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Featured Fitness Professional

How To Stay Committed To Your Weight Loss Program

By Adam Kessler

I'm not going to lie, but staying committed to an exercise program is tough. Achieving your health and fitness goals is a lot of work. Even when people hire me as their personal trainer, it still requires some self discipline to eat healthy and do the extra cardiovascular required to see results. Some clients eventually fall to the wayside. To give you the best possible chance to stick with your weight loss program and succeed, I will give you some of the best tips I tell my clients to keep them on the right track.

  1. Commit three months at the start of your exercise program: If you commit to this right from the beginning, it will help you not get distracted if you aren't losing weight after the second or third week. It is going to take your body some time to adjust to your new lifestyle change and how fast it adapts depends on how disciplined you are to diet, if you are consistent to your exercise, and your body's own personal reaction to change. After three months though, if you are doing everything that you need to do, you will see some change. You will get inspired and want to continue on to see even more results.
  2. Make a long-term goal but focus on the short term goals: I truly believe that you can achieve any type of weight loss goal that you create, as long as you are committed to the program. You will never meet your long term goal in 30 days. That is why it is called a long term goal. Focus on the short term goals and they don't have to be tangible changes. For example, yes you could say I want to lose 1-2 pounds this week, but also make a goal of hitting cardiovascular 5 times in a week or trying to eat 3 servings of fruit for the day. If you make realistic short term goals, you can see little victories easier and over the long hall, become the big victory that you are striving for.
  3. Get the support of your family and friends: All too often, I meet with a client who wants to lose weight, but her spouse or children ridicule him/her or discourage the attempts. As someone who understands how you will feel by losing the weight, you need to have a heart to heart with your family and friends and explain why this is important to you. Whether it be for your own health or just to make you feel more self-confident, you need to convey this to them. If they truly care about you, they will help you out in everyway possible. It is always better to have help, especially when trying to achieve a goal that for the longest time you have deemed insurmountable.
  4. Join a support group: If your family and friends can't be of help to you, look for fitness support groups out there that will. The Health Rejuvenation program that my company offers has several support groups. We provide a bi-weekly meeting place for local participants, a teleconference call, and a Yahoo! Group for out of town participants. If you are in a group with people who are trying to achieve the same results, this is a wonderful way to remain accountable. Motivation and support permeates throughout the group, to help each other out.
  5. Keep a log of your workouts and eating: This will keep you more accountable by seeing what you are doing. You might be less likely to skip a workout or have a poor quality workout, if you can see what weights you worked with last time. Also, you will be less likely to put that doughnut in your mouth, if you know you have to write it down. You can correct the errors in your diet and workout and keep you on the right track for success.
  6. Hire a personal trainer: Yeah, I might be tooting my horn here, but my clients tell me that if they have to pay money for something, then they are going to try and stick with it. A personal trainer will put you on the right exercise program and nutrition plan that will best help you achieve your results. All you have to do is follow their instructions.

I hope that these tips help you out. I know it sounds simple for me to say, but you have to be patient. You didn't get in your current shape overnight, so don't expect to change overnight. If you follow the guidelines that I suggest, you will be well on your way to achieving that lifestyle change you so desire.

About the Author:

Adam Kessler is President of Fitness Planning Consultants. His company focuses on speed and strength development for athletes as well as teaching people to safely and permanently lose weight. He can be reached at www.fitnessplanning.com