Do you have unmet goals? If so, you aren’t alone. Most people live with unfulfilled aspirations.

Unfortunately, many widely used self-help techniques fail to deliver results.

Case in point: You’ve probably heard of the “Yale Goal Study” where researchers interviewed Yale’s 1953 graduating class, asking whether or not the students had written down specific goals that they wanted to achieve. Then twenty years down the road the researchers looked up each student and discovered that the 3% of the class who had written down their goals had accumulated more personal wealth than the other 97% combined.

Very compelling story, but complete fiction.

The “Yale Goal Study” never happened, though motivational speakers and self-help books have quoted it for years.

Best-selling author and psychologist Richard Wiseman went on a mission to craft a no-nonsense response to the bogus self-help techniques. Using a diverse range of scientific data, he uncovered a proven approach to achieve any goal.

The following 5 successful techniques (Do This) and 5 unsuccessful techniques (Not That) are from Wiseman’s book, 59 Seconds Change Your Life in Under a Minute.

1) Do This: Make a Step-by-Step Plan

If you are serious about achieving your goal, then you need to create a step-by-step plan on how to do it.

Successful goal-achievers break down their overall goal into sub-goals. Each sub-goal needs to be concrete, measurable and time-based.

Not That: Motivate yourself by focusing on someone that you admire.
Studies show that focusing on someone you admire is not a strong enough motivator to see you through your goal.

2) Do This: Tell Other People About Your Goal

How badly do you want to achieve your goal? If you want it bad enough, you’ll tell your friends and family.

This technique works on two levels. First, you’ve put yourself on the spot by letting the world in on your goal, so it’s all-eyes-on-you. Failure would be public. Second, your friends and family are there to offer support and encouragement. Don’t underestimate the psychological power of having someone in your corner.

Not That: Think about the bad things.

When you focus on the negative it becomes your reality.

3) Do This: Focus on the Good Things When Achieving Your Goal

Remind yourself of the benefits associated with achieving your goal.

Make a checklist of how life will be better once you have achieved your aim. This gets your focus on a positive future, one that’s worth the effort.

Not That: Try to suppress unhelpful thoughts.

Rather than trying to erase that image of chocolate cake from your mind, learn to deal with the reality of temptation head-on.

4) Do This: Reward Your Progress

Studies show that attaching rewards to each of your sub-goals encourages success.

Your rewards should never conflict with your major goal. When aiming to lose weight, never use food as a reward.

Not That: Rely on willpower.

Willpower alone rarely gets anyone to their goal.

5) Do This: Record Your Progress

Make your plans, progress, benefits and rewards concrete by expressing them in writing.

Use a hand-written journal, your computer or a bulletin board to chart your progress. This process is priceless for maintaining motivation.

Not That: Just fantasize about life after achieving your goal.

Daydreaming is fun, but simply fantasizing about your new life will not make it a reality.
Are you ready to achieve your fitness and weight loss goal once and for all? Call or email me now to get started on your spectacular body transformation.

Now is your time to get into the best shape of your life!

Drink More Water

It’s very possible that you are partially dehydrated most of the time. This is problematic for your fitness goals.

You probably already knew that hydration is key to maintaining proper organ functions, however were you aware that it also influences your ability to shed fat and maintain muscle tone?

If you aren’t making a conscious effort to drink water throughout the day then you’re very likely not getting enough of it, and it’s having a negative impact on your fitness progress. Carry a water bottle to sip throughout the day and drink a glass of water with each meal in order to stay hydrated and on track with your fitness goals.

Egg White Bites

Here is a recipe for powerhouse egg white bites that will get your day started off right! These protein-filled morsels are easy to pack with you for breakfast on-the-road and last most of the week in the fridge. Enjoy!

Courtesy of RealHealthyRecipes.com

What you need

Serves 16

8 egg whites
¼ cup nonfat cottage cheese
¼ cup nutritional yeast
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon coconut flour
½ cup roasted red bell pepper, chopped
¼ cup fresh spinach, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh scallions, minced

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 16 mini muffin tins with paper liners.

2. In a blender combine the egg whites, cottage cheese, nutritional yeast, sea salt and coconut flour. Blend until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients.

3. Evenly fill each of the 16 mini muffin tins with the egg white mixture. Bake in the pre- heated oven for 15 minutes, until set.

Nutrition

One mini muffin equals: 32 calories, 1g fat, 3g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 64 mg sodium, 1g sugar, and 4g protein.

