting point because it establishes a strong base for seeing fast fat loss and improved health.

However, you can`t go into the extremes.

“You want to do it sequentially,” Virgin said. “Completely removing sugar all at once is a recipe for disaster.”

If you go from having it all to not having any at all, you will find yourself craving everything you cannot eat. But when you gradually transition into low-sugar impact foods, you will find cravings subside.

Doing a detox program can also be a way to kick off your diet. However, if you have had a high-sugar impact diet with little protein or nutrients, your body demands to optimally detoxify, Virgin said.

Be smart when choosing a detox program.

John Bowles, a freshman majoring in finance, already started a 10-day detox program.

According to the detox program’s website, the Purium 10-Day transformation cleanse includes shakes that contain nutrient-dense superfoods, slow-burning carbs and highly-digestible protein. It’s all vegan and natural.

According to Purium`s website, these ingredients help consumers reset their metabolism, break their addiction to food, detox their body and clean their digestive tract..

After 10 days of drinking only the shakes, Bowles will continue having shakes every other day for another 20 days . The detox program will be just the beginning of his journey toward a healthier lifestyle.

“My goal is to lose 35 pounds, so this program looked like a good start,” he said.

Keeping up with a healthy lifestyle is a challenge and requires dedication and commitment. If you only put a little effort in it, then you can`t expect big changes.

There will be days when you want to quit, but then you have to remember why you started.

“Remember your goals and revisit them every morning,” Virgin said. “Keep the bigger picture in mind.”

London Lawis, a senior majoring in history, is among those who didn’t throw in the towel. He switched over to a healthy lifestyle in January 2014 and he is not done yet.

“I just want to continue what I started a year ago: living a healthy lifestyle,” Lawis said.

Lawis has lost 50 pounds since January 2014. His goal was to reach 170 pounds. Now, he is 165 pounds and wants to keep up the healthy, active lifestyle. His main motivation pushing him forward is paintball.

“I have a starting position in our paintball team, and I definitely want to keep it,” he said.