The Easy Way to Accomplish Your Diet and Exercise goals in 2013!

It's easy to get sidetracked from the goal of losing weight or exercising.

It's easy to just quit and give up.

It's hard to make the time when you're busy and it's hard to stay focused when the results only come at a slow pace.

But what if I told you it was actually easy and there are a few key things you can do to make sure you stayed on track and accomplished your goal?

Losing Fat and Exercising is easy only when you commit to the plan.

It's hard to wake at 5am and get out of the house when it's freezing to get to the gym but it's easy when you set your mind to it.

Here are 5 tips you can use to help crush your diet and exercise goals in 2013.

1. Write.

It's easy to just go with the flow and say something like "GTL" and run around for an hour.  It's easy to go into the gym and do whatever you think works. 

It's hard to follow a precise plan or a proven workout.  It's hard to stick to the same boring workout for 4 weeks before changing.

Write out the days you plan to workout.
Write out the meals you plan to eat.
Write your goal in the present tense: "I lost 50 pounds this year!"
Write your thoughts and feelings.

Use a calendar and a notebook to help you stay committed and watch as it gets easier everyday.

2. Work harder.

It's easy to go to the gym and run for 60 minutes on a machine.  It's easy to keep doing a fitness dvd or tape.  It's easy to just go for a walk.  If this is working for you and you're crushing your goals- awesome- but, for most people we aren't working hard enough.

Try something new.  Get into a Fitness Camp or go hiking.  Lift free weights instead of machines.

More importantly, each day, each workout, you need to work harder than the last.

3. Tell Everyone.

It's easy for your boss or Mother to bring Chocolate Chip cookies to taunt you while sticking to a clean diet.  It's easy for your best friend to ask you to join him or her for dinner followed by drinks. 

It's hard to say no to these temptations when you cut them out of your lifestyle. 

Tell everyone you have a goal you plan on crushing and it involves losing weight and exercising hard. Tell them that you have to politely decline or change the venue. People understand.  You just need to make it firm and understandable.

4. Find a Fitness Buddy!

It's easy to not go to the gym after a hard days work when you're exhausted and done for the night.  It's easy to skip the Saturday spin class when you just need a few more minutes of snoozing.

It's hard to just do it.

Find a local fitness friend that has the same goals or similar and ask them to help you as you help them.  People love this! People need this.  Find a group class somewhere and become good friends with everyone and watch as the support for each other propels your success even faster.

5. Determine Your Grocery Budget- and shop at local farms.

It's easy to walk down the aisle of the grocery with cereals and chips and give into the marketing while telling yourself only a handful a day.  It's easy to buy frozen meals or ice cream when you head down that section.  It's easy to grab some Candy at the checkout lane.

It's hard to stay on the outside perimeter of the grocery store.  Only going into the produce, meat, and dairy sections.  It's hard not to buy the 2 for 1 deal of your favorite snack when the display is huge and right in front of you.

To fight this, go to a local farm.  There are plenty in this area that have great meats and vegetables year round.  Learn proper serving sizes to help reduce the cost of what you purchase. Instead of chips from the store, buy kale chips or something similar from the farm down the road.  

Every year many people fail and fail at their goals for fitness.  It's hard to not buy into the media bonanza or celebrity diet magazine advertisements. It's hard to keep focused when we all live a very busy life. It's hard to get up and finally get moving.  But, it's easy to put your mind to it and take small steps every day.  Don't worry about tomorrow or the "End Result" you envision.  Take it day by day and do the work that needs to be each day and you will finally succeed in 2013!