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!

STOP making excuses.

Why not start today!?

Still have junk food in the house?  Donate it to the local food pantry!

There are SO many reasons why you SHOULD start living a healthier lifestyle.

For more energy, to feel better, and to look the way YOU want too.

START TODAY!
Wake up and start with a nice quick morning walk.

Then have a nice and simple healthy breakfast

Followed by a healthy lunch and dinner.

If you have time in the evening go out for another brisk walk!

YES IT IS THAT SIMPLE!

Want to get back on track but you just don’t know how to start?

Starting is the HARDEST part!
First you have to pick a day.  Pick a day that you want to start living and eating healthier.

On this day start first thing in the morning when you wake up.

The best thing to do is to start fresh at the beginning of the week (like Sunday or Monday).

Here are some day-by-day things you can do to help you get on track:

Day One:

Today try to drink at least 1.5 liters or water.  Try to substitute your favorite afternoon sugar drink with a glass of water.  Or have your favorite drink BUT also have the extra glass of water.  The key is to start incorporating more water into your diet

Day Two:

Make a healthy snack choice.  Instead of having chips with your sandwich at lunch try some veggies or a piece of fruit.  You want to start making healthier food choices for your meals and snacks

Day Three:

Go for a brisk walk.  You want to walk at a pace that is faster than a casual walk and you want to keep up that faster pace for about 30 minutes.  You want to get your heart rate up but you also do not want to push yourself too hard starting out.

Day Four:

Regulate your meal choices.  You want to try to eat several small meals throughout the day.  You want your first meal to be within two hours of you first waking up.  Once you have breakfast try to have more small meals (around 400 calories each) every 2-3 hours.  This will help kick-start your metabolism and allow you to fuel your body as you are going through the day.

Day Five:

Create your own stretching routine.  This routine should be done before AND after you workout.  It does not have to be a long drawn out routine, just something that will stretch your major muscle groups and allow you to stretch your muscles.

Day Six:

Try to drink 2 liters of water!  If it helps try to get a large water bottle or container that you can monitor how much you are consuming to help you keep track.

Day Seven:

Go through your cabinet and collect all of your unhealthy foods.  If you still have some food that is unopened donate it to a local food pantry or other type of food service.  You will not be as tempted to eat bad foods if you do not buy them or have them at home.

Day Eight:

Go for another brisk walk.  This time make sure to stretch BEFORE and AFTER your walk.  Do not forget to keep up the fast brisk pace for at least 30 minutes.  You want to keep your heart rate up to help you start to burn those extra calories.

Day Nine:

Go one full day without eating anything “unhealthy”.  This means cutting out carbonated beverages, candy bars, greasy foods, chips, or anything else that you know is unhealthy.  If you even have a doubt if it is unhealthy or not, do not eat it! Stick to simple things like chicken, fish, beef, turkey, veggies, fruit, whole wheat pasta or bread, etc.  This will allow you to dedicate one full day to fueling your body with healthy low processed foods.

Day Ten:

Today try to do more physical activities.  These following exercises do them for a minute and record how many you can do.  A month from now do them all again and see how many more you were able to do in that minute.  That should help show you how much you are progressing!  Try these exercises: jumping jacks, sit ups, push ups, lunges, air squats, and mountain climbers (if you do not know what these exercises are you can type them into Google or YouTube and see how to do them!)

Day Eleven:

Today try to combine several of the things listed above.  Try drinking the 2 liters or water and eating healthy for a full day.  Or try the brisk walk and drinking 2 liters of water.  Whatever you choose, try to do at least two of the items listed above.

Day Twelve:

Start a health and fitness journal!  Write down what you have been doing and how you feel.  You can write down how much you weigh now and also keep track of the exercises you have been doing.  There are some great online fitness journals (like myfitnesspal.com) or you can buy a regular journal to write in.  Writing down what you do will help you to keep track of what you are doing and will hopefully hold you accountable for the healthy choices that you should/want to make each day.

Day Thirteen:

Today you should drink 2 liters of water, walk briskly for thirty minutes (and do not forget to stretch!!), and lastly you should also have a regulated day of eating every few hours.

Day Fourteen:  

By this day you should have already started some healthy habits!  Today will be the toughest day!  Today you should make sure to drink 2 liters of water, eat healthy ALL day, have regulated eating (every 2-3 hours), go for a brisk walk (with your stretching), and keep track of all of this in your fitness journal.

This is just a sample of some things that you can do to get you stated on living healthier.  Most people ask me “where do I start” or “what are some good things to start doing”.  These are all some great things that allow you to make your own wise choices.  The key is to not completely jump into things head first.  You want to gradually start to make positive habits so the will become a good habit and you will stick with them.  Try this for fourteen days and then see how ready you are to start living healthier!

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!

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!

Gym time should be all about YOU!

Escape from the busy work day that you had

You can escape from all of the things you still need to get done for the day

Gym time is a great time you can schedule that is just for you!

Leave your phone in your car on in your gym bag to guarantee No interruptions!

Surround yourself with like-minded people…

Having people around you who are all working hard to obtain their goals allows you to have people who can help push you and support you so you can reach your success.

This does not just pertain to the gym…this can be in all aspects of your life!

You will need people who can help push, motivate, and encourage you!

Those people who have similar goals to your will do what they can to help you succeed.

If they do not want to help…you should probably find some new friends!