If it's January, it must be time to resolve to eat, exercise or just live better -- as long as it doesn't cost too much or involve giving up too many things. "Weight loss was so '90s," joked Harry Balzer, a Chicago-based food trend analyst with NPD Group.

As usual, marketers are seizing this season as an opportune moment to offer new health products or sell their ideas. They just might not talk about it the same way they did in the past. Now, it's more about wellness and fitting into people's busy lifestyles and less about putting them on a "diet."

A Weight Watchers ad now running pitches its program as a way to eat right while still being allowed to go to restaurants like the rest of the population. A few weeks ago, Kraft announced the South Beach Diet products were evolving into South Beach Living items.

When Pittsburgh's H.J. Heinz Co. this week officially launches new frozen entrees with real fruit in its Weight Watchers Smart Ones line, the focus won't be on calories. "Taste is the No. 1 priority for Smart Ones," said company spokeswoman Jessica Jackson.

The brand's products are developed to meet Weight Watchers nutritional requirements, she said, but, "Smart Ones does not consider itself a diet food. It considers itself to be a product line that fits into smart weight management practices throughout the day."

A lot of Americans still covet smaller jeans or sleeker swimsuits. About 60 percent of adults would like to lose 20 pounds, according to NPD Group's annual Eating Patterns in America report.

The whole deprivation thing is a real drag, though. Just 29 percent of women said they were on a diet last year and 19 percent of men, based on NPD Group statistics. The most popular diet continues to be something called "my own diet."

It's hard to follow strict sets of rules. When the novelty of fad diets wears off, boredom may set in. Marketers selling gym memberships or low-calorie foods or advice books know they need to present their solutions as fun or tasty or simple. "You're going to have to make this as easy as possible," advised Mr. Balzer.

Among the book titles that Amazon listed as selling well last year were "Eat This Not That: Thousands of Simple Food Swaps That Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds -- or More!" by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding; "The 12 Second Sequence: Shrink Your Waist in 2 Weeks" by Jorge Cruise; and "You: Staying Young: The Owner's Manual for Extending Your Warranty" by Michael F. Rozen and Mehmet C. Oz. They're all dishing advice, but none of the titles included the word "diet."

No matter what everyone agrees to call their efforts, January continues to serve as the traditional month to pitch products designed to help. "I can tell you that publishers do release a lot of their diet books at the end of December and in early January," said Anne Roman, spokeswoman for the Borders bookstore chain.

Piles of such books will be prominently displayed this month at stores in the Ann Arbor, Mich., chain, which is hosting its first companywide effort to hold events targeted toward helping consumers keep their New Year's resolutions.

Nationally, the plan calls for holding wellness fairs, yoga classes and fitness and recreation clinics inside stores. While there won't be any yoga sessions in the regional locations, there are plans for Nancy Stampahar, a motivational speaker from Whitehall to talk about her self-published book, "Peace, Love and Lemonade: A Recipe to Make Your Life Sweeter" at 7:30 tonight at the Borders at Northway Mall in Ross and at 2 p.m. Saturday at the EastSide location in East Liberty.

If people are trying to improve their lives and get fit, their pets may have to get with the program, too.

The pet snack marketers at San Francisco's Del Monte Foods Co. have been keeping an eye on the rapid growth in sales of 100-calorie snack packs targeted to human beings looking for convenient ways to munch responsibly outside of meals. Sure, that convenience means more packaging and sometimes higher prices, but people seem to like how easy it is to hold the line on calories.

So Del Monte, which has a regional headquarters on the North Shore, is launching 50-calorie portion-controlled Pup-Peroni snack packs. The timing was chosen to coincide with "pet parents" efforts to get fit, said Nicole Terry, brand manager for dog snacks.

The size of the "guilt-free" snack was based on the daily requirements of a 5- to 10-pound dog. Bigger dogs can look forward to consuming more than one snack pack -- without any guilt whatsoever.