• Don't over or underestimate what you can do or how long it takes. Everyone can get into the best shape they've ever been and have that awesome body...but, start with your first realistic goal. If you need to lose weight, concentrate on reducing calories, strength training to help burn calories at workouts and at rest and reduce your size, and doing your cardio for burning more calories and increasing your endurance and cardio vascular health. If you break you goal down into parts, the time frames shorten instead of looking at the whole way to your ultimate goal!!
   
• Break down your goals. It's easy, not as hard it this all sounds. First, as stated above, what is your primary and most immediate goal? What would your overall goal be? Write it down.
   
• Don't think fitness has to take over your life. It does take effort, and it does take some thought as to your diet and scheduling the best times, but if you make it a priority, just to take a little time a few days a week, you'll be surprised at the results you can get without thinking about it every waking moment.
   
• When you decide what your goal is, make sure you work toward "that" goal. For instance. If you want to lose weight, don't skip a step and go straight to bodybuilding. All involve resistance training, but they are done differently. Don't do just cardio and diet, do all three but do them in the most effective way that will help you reach your most immediate goal first.
   
• Stop making excuses why you can't reach your goal. We've all seen the transformations that people have made and we all wish we could do it. The fact is, we can. We just have to do it. If we think about it, talk about it, investigate it, we're doing nothing. We get discouraged and we never took a class, went to a personal training session or started a diet. So stop making excuses why you can't, and start finding solutions on how you can!

So, now you have an idea of where to start. It actually is that easy. What do you do next? The word DO is the key in that sentence. Well, if you just start, and then work on it as you go, you'll have started getting your body in goal mode. You can change what you are doing if it's not what you need to do to reach that goal...but the key is really just starting.

If you've tried before...make sure your efforts were really made. Getting to a goal is work. There's no doubt about it. It's doing something differently, whether its pushing yourself a little more each week on your workout, or pushing away that extra food, its about making changes in what and how you do things now. Which is a good thing...because if you continue to do what you do when you're not in shape or overweight, then that will never change. It should be a welcome change, something that makes you get up in the morning and say..."I'm doing it again today and I'm one day closer to my goal".

Remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome or result each time.

Realize your immediate and ultimate goals. Make changes to how you've done it before without success, and start doing it right now...too many tomorrows pass and the weeks and months go by and suddenly it's summer again and we all wished we had started months and months ago...and the next words out of our mouths is, "I'll just do it next year, but next year i'll start earlier" :)

Let's sit down together and figure out your goals and how I can help you get there. Now is the time. The holidays are approaching and the average person puts on 5 - 10 lbs over the holidays, so making those changes now mean a big difference in the question, "Will you beat the holiday pounds and keep it off while getting in shape" or "Will you try to get those extra pounds off, plus the weight you originally wanted to lose after the holidays"?

The choice is up to you. Make it one that will make a difference.

If you have goals to lose weight, or sculpt or become more powerful, then give me a call and we'll setup an appointment to get you started. I'll explain all the options available to you here at Fitness By the Bay!

Have a great day, and I hope to hear from all of you soon when you want to start moving toward your goals.