If you’re struggling with sticking to your diet and exercise plan, you’re not alone. These quick and simple tips will get you on the right track to all o f your goals.

How To Begin Working Out and Eating Right and Enjoy It?

Have you tried working out and dieting but find yourself quitting after a few weeks or months? I bet you feel like you'll never be "that person" who can stick with it. Well, I'm here to tell you, you can. You just need to learn a simplified method and begin the process with the right tools.

I was once a person that couldn't find my way in the fitness world. I struggled tremendously. I'm definitely an "all or nothing" kind of girl and finding balance, took years. I went at it in the all wrong ways and quit more times than I can count.

So let me take out all the ups and downs the path to fitness will take you. I have paved the way, and I want you to have nothing but smooth sailing. So dive in and picture yourself loving and enjoying the process. Believing in yourself is half the battle. Let's get started.

The very first thing I want you to do is to grab a blank notebook and write down three goals. Be very specific with these goals.

Goal #1-- this needs to be a DAILY goal

Goal #2--make this a WEEKLY goal

Goal #3--put down a MONTHLY goal

You can allow yourself three daily, weekly and monthly goals but no more. You need a clear cut plan of action, and you don't want to put too much on your plate. This will lead to frustration and overwhelm.

Let me give you an example:

Goal #1--I will drink a gallon of water a day.

Goal #2--I will workout four times this week.

Goal #3--I want to lose five pounds this month.

It is VITAL that you write these down. I can't tell you how many times I would come up with a goal in my head on a Sunday evening and by the end of the week, I'd already forgotten that one and moved on to two more.

If you don't write your goals down, you'll be on a hamster wheel chasing down endless goals and never feeling like you ever achieved a single one. This is why I want you to be VERY SPECIFIC with your goals.

If you put down, I want to look better in a bikini by summer, well you'll lose your vision by week three because you'll be all over the place. You need to be working on your daily goals and having very SPECIFIC goals will keep you on track to obtaining all of your wishes.

You don't want to paint too big of a picture. What do I mean? I can't tell you how many clients that have come to me and on our very first session, they lay out all of their goals to me.

Here's an example:

I want to lose 30lbs. I want my legs thinner, and I want my abs to look cut. Oh yea, I want to run a 5k. Can you help me do all of this?

Of course, I want to say yes; I'll help you achieve all of these because all of it is very doable. But I don't immediately say yes because I know that they will burn out before most of these goals are ever achieved. Why? It's not because they can't reach all of these goals, but because they want all of it, right now. They will feel like they're a failure if it doesn't come fast enough. They'll throw in the towel before ever seeing their full potential. This always breaks my heart.

So, without crushing their enthusiasm, I slow them down and break their goals down into bite size pieces so we can work methodically on each target. I give them two to three daily goals and the same for their weekly and monthly goals. What they didn't realize before is there's a lot of celebration in between now and then.

With such big goals, they never see all the small victories that will come daily, weekly and monthly. Maybe their first week they can only handle a fifteen-minute workout to next week hitting a thirty-minute workout.

By the end of the first month, they'd miss seeing their arms gaining beautiful, sculpted muscle mass. They'd lose feeling the incredible increase in energy or the great deep sleep they haven't had in years.

These are the small things that will propel you onto your big, long-term goals. These are the small victories that will keep you motivated and the drive you need to keep you going. These are the little changes that will make your life happier and make you feel better about who you are.

Are you now understanding why small, specific goals will help you get to all of your BIG goals? Try it. I think you'll be surprised how different you will be with sticking to your plan.

Have you tried endlessly to get into a healthy lifestyle only to quit weeks afterwards? In this article, I will show you how to breakdown your goals, workout and nutrition plan. You’ll be amazed at these super effective ways to get yourself on track…

YOUR NUTRITION

When you decide you want to lose weight, get fit and feel better, your first initial thoughts will be to start working out and get on a diet. You think you need to eat less and cut-out all the "bad" foods you love to eat. Part of you cringes at the thought of this, but the other part is super excited and determined to do it this time. This is it; you're sure you can do it.

Here's where I'd sound an alarm (a very loud one!) Maybe you can make this big of a commitment, at least for the short term. However, if you reach your goal of losing weight in three months depriving yourself of foods you love and killing yourself at the gym every day, is it worth it? What about the day you decide you can't stick to this rigid plan so you gain everything right back and you're devastated to have failed. Maybe you've already been through this. I know I have. It's awful feeling this way and picking yourself back up can feel hopeless.

What would all of that time and effort be worth if you only ended up right back where you started? It will probably cost you your self-worth. You'd feel like a quitter. You'd feel like everyone thinks of you as a failure. I would hate to see you go through this vicious cycle, over and over again. If this is you, please wipe that slate clean. You didn't fail, and you're not the only one. You just went at it incorrectly and probably put too much pressure on yourself.

So, here's another piece of the puzzle that needs to be broken down into bite size pieces before you jump head first into a full blown diet. Take baby steps.

