Jeannie Hutton has a message for those intent on carrying out a  New Year’s resolution to shape up: Take it easy on yourself.

The owner of Symmetry Fitness Studio, which opened last August, said making changes in small steps is one of the best ways to insure that you stay with any new plan to lose weight or exercise more.

“Start out slow,” she said, “Set realistic, obtainable goals and don’t beat up on yourself. Realize you can do it in small pieces. If you can only have 10 minutes to exercise, it’s OK. Do that and maybe you can increase it to 15 or 20 minutes.

“It’s the little things you do to take care of yourself that count,” she added. “It’s what you do every day that adds up. There’s enough stress in your life. You don’t need to add to it.”

A busy mother of two daughters, ages 6 and 9, Hutton has worked as a physical therapist and as a fitness trainer in a variety of gyms and at her home. It was clients who urged her to open her own studio, and one even helped her find the location for the studio in the block of newly renovated buildings on Silverado Trail in Napa.

“I’d never wanted to open a gym,” Hutton said, “but (the clients) gave me a pep talk and it all fell together.”

Being owner of her own place gives her a chance to put her own mark on a studio, she said. “Each one is different; my vision is to create an environment where people can grow — where they can be happy with themselves. You don’t have to be a size 6; you don’t have to be anything.”

Hutton decided to open a women-only studio because, in her experience, it’s more comfortable for women to work out when men aren’t around. “I have one client in her 20s who said to me, ‘I’ve worn the same outfit and no one noticed.’”

She worked to create a “spa-like” atmosphere in her studio by incorporating subtle colors and aromatherapy accents. One side of the studio is devoted to weight-training and the other to yoga and Pilates classes. Massage therapy is also available.  Hutton decided to forgo televisions in favor of music. “Your workout should be your escape,” she said. “It should be your treat to yourself.”

Because she also wants a friendly, supportive studio where she knows everyone’s name, Hutton said she plans to keep her client base small. “We love Jeannie,” said Lori Toaldi, one of the clients who urged Hutton to open a studio and one of her first members. “This is a wonderful, comfortable place where you can work out and talk to people, too.”

 Hutton’s small daughters often come to the studio with her, and she said, she also has quite a few mother-daughter pairs who work out together. Most of her clients, she said, are in their 50s and 60s. “It’s a great time for women,” she said. “Their children are grown and they can think about themselves now.”

It’s possible, however, to make fitness a part of anyone’s life, she added.

She noted that she had been exclusively devoted to weight training and running until her husband gave her a gift certificate for a yoga class, and she began to explore its benefits.  “I’m still learning a lot,” she noted — both about owning a business and about staying fit and healthy. Owning her own business, she said, “is a lesson for my private life — you have to let go of controlling everything. If your husband cooks dinner and it’s not what you would have cooked, it’s OK. Your children had dinner.

“There are things you can’t plan for, things you can’t control,” she said. “You can’t control genetics, for example, but you can still benefit by making fitness part of your life. Fitness can help balance your life. If you take an hour to walk the dog, or go to the gym, the laundry will still be there when you get back, and maybe you’ll even have more energy for it.”

Symmetry Fitness Studio, at 1558 Silverado Trail, is open Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to  8 p.m., Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. For information about memberships, fitness evaluation and programs, and yoga and Pilates classes call 258-2099 or visit the Web site at www.symmetryofnapa.com.