The New Year is here which means many of you will be looking to hit your local gyms and start working towards your fitness goal(s), which may be to lose weight, six pack abs, or fit into an old pair of jeans. Most people tend to fall off the wagon by the end of February, but it doesn’t have to be that way! I encourage you to take a few minutes and truly visualize what changes you want to make and write them down. Writing down both short term and long term goals will help you visualize each goal. Are you ready to begin conquering those goals? Here are 3 simple tips to help you accomplish your New Year fitness goals.

1. Large changes don’t happen overnight. Small daily changes add up to larger changes. Start by writing down both your short term and long term goals on a checklist, if you haven’t already, and post it somewhere you can’t ignore them. Next, define what you will need to do each day/week to accomplish those goals:

• Schedule out your workouts and time to prep your food each week.
• Start tracking your food and exercise daily in a journal or on your smart phone with one of thousands of applications available to do just that. One of my favorite apps is MyFitnessPal.
• Start removing obstacles that may trip you up by cleaning out junk in your kitchen.

2. NEVER EVER, EVER give up on yourself! Good things take time. Be patient and if you hit a plateau. Identify what the problem or obstacle is. Not enough time to hit the gym every day? No problem. Split up your workouts or cardio throughout the day. Get up 15 minutes earlier and go for a walk then do another 15 minutes whenever you get home from work or after dinner. Do you work at a desk all day? Get up and walk 5 minutes every hour or every other hour. Boom! You just added another 20-40 minutes of cardio and gave yourself a mental break as well. Don’t have enough time to go grab lunch and get in a walk or workout? Bring your lunch and save time you lose commuting back and forth getting fast food or waiting at a restaurant. For every problem you encounter, I promise you there is a solution!

3. How To Get Started. Hire a professional. I’ve been training for over 6 years and have helped 100’s of my clients reach their fitness goals by helping them identify blind spots. I’ve write customized meal/workout plans, keep my clients accountable for workouts, cardio, and nutrition. I also constantly challenge them with personalized workout programs catered to their fitness levels and goals.

You can find certified professionals by looking online or at your local gyms. Next, do your research. Do your research! Make sure your fitness professionals are certified, offer a consultation in the gym, and cover a posture assessment and teaches SMFR/corrective stretching. If they don’t offer these basic need-to-knows up front, you should keep looking!