Here are some simple tips that will help you begin your journey:

1--If you drink three sodas a day, replace ONLY one soda a day with water. Do this for a week and aim to replace another one the following week.

2--If you eat fries with your burger, start with replacing the fries with veggies. Don't go from burger and fries to lettuce and water. You'll be miserable.

3--If you snack on chips every night, try to switch to a healthy snack three times a week. Don't sit and bite your nails every night as to not eat anything.

You can still look forward to your "bad" food choices while switching your foods up a little bit. The more you take away, the more you'll want it. You'll naturally build from here. You'll want to keep bettering your food choices.

You don't need to be drastic with your changes. These small tweaks will make a difference, and it's a lot easier mentally to ease into a new nutrition plan then shocking yourself and being so rigid.

Some might say going cold turkey is the best way to go, but I say do what works for the long term. If you're a potato chip junkie, you can't think that you'll never eat chips again. Why would you? That would be horrible! Learn how to dial your nutrition in and treat yourself to chips and not go totally off the rails when you do.

DIET FADS

I have solid opinions on diet fads. I cringe at some of the diets I see on social media and television. My heart sinks for all of the people, so desperate to lose weight, dropping their hard earned money and hopes into these diets. Most will only come out on the other side feeling very disappointed. They'll feel like failures when these diets don't work the way they claimed. It takes a toll on your mind, but these diets can also damage your metabolism.

Yo-yo dieting is very hard on your body and will have long term effects. Not taking care of yourself by endlessly dieting, gaining and losing weight, over and over again, will slow your metabolism down.

You must take the time and patience to lose weight. Stop jumping ship three days into it because you didn't lose five pounds. Losing weight rapidly will cause damage, so you need to remind yourself of this daily. It's not healthy or sustainable.

You want your metabolism running strong at all times. You were given this one and only body, and it's up to you to take care of it. You must not take all of your organs for granted. They work hard for you every second of every day.

Dieting and exercising can be hard and sticking with it, can be even harder. Here’s your guide to finding a way to navigate through your fitness plan, so you stay with it and reach all of your goals.

HOW SHOULD YOU EXERCISE?

I know finding and sticking with a fitness regimen can make your head spin. Let me tell you right now, it's not going to be easy, but it doesn't have to be brutal and unbearable. It will take willpower and courage. It's not going to be blood, sweat and tears so relax. You don't need to be super hardcore to get results. That may come later, but only when you're mentally and physically ready.

If you've never worked out or fell off the fitness wagon, I want you to start with baby steps. I know you're eager to lose weight, but if you build a solid fitness foundation, you'll not only lose weight, but you'll gain a daily fitness lifestyle that you'll never walk away from. You'll workout without even thinking about it.

Going into a fitness regimen head first will end up with you quitting. Not just you, anyone! I would advise you to start with walking, either outside or at a gym. Set the goal to do it three days a week for fifteen minutes a day. Keep adding from there. Keep your commitment, no matter what.

Pick only the days you know you can walk and put those days on your calendar. Let your loved ones know that these are the days you have planned to walk so that no curve balls are thrown your way. That's not being selfish. Everyone is entitled to doing something to better themselves.

You will feel so accomplished every time you complete your walk; you'll want to do more. Pat yourself on the back and allow yourself to be excited about it. You'll soon see that the days you put forth an effort to better yourself, everything else falls into place. Your nutrition choices will be better because you won't want to blow your workout. You'll feel more energized, and your mind will be in a much place.

Instead of watching the scale for the positive feedback, take note of your energy levels, your elevated mood and your better quality of sleep. Notice how your clothes are fitting. Watch for these small victories that will lead you right to the big ones!

End the cycle of wanting to get fit, trying to get fit and quitting all together. It’s not that you can’t stick with it, you just need to the tools to get there.

Read this carefully and over and over again.......

When you begin working out, your body will, at first, see this as an injury. So what does this mean? You'll be causing your muscles tiny micro tears (which is the point of working out), and the body will start to retain fluid, just like it does when you get injured or sick. This is the way the body heals itself.

With the body retaining fluid, your scale will inevitably go up or, at the very least, fluctuate. Once you stick with your exercise for a few weeks, the body will understand that this is your new norm, so it will allow itself to let go of the excess fluids.

So here goes the mental game that the scale plays with you. Don't fall for it. Once the body releases that extra fluid, you'll see the scale go down and you'll be beyond excited. You'll begin exercising more, nailing your nutrition and thinking that you're well on your way to losing a pile of weight.

You'll be jumping on the scale nonstop because you're addicted to seeing those numbers going down. Out of nowhere, the scale stops dropping, or it begins to creep back up slowly.

You're devastated and frustrated. Now you begin losing steam and quitting altogether is on the horizon. Before you know it, you've stopped working out, and you're right back to your old eating habits. Sound familiar?