Many women are hesitant to weight train. Some don’t want to build large muscles, while others may be intimidated by the weight rooms at the gym. Most often we see women stick to cardio and yoga. However, weight training is a great workout that has major benefits for women. Just two strength training sessions a week can help you transform your body and achieve your goals more quickly. Here are the main reasons all women should weight train:

1. Weight Lifting More Burns Calories

As a rule, cardio exercises burn more calories during the workout than weight training. However, building muscle helps you burn more calories overall. Muscle cells require more energy to maintain than fat cells. So as you build muscle, you also boost your metabolism and burn calories when you are resting.

2. Weight Training Strengthens Bones

Women are especially prone to developing a bone disease like osteoporosis as they age. Weight training pulls on your muscles, which pulls on your tendons, which in turn then pulls on your bones. Regularly pulling on your bones will strengthen them and may help prevent the effects of bone disease.

3. Strength Training Strengthens Your Heart

Women are also at risk for heart disease as they get older. Strength training also supports a strong heart. As your contract your muscles during lifting, it increases the amount of blood to your heart and improves your circulation.

4. Weight Lifting Boosts Your Mood

Just like with cardio, weight training stimulates the release of endorphins. This rush of endorphins can help you feel happier and combat stress. Weight training also helps release the stress hormone cortisol from your body, reducing stress-related muscle tension and pain.

5. Weights Training Improves Your Balance

Weight training helps improves your balance by strengthening your fast twitch muscles. Fast twitch muscles can help you respond more quickly if you lose your balance. So you’ll be able to better catch yourself before a fall, reducing the risk of injury.

6. You’ll Be Stronger

The most obvious benefit of strength training is that you will be stronger. You don’t have to get jacked to strengthen your muscles. With support from a personal trainer, you can add strength without bulking up. Having extra strength will help you accomplish more in your life.

Women shouldn’t shy away from strength training. In fact, there are so many benefits that it should be included in everyone’s workout plan. The personal trainers with Everlasting Changes can help. We’ll work with you to ensure that you get all of these benefits safely, while working on your dream body. Call now for 3 risk-free, complimentary sessions. We include a 30-day guarantee on all of our packages.

It takes dedicated hard work to drop a significant number of pounds. But afterwards it’s incredibly easy (and frustrating!) to find those pounds creeping back on.

Maintaining fat loss is certainly possible, however it does require that you remain vigilant with your healthy routine.

Here are 5 secrets to maintaining your amazing body transformation for life. Think of these as your own personal lifestyle rules and stick with them at least 90% of the time to keep your body healthy and hot.

Hot Body Secret #1: Don’t Eat Just To Eat

There is no place in your healthy lifestyle for mindless snacking. I’m talking about a tub of popcorn at the movies or a bag of chips in front of the TV. All the calories ingested from mindless snacking have to end up somewhere…and that somewhere is around your waist or on your thighs.

Snacks are fine when you are aware of how much you’re eating in order to balance it with the rest of your meals for the day.

Hot Body Secret #2: Stand (And Walk) When Possible

Have you heard the saying sitting is the new smoking? The idea is that a lifetime of sitting all-day-every-day is as harmful to your body as smoking. Think for a moment about how much of your day is spent sitting.

You wake up and sit down for breakfast. You sit on the drive to work. You take the elevator up. You sit for most of 8 hours at work. You take the elevator down. You sit on the drive home. You sit to eat dinner. You sit to watch TV.

That’s quite a bit of time spent sitting! Now imagine if you consciously stood for some of this time each day and took the stairs instead of the elevator. Over weeks, and months, it really adds up in calories burned, muscles engaged, and overall fitness and health.

Hot Body Secret #3: Avoid Sugar

I might sound like a broken record about this one, but that’s OK, I’ll keep harping on this point until more people listen. Our bodies weren’t designed to ingest large amounts of sugar on a daily basis. When you regularly take in excess sugar the results are always the same. You. Gain. Weight.

The tricky part is that sugar is all around us, so avoiding it takes real vigilance.

Start with your morning beverage of choice. Does it have sugar in it? Most of the beverages that are blended and brewed at coffee shops are simply vehicles for ingesting sugar. Find a beverage that you enjoy without any added sugar and stick with the rule of not drinking sugary beverages throughout your day.

