Everything starts for a reason and fitness is no exception to the rule. Unless you have a really good reason to start you won’t be able to stay committed and follow through with your resolutions. The good news is that most of it is mental which means you can actually put a plan of action in place that will remove all the obstacles standing between you and your fitness goals.

What you really need is to change your habits, and how you feel and look will change on their own. The moment you concentrate on the action and not on the end result is when you truly transform, inside and out. Start with small changes in your diet and exercise habits, start by eating better and adding a few squats and planks into your daily routine or pick up a 30-day challenge. It is important that you stick to the small things first, before you demand anything more radical from yourself. The harder you push from the start the harder it’ll be to stay on track.

What you eat is just as important as what you do exercise wise. Most us know how easy it is to fall off track when you get hungry after a workout and you think: well I deserve a treat since I worked for it. Unfortunately we usually overestimate just how much we work and treat ourselves just a little bit too much completely cancelling out all our hard work. In most cases treating yourself as a reward for training is a bad idea. To avoid snap food related decisions make sure you know what you eat in advance and have a clear plan for your every meal. More than that, buy all of the ingredients beforehand and make sure you cook and sit down for every dish. Cooking your own meals will work out cheaper and it’ll be a lot better for you than a takeout, plus it doesn’t actually take a lot of time to grill some meat and make a salad. Even home-made burgers you can freeze will only take 20 minutes in the oven. Optimize the cooking and eating processes and it’ll be half the battle already won.