Let me save you from this, this time. Stick with me! That scale is not your friend, and it can be very deceiving at times. The scale will not tell you that you're gaining muscle mass or that maybe you had too much sodium yesterday. The scale doesn't show you inches. It doesn't point out all the health benefits you've given yourself with working out and eating better.

Don't play the scale game. Of course, you can use it to gauge your progress, but keep it weekly or even better, monthly. Rely more on photos, measurements and how you feel. You'll save yourself a lot of heartbreak.

NOW, ONTO EXERCISING

Weight training is the absolute best choice for not only losing weight but for changing the entire composition of your body. Building muscle has many benefits. Muscle mass increases your metabolism, burns fat and makes your body look better. If you've been yo-yo dieting, weight training is going to help repair your metabolism.

Running is excellent for your heart health, but it is also hard on your body, for the long term. You're jarring your joints, and it can be very time-consuming. However, here's the biggest problem with a large amount of cardio. You burn muscle mass to sustain your running regimen. Therefore, your metabolism slows down and if you end your running routine, here comes the body storing more fat.

I want you to think of a burning fire. How do you keep the fire burning? You would have to continuously throw wood logs onto the fire to keep up its intensity. Now, I want you to think of your metabolism as a fire. How will you keep your metabolism burning fat at a high rate? The wood logs in your body would be muscles. Yes, muscle mass is what keeps your body burning fat. You see, your body has to work to have muscle mass whereas the body doesn't need to do much to sustain fat. Fat simply lays dormant where muscle mass serves many purposes to the body.

After a weight training session, your body will be burning calories for hours AFTER you stop working out. This isn't the case with cardio. Muscle building is superior to cardio for having a sculpted, lean body.

Instead of spending so much time running on that treadmill, come down to the gym floor and play around with the weights. Of course, you'll need some form of cardio to keep your heart muscle conditioned but learn how to marry weights and cardio, but keep more of your attention on the weight lifting side. Your body will reward you.

Have you tried to lose weight, but just couldn’t stick with it? You’re not a failure, you just need to know how to stick with it, so you can see your bodies full potential. This article will show you step by step, how to layout your plan so you can …

ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT BULKING UP?

Girl, girls, girls stop worrying about this. Our bodies do not have enough testosterone to develop huge muscles. You'll merely look leaner and more sculpted. My guys out there, you can easily bulk up with different rep ranges, weight amounts and the proper nutrition plan (this is my jam!)

Our bodies are incredible, and weight training is an excellent tool into shaping ourselves any way we want. It takes a plan, goals, and patience. You have the power and ability to sculpt your muscles and rid yourself of fat. Consistent work will lead you anywhere you want to go.

Here's a simple way to see how the body composition works. Fat goes side to side. Muscles go up and down. The more muscle mass you have, the longer and leaner you look. So don't be afraid to lift and by all means, lift heavy. Once you start seeing those muscles transforming, you'll be hooked. Stick with it long enough so you can see and feel the full benefits.

I highly recommend doing your weight training BEFORE your cardio. Your body needs to have all the energy and strength possible for the weights. I want you to think of weight training as the "meat" part of your plate and cardio as the "potatoes" part of your plate.

When placing cardio before the weights, your body will be taxed. Therefore you'll not get to lift as efficiently as you could have beforehand, and your form may be off, leading to needless injuries.

HOW TO START A WORKOUT ROUTINE

Now that you see the importance of a workout regimen start slow. Begin with a short routine of weight training followed by a bit of cardio afterward. You don't need to overthink this, just get that body moving. Every rep will count. Pick three days that you know you can dedicate yourself to working out and get to it. Whether you join a gym or buy a set of dumbbells, start small.

It may feel like it's too big of a mountain to climb at times, but remember me telling you, it's one step at a time. If you feel yourself giving up, come back to this article and reread it. You now have the tools to settle into a fitness routine. Everyone has to start somewhere and here is your start. Now, go for it.

I hope this helps you settle into a new, healthy way of life that you enjoy and will make it a forever fitness lifestyle. All you need to focus on is being CONSISTENT. The rest will come. You can do this!

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

— Winston Churchill

Make sure you pin this to your motivation board on Pinterest. You never know when you’ll lose steam and need a little guidance and cheer!

It can be hard to stay on track when you’re wanting to lose weight. Here’s simple tips to keep you track and super motivated! If you’ve started weight loss plans only to end up derailed, frustrated, and back to square one, this article is for you! H… — It can be hard to stay on track when you’re wanting to lose weight. Here’s simple tips to keep you track and super motivated! If you’ve started weight loss plans only to end up derailed, frustrated, and back to square one, this article is for you! Head on over to my side of the internet at The Purely Fit-online workout plans, nutrition, and fitness coaching.

If you'd like someone in your corner to help you, click below and let me get you started on a well laid out fitness and nutrition plan. I'd love to be your guiding light on your path to greatness.

Hugs and Love,

Aimee