Setting Reasonable Goals

Many experts believe that the best way to ensure lasting improvement is to take on one small behavior change at a time. The idea is to commit to reasonable tasks, not ambitious ones, and develop positive habits over time.

An easy approach to this strategy is the "One-Change-a-Week" model. Make a list of the behaviors and healthy habits you'd like to develop. Start with the ones that will be easiest for you, and gradually work up to the more challenging ones.

Your choice of weekly goals might include these:

• Eat one extra piece of fruit per day
• Add 5 minutes to each workout
• Meet with a personal trainer to create an exercise plan
• Buy whole-grain bread instead of white
• Do one extra workout per week
• Take raw veggies (carrots, peppers) to work for snacks
• Eat breakfast every day

By the end of a month, you’ll have made at least 4 important health changes and you'll feel even more motivated to continue to make other changes needed to reach your goal.

Another idea is to try personal training. Having a personal trainer may seem like something only wealthy celebrities would indulge in. Nothing can be further from the truth. One of the best goal-setting strategies is to consult a personal trainer in launching your fitness plan. A personal trainer can help establish a series of specific, measurable short-term goals; and create a customized exercise plan that will help you succeed.

Staying on Track

If you have trouble staying motivated to exercise, you might achieve greater success if you make exercise part of your routine, something as ingrained as brushing your teeth, getting showered or driving to work. The more "automatic" exercise becomes, the less you'll have to grapple with how to fit it into your busy schedule.

How do you do that? Keep in mind that your health is not a temporary change to be made; you're making this choice for a lifetime. Your teeth need to be brushed regularly in order to keep them healthy, right? Same goes for your body. Get into a routine you like and stick to it!

Plan ahead for eating and working out. Plan out which days, types of food and times in advance. Use the MyLifeBalance Activity Planner to schedule your workouts and get motivated in advance). Have the gym clothes, equipment and nutritional balance ready to go as planned. In order to fully prepare, make sure you are both actively and mentally prepared for your workout/nutrition schedule. Book your meal plan and workout schedule weeks ahead of time so that you can be prepared for the commitment of doing both.

Every time you work out at a higher level, record your progress in your exercise journal (Take advantage of the MyLifeBalance Activity Tracker or Walking Tracker to record your workouts). Did you go up a level on the elliptical trainer? Did it take you less time to run a mile? Are you using 10lb dumbbells instead of 8lb? No achievement is too small! Writing it down will help you see your progress in print and keep you coming back for more!

Give it Time

Do you find yourself continually starting exercise programs only to quit just weeks later? If so, you could be asking too much of yourself in terms of motivation.

Yes, you can make noticeable, satisfying improvements in your physique in as little as a month. But it's important to understand what kinds of changes are possible (and which goals may not be realistic within that time frame). Here are 4 guidelines for achieving results:

1. Lose weight gradually, no more than 1 or 2 pounds a week. It may not seem like much at first, but you could be 8 pounds lighter after a month.
2. Lift weights! Regular strength training plays a huge role in weight loss. It builds lean muscle mass, which increases metabolism (i.e., you burn more calories). Bottom line: If you want to see results quickly, make sure you're doing both cardiovascular and strength training.
3. Give up the "spot reducing" myth. You cannot lose body fat primarily from your stomach, thighs or other trouble spot. Our bodies lose fat proportionately.
4. Know a "body fat" problem from a "muscle tone" problem. If you want highly defined muscles, you won't be able to see them as long as there's a layer of fat hiding them. If you're carrying excess pounds, you need to lose weight while toning your muscles through strength training.

Perhaps one answer is to look at motivation as another "muscle." Just as biceps, core and glutes gradually strengthen as they are exercised over time, so does motivation grow stronger with practice.

Lastly, and critically: Choose workouts you like! It's extra hard to motivate yourself do to exercise you don't enjoy.

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To plan and keep track of your fitness progress, visit the LifeBalance Activity Planner, Tracker & Journal available free through your MyLifeBalance account.