Today I have another great guest post for you from a great freelance blogger.  Her name is Bella and she is here to talk to you about ways to help you stick to your health and fitness plans!

If you want to change your appearance, you can do it simply or subtly by changing your wardrobe or getting a haircut. But before you start thinking about opting for a cosmetic procedure, one of the healthiest and most effective ways of looking as well as feeling better is to start a new exercise regime.

Regular exercise has a whole heap of benefits, from making you slimmer, stronger and more flexible to boosting your mood, improving your skin and possibly even making you live longer. Getting started on a new fitness regime can be hard work, however, requiring plenty of willpower and motivation. If you want to stick to it and see the results, try these 5 fool-proof tips and strategies for staying motivated and on target:

1. Set yourself realistic short-term and long-term goals. The sense of achievement when you reach a goal can help you to stick with your new lifestyle, but it’s important to be realistic. Be too ambitious at the start and you’ll quit right away, so set yourself achievable short-term goals, cross them off the list and then progress to longer range goals.

2. Make exercise part of your daily routine. To stick to your regime, you need to take exercise seriously and schedule workouts in your day just as you would any other activity. It’s important not to make excuses – simply to make physical activity part of your life.

3. Do activities you enjoy. If you hate an activity, you won’t stick to your new fitness regime. If you find something that you enjoy, such as a competitive sport like badminton or a fun activity like salsa dancing, you are more likely to want to do it each week. You might even discover a new athletic talent. You should never force yourself to do an activity that is painful or uncomfortable because you’ll only start dreading it.

4. Write down your goals, plans and achievements. Seeing your goals, your workout schedule and your progress written down on paper can really help you to see the benefits of what you’re doing and stay motivated.

5. Get a friend or family member involved. If you know someone who also wants to get fitter or lose weight, why not join forces to achieve your goals? Having someone else to motivate and support you, as well as joining in fun activities that you wouldn’t want to do alone, can really help you stay on track.

These are all some GREAT tips to help you stay on track with your health and fitness goals! You have to work hard if you want to reach your goals! Stay focused, stay dedicated, and be patient! The results will NOT come over night.  But, when you do start to see the results you will appreciate all the hard work you did to get those results!

To reach your goals YOU have to want it

No one can reach your goals for you…YOU have to want it to achieve it!

Stop making excuses and start TODAY!

Happy Fitness Friday!

You should not only track the weight that you lose

BUT you should track your progress in the gym

Sometimes the scale will not show how you look or feel!

So do not always place all of your concern on the amount of weight you do not lose a certain week

Some weeks you may lose more….and other weeks you may lose less (or none)

Keep working hard and sticking to your healthy eating and the results will still show.

What you eat has a HUGE impact on if you will reach your health and fitness goals

Your body is MADE in the kitchen.

Your body is SCULPTED in the gym

What you eat is supposed to fuel your body.  Your body needs all the right things in order for it to grow, repair, and lose the weight that you do not want.

You can not eat like crap and try to workout to compensate for all the bad food you eat.

It just does not work that way!

Eat a clean and well-balanced meals during the day

Stay consistent with your healthy eating and fitness plans.

This will allow you to see the results you are working for!

Believe in YOURSELF!

You can do ANYTHING that you want.

Work hard…stay dedicated…stay motivated!
Be patient because the results will start to show

YOU have to find ways that help keep you motivated and on track with reaching your goals.

Here are a few great examples:

You can place sticky notes on a door, mirror  at your desk or anywhere where you will see it.  You can rip off a sticky note for each day you go and workout.  You can track how many calories you lose by using this method.  Each time you lose a pound you can take a sticky not away! This is a great visual reminder and to be honest I use this trick when I am training for my competitions.  There is something so refreshing about tearing away the days that you have completed.  It helps you to know that you are that much closer to your goals.

SNACKING SMART is IMPORTANT!

Try to STOP buying junk food.  If you do not have it at home it will be that much easier to say no to it!
Try to find fruits and vegetables that you enjoy to keep around.  When in doubt snack on some thing GREEN

Green veggies are something that you can not get too much of!

I always have cucumbers, fresh green beans, and lettuce around to snack on if I get hungry in between meals.  The key to losing those unwanted pounds it not to starve yourself! Skipping meals and waiting too long to eat can actually hinder your weight loss.  You want to try to have a well-rounded meal every 2-3 hours.  And some days will be busier than others and you will get hungry before your next meal.  Nibble on some cucumbers or fresh green beans.  You can dip them in fat-free Italian dressing or a vinaigrette .

You have to learn how to eat and snack healthy.

You body will be MADE in the kitchen.  Working out helps to sculpt and build your body.  You HAVE to eat the right fuel for your body in order to see the results you want.  You have to maintain a good diet and stick with your regular fitness program if you want to reach your goals in a healthy amount of time.

foam rollers at www.fitness-mad.com

“Stop competing with others and start competing with yourself!”

YOU are on your OWN journey!

STOP looking at someone and saying “I wish I looked like ____”

Everyone is unique, everyone is different, everyone does not look the same for a reason!

Enjoy your fitness journey.  Learn to enjoy your uniqueness and what make you different from those around you.  Every workout does not create the same results for everyone…the same diet will not create the same results for everyone.  Yes you will get similar results but you will start to sculpt and create a different body type and you will start to strengthen different muscles.

Yes your progress may be slow so you will have to be patient.

Stay consistent with your workouts and eating healthy

Your hard work WILL start to show

Work hard…eat right…enjoy the results!

You can try this move to add something extra to your work out routine!

What to do:

Get the treadmill started first! Start off with a LOW SPEED (like around 1.0 or 1.5)

As you do it more and get better at it you can increase the speed or even the incline of the treadmill

I did this exercise for a total of 20 minutes!

60 seconds on the treadmill and 30 seconds rest.

I alternated between the  60 seconds and 30 seconds until 20 minutes had passed

It increased my heart rate as well as worked my shoulders, back, and arms.

BE CAREFUL when doing this exercise!

Your hands are close to the rollers and you do not want to get them (or your clothing) caught in the machine.

Like I said before, start out slow and then you can increase the speed.

For your first time try to have someone near by just in case you need assistance!