IStock Photo 4195086 © Miroslav Ferkuniak

Is this the year you’re finally going to lose weight and focus on fitness? Welcome to the club. Every New Year’s Eve, millions of Americans vow to work out and shed some pounds. In the past couple of decades these annual promises to ourselves have sent us scrambling to follow the latest fitness craze. We’ve called in to order Suzanne Somers’s ThighMaster, Billy Blanks’s Tae Bo tapes, and Tony Little’s Gazelle. Such overachievers with their over-the-top “you can do it” attitudes were once considered fitness nuts. Today, they’re more likely to be our fitness gurus, and they’ve got us going to the gym.

1 in 6.53 Americans are members of a health club. 1 in 5.54 will use a treadmill at least once a year, while 1 in 9.58 does dance aerobics and 1 in 7.13 hits the weight machines. Words like cardio, free weights, and Pilates are commonplace. And for all this we can thank the godfather of fitness, Jack LaLanne.

Now 95 years old, the surprisingly spry LaLanne is still going strong. At the tender age of 15, he gave up his sweet tooth for a life of diet and exercise. Before there was such a thing as a fitness club, spin class, or elliptical machine, LaLanne set out to show the world how to eat right and get in shape. He was a world champion bodybuilder, built the nation’s first fitness center, gave his name to over 200 gyms, and hosted his own workout show on TV for 31 years. Countless other fitness fanatics followed in his footsteps, from Debbie Drake and her 1960s housewife routines, to Jane Fonda’s aerobics-inspired workouts, to Richard Simmons’s “Sweatin’ to the Oldies.”

Yet far too often LaLanne’s message of hard work was eclipsed by promises of faster and easier results. Despite his warnings that “there are no shortcuts” to fitness, Americans have had a hard time resisting the latest fitness gadget. From Bowflex® to the Ab Lounger, we’ve been buying what they’ve been selling.

And there’s a good reason we’ve been so eager for a quick fix. As a nation we’ve shown a low resistance not only to a good sales pitch, but to all the gastronomic temptations that come our way. In case you haven’t noticed, America is in the ever-expanding middle of an obesity epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 1.58 (63%) American adults is overweight or obese.

But the news isn’t all bad. About half of us are getting the recommended amount of exercise: 1 in 1.97 (51%) men and 1 in 2.13 women engage in either vigorous exercise for 20 minutes 3 days a week or moderate activities for half an hour 5 days a week.

And there’s hope we are finally getting the message there are no shortcuts to fitness. From Dr. Phil’s Ultimate Weight Loss Solution, to the hit show " The Biggest Loser," the focus is all about eating less and exercising more. Despite all the ever-present commercials and images of rock-hard abs and toned thighs, many Americans are choosing to get in shape the old fashioned way—by going for a good long walk, or a quick jog to pick up that skim latte. Surely it puts a spring in Jack LaLanne’s step to learn that not everyone is looking for the easy fix.