By Lisa Neff

Contributing writer

Counting the days until Jan. 1, when action is required on those resolutions for 2008?

Or fearing the arrival of the new year and failure at new resolve?

A poll by the public opinion institute at New York’s Marist College has found that about 44 percent of adults make New Year’s resolutions—and the number is on the rise from years past. More women then men tend to make resolutions. And more people under 45 than over 45 tend to see the new year as a time to make a change.

What changes will be made when the minute hand ticks to 12:01 a.m. Jan. 1? People will resolve to lose a few extra pounds, be kinder, kick the smoking habit, spend less money, exercise more, eat healthier, look for that better job and improve their overall health.

Shaping up: Getting in shape tops many lists of resolutions for the new year. Consumers always find a number of cut-rate deals on gym memberships, made knowing that a high percentage of those who sign up during the holidays will be missing in action by February, if not by mid-January.

Less social but more convenient is the home workout. Such workouts can also be less expensive.

Get Healthy & Fit’s line of workbooks, DVDs and fitness manuals work for beginner, intermediate and advanced exercisers. The line includes material for a specialized workout on the abs and an all-body Pilates workout or even a therapeutic workout for back pain. A favorite product is the Get Healthy and Fit: Fitness and Nutrition Journal, which makes it simple to keep track of daily exercise but also provides useful nutrition tips, calorie charts, fitness assessment sheets, progress logs and charts, facts about weight management and diagrams detailing the muscular system and the skeletal system. www.gethealthyandfit.com

From the Healthy Back Institute, the Lose the Back Pain System consists of two DVDs, three CDs, a manual and a workbook—all providing step-by-step instructions to alleviate those ordinary aches and pains that come with adult chores and responsibilities. www.lostthebackpain.com

Finding order: Many resolution-makers want to find more time for more quality-of-life moments in their lives in the new year. Putting order into each day helps with budgeting time. And for that, make good use of a calendar.

Perfect for a household with kids, “The Busy Parent’s Planner” helps keep up with personal and professional lists of commitments. The left side of the planner contains a week’s worth of commitments for the adults in the home and the right side is reserved for kids’ activities.

“The Ecological Engagement Calendar” is unlike any other calendar on the market, truly a unique way to organize and experience time and perfect for the New Ager entering a new year. The planner contains plenty of space to note commitments, but also charts phases of the moon and tides, cycles of growth and seasonal weather patterns.

Using “The New York Times Crossword Puzzles” engagement calendar will enhance your puzzle-solving skills while eliminating the need to get to the store early to buy the newspaper Mondays and Tuesdays—the easiest of puzzle days—and Sundays—the most expensive newspaper days.

For simple aesthetic appeal and good fun, look to comic-inspired wall calendars. “The Addams Family” calendar consists of 12 black/gray ink wash cartoons and full-color reproductions of the classic comics by Charles Addams. www.pomegranate.com

The SpongeBob SquarePants calendar can put some splash and fun in the new year—and four months into 2009. For the dustworthy, Disney’s “Tinkerbell” wall calendar carries the time-tracker from January 2008 through 16 months. And a true believer must have the pop-up “Marvel Heroes” retro collection calendar. www.mead.com

Kicking the habit: Another high-ranking resolution is the vow to quit smoking—a sensible goal given that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Yet year after year many who try to kick the habit fail.

Boiron, a world leader in homeopathy, takes the guesswork out of choosing the right homeopathic medicine to relieve smoking cessation related symptoms with the Smoking CareKit. The package contains homeopathic treatments to relieve tobacco craving, the need to eat and irritability. www.boironusa

Easing anxiety: Boiron also makes an anti-stress care kit, which contains homeopathic medicine—FDA-regulated botanical, biological and mineral substances—to treat nervousness, irritability and hypersensitivity.

Also new to the marketplace is the NAP20 digital player, an affordable compact gadget that turns a siesta into a journey to nirvana. The NAP20 makes use of the POWRNAPS sleep system. Plug the headphones into the digital player and listen up. In the first few minutes, the brain adjusts to the sound waves in the headphones. The napper then drifts into 15 minutes of deep sleep. Twenty minutes later the napper awakes to birds chirping. A more refreshing, relaxing, wholesome way to get some rest than popping a pill. www.nap20.com