Keep a water bottle with you at all times and drink from it often. Water *is* the drink of choice, but if you don’t enjoy it (I admit it… I don’t), drink Propel, Diet Ice, Reebok Water, Vitamin Water or some other form of healthy fluid intake.

Think twice before deciding what to eat and why, making sure that it is healthy and will provide you good nutrition.

Measure intake based on activity, not how you “feel.” Need should mandate intake, not mood.

Eat well-balanced meals and remember that excessive calories, even if they are fat-free and high protein will turn to excess weight!

If your diet is unbalanced, try a daily vitamin and mineral supplements for total health.

Limit caffeine and exposure to even second hand smoke.

Focus on short-term fitness goals with an emphasis on completing daily exercise.

Keep a daily log of what you’re actually eating… this includes grabbing a handful of chips here, the crust of your kids sandwich, and all your snacking.

Stick with eating plans you can maintain indefinitely. Remember that no matter how hard you’re working out, if you’re consuming too many calories, you’ll never see the muscles that lie beneath layers of fatty tissue.

Enjoy an occasional (once a week) “unhealthy” treat, but never an “unhealthy” week or “unhealthy” vacation.

Limit alcohol intake to special occasions.

See fitness and health as a privilege, not something to take for granted.

Enjoy contributing to the health of others by having a partner or friend to exercise with, as well as recruiting others who desire to feel better and have more energy.

Avoid monotony by taking up new forms of exercising or using things that keep you motivated and inspired like new shoes or great music.

Work to take your exercise to new levels of intensity.

Subscribe to fitness magazines to keep focused on health as an overall way of life.

Invest in the right tools, good shoes, a health club membership, a portable MP3 player, fitness equipment, a personal trainer, etc.

Don’t compare your body to others. Instead, work to be your personal best.

Move beyond the boundaries of weight loss and into total fitness. Measure success by the way your clothes fit, and not a number on a scale.

Make it your goal to do some form of exercise 6-7 days a week.

Create an exercise schedule the day before, instead of leaving it to chance or waiting to “find” the time. If our last two Presidents of the United States can find the time to work-out 5 days a week, you can find the time too!

Get adequate amounts of sleep. Remember that people who exercise regularly fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly.

Article by Lana Holt

Lana is a fitness professional working for US based Powder Blue Productions. Powder Blue Productions is a fitness minded company. We train instructors to teach Turbo Kick™ and PiYo™, 2 programs that put the fun back into exercise. In addition, we offer an in home fitness program called Turbo Jam™.