Hot Body Secret #4: Keep Dinner Light

Who says that dinner should be the biggest and heartiest meal of the day? Instead, focus on enjoying light dinners that are centered around protein and veggies and avoid starches and carbs in the evening.

The recipe below for Beet and Grapefruit Salad is a great example. Add a grilled chicken breast to a serving of this vibrant, fiber-filled salad and you have a nutritious dinner that’s light and healthy.

Hot Body Secret #5: Always Exercise

How often do you brush your teeth? Do you sometimes take a few weeks or months off brushing your teeth? Um, no. That’s gross. You brush your teeth everyday as an ongoing habit because you know that the benefits outweigh the slight inconvenience.

Can you see where I’m going with this? 🙂

Exercise only truly works when you do it as an ongoing habit because you know that the benefits outweigh the slight inconvenience. It’s part of keeping you healthy. It’s part of who you are.

I’m here to make your daily exercise habit fun and effective. If you aren’t yet my client then call or email today to join now.

Keep it Tight

Hot Body Secret #2 above described how standing and walking when possible will help your overall health and shape. But what about those hours when you have no choice but to sit? In those moments, keep it tight!

When sitting, practice good posture by keeping your shoulders back, head up, and contract your core muscles by pulling your belly button in towards your spine.

This simple move will keep your core muscles engaged and will contribute to your overall fitness.

Beet and Grapefruit Salad

How often does your dinner mostly consist of fresh, vibrant produce? The nutrients and fiber found in greens and veggies are vital and delicious! Give this salad a try and add some sliced, grilled chicken breast for added protein. Hopefully this recipe will inspire you to include more veggies and greens in every meal!

Courtesy of RealHealthyRecipes.com

What you need

Serves 6

3 red beets
3 yellow beets
3 grapefruits
3 mandarin oranges
2 tablespoons olive oil
⅛ teaspoon Liquid Stevia
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
6 cups Baby Arugula, fresh
¼ cup pistachios, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Trim the beets, wash and place in an 8×8 casserole pan with ¼ cup of water. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for an hour, until tender. Remove from the oven, uncover and cool completely. Peel the beets and slice into wedges.

2. Cut the ends off the grapefruits, and slice off the peel and the white pith. Remove cut into segments and peel the membrane off each slice. Reserve ¼ cup of grapefruit juice.

3. Whisk together the olive oil, stevia, vinegar, sea salt, black pepper and reserved grapefruit juice. Toss the dressing with the beets and grapefruit wedges.

4. Arrange the arugula on a platter. Top with the beet and grapefruit mixture and sprinkle with pistachios.

Nutrition

One serving equals 142 calories, 6g fat, 15g carbohydrate, 4g fiber, and 2g protein.

Life can get crazy sometimes. With all of our work, family, and social obligations, it’s easy to lose track of our fitness. Sometimes we just simply aren’t able to prioritize our fitness. One of the biggest concerns our clients have when they first meet with us is that they’ve taken too long of a break. Many are worried they are so out of shape, they’ll never be able to get back on track. However, even if you haven’t worked out in years, you can get back on the fitness wagon. Here are some tips we recommend so you can start prioritizing your fitness again.

It All Starts With A Positive Attitude

The biggest barrier to our success is ourselves. If we’ve taken time off from fitness, it’s pretty easy to beat ourselves up for it. However, the more negative self-talk, the less likely we are to make the changes needed. So forget the past and start fresh today. You can do it, if you believe you can. Right this moment, forget how out of shape you are or how poorly you’ve been eating.

Take The First Step

Fitness is a lifestyle, not a single action. To achieve your goals, you will need to take it one step at a time. So don’t put a heavy start date where you will suddenly overhaul your life. Do something right now to get yourself on track. Whether it’s simply eating a healthy dinner tonight, taking a walk, or signing up for a small group fitness class. No matter what you decide, that small step will make a huge difference getting you back on track.

Get Support From A Private Trainer

It’s hard to do things alone sometimes. Taking the steps to fitness can be a challenge when you’ve been out of the routine. You have to learn what works best for you in your life now. The best way to make this change is to get support. Working with a nutritionist and private trainer can be a big help. We can tailor a program that will ease you back into a healthy lifestyle. We’ll help motivate you, keep you accountable, and work around your needs.

It doesn’t matter how long of a break you’ve taken, you can do it. You can change your life and become the fitness buff you are meant to be. Our private trainers can help. Call now for 3 risk-free, complimentary sessions. We include a 30-day guarantee on all of our packages.