12 Ways to Reach Your Fitness Goals

1.  Take Action.  Take bold action, don't just think about it, be about it.  Do it, live it, and make it a habit.  Better yet, make it an addiction.  Ceaseless efforts abound in many fruits.

2.  Eat Smart.  Make healthy choices.  You are what you eat.  Eat healthy; be healthy.  Be smart about what you eat.

3.  Create a Journal Log.  Write down the things you ate.  Keep track of your exercises.  The odds are, when you stop logging your food intake, it probably wouldn't be very pretty.  You didn't write down your workouts this week, because you had none!

4.  Be Accountable.  Create a schedule and follow it.  If you're late for work, you would get fired right?  If you cancelled plans with your best friend, that would hurt them right?  How accountable is your word to yourself?

5.  Follow a Program.  Routines are a force of habit; that is doing the same thing over and over.  A program has a series progression.  It is important to progress and change your routines.  This is the program.

6.  Plan for Setbacks.  Life is what happens when you make plans.  You can never know what will happen in the future.  Getting sick, injured, losing loved ones, or taking vacation.  Have a back up plan to get yourself back on track after you handle business.

7.  Build Support.  Get your friends, family, co-workers, and others to keep you accountable.  You are much more likely to be accountable to others than to yourself.  The more people you hold yourself accountable to for your workouts, the more likely you are to maintain your program.

8.  Move.  Sitting down and doing nothing all day does not burn calories.  Get up and do something.

9.  Have Fun.  Enjoy your life.  Life is too short to be constantly busy and stressed out.  Enjoy your life, enjoy your workouts, enjoy your friends and family.  It is much easier to maintain a lifestyle that you enjoy.

10.  Dance.  I am not talking about just Zumba.  I am talking about just enjoy your music.  Don't be intimidated by what others make think of it.  Dancing is a joyous act.  This is fluid and smooth movement with a rhythmic beat.  It gets you loose, you feel great afterwards.  Maybe you're headbanging, or maybe you're bboying, Zumba works too!

11.  Stretch.  Release the tension, stretch out after workouts and throughout your day.  Long day at the desk?  Get up and just stretch for five minutes.  Did you just run five miles?  Stretch your legs out, you earned it!

12.  Rest.  Sleep is your number one friend.  Exhaustion and over training are two sure fire ways to set yourself up for failure.  Some days are longer than others.  Take time to rest, relax, and sleep.