As we embark into the 3rd month of 2017, the gyms are clearing out and the spinach you bought a couple weeks ago is wilting and turning funny colors. You are starting to wonder if it is all worth it. Your thoughts are lingering with images of all the things you could do with your money versus spend all of it on groceries, spray tans and gym clothes. Your motivation is slimming, and your goals aren’t as close to reach as you had hoped 2 short months ago. Don’t give up just yet. I am going to share with you 3 tips that got me off the couch and into the gym for that pesky morning cardio.

1. Re-evaluate your goal. An essential part of setting a goal is making it reachable. You need to be able live, eat and breath your goal. Motivation has a cap. If your goal does not lie within the range of your motivation, you need to dig deeper. Dig, until you find what is fueling your fire. Find whatever it is, put a name to it, and begin to live your dream. When your motivation is much larger than your goal, achieving whatever the task may be becomes a piece of cake. So when necessary, break your goals into smaller tasks to keep that motivation in high supply.

2. Be kind to yourself. As humans we are naturally way too hard on ourselves. In regards to fitness, being too hard on yourself is detrimental to your goals. It’s really hard to be happy and thrive when you are beating yourself down all the time. Try talking to yourself the way you would talk to a client, a friend or a family member. You would never call your best friend, “pathetic” for not finishing that last set of lunges. You would never tell your mom she is “ugly” and you would never tell your brother he is “weak.” Why are you saying those things to yourself, then? Try to control your thoughts and reward yourself on even the smallest successes, like getting out of bed and brushing your hair. Perspective is absolutely everything, feed into the positive and watch your world change.

3. Change your routine. If you just began your fitness goals in January, you have had 2 months to transform your mind, body and soul. If you have been consecutively following your plan, it may be time for a change! Every 4-5 weeks workout splits, diet and schedules should change, even slightly, to keep your body questioning what is going on. For example, if you have been doing the same leg workouts for 4 weeks, your muscles have totally adapted to those exercises and are going to be more resistant to your effort! Try new exercises to surprise your muscles and get them working again. There are also certain foods you can subtract or add from your diet to see changes! Cinnamon and lemon are natural fat burners you can add to your diet to help your metabolism burn more calories throughout your day. If you have been doing tuns of cardio, maybe lighten up. And vise versa if you haven’t been doing it at all! Our body is built to adapt, and it does just that without introduction of new practices.

I hope these tips are as helpful to you as they have been to me. You began this transition into a “better you” for a purpose. You, and only you, are in control of your progress, take the initiative to finish what you started.

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