Here’s a tough topic for the Holidays (or for anytime time of the year for that matter), how do you stay motivated with your diet and/or fitness regimen?

It’s so hard isn’t? All that great-tasting, but calorie laden, food so easily available everywhere you go. It’s soooo easy to just give in and try again to eat and live healthier tomorrow! So what do you do if you’re facing one of those ‘evil days’ where you want to fall off your eating and exercise routine? Read on and find out!

Picture your ‘good looking self’ in your head.

We are easily motivated by RESULTS. So by picturing how good you’ll look wearing those new tighter, sexier clothes, it helps to keep yourself in check with your diet. you can try buying new clothes even if they don’t fit you yet as a way to motivate yourself.

You can also paste a picture of yourself on the refrigerator door so that the next time you’re tempted to open it and take a slice of cake or a chunk of cheese out of it, you’ll see yourself and think twice.

Some put a picture of themselves in their current weight semi-naked so that they are confronted by the weight. Others, however, prefer to put a picture of themselves during ‘fitter times’ because it re-affirms that they CAN do it. Hey, if you looked that great before you can look that great again, right?

Do NOT deprive yourself of anything.

‘Never’ and ‘forbidden’ are words that trigger the brain to ‘go ahead’! So instead of depriving yourself of, say, chocolate, moderate the amount you eat instead. In short, take a pieace but don’t finish off the whole bar. This way, you don’t crave the food item even more.

The 20-minute rule.

The brain takes about 20 minutes to register if you’re full so before you dive into that second serving, give yourself some time. Even if you end up taking a second serving, chances are you will NOT get as much as you would have 20 minutes earlier.

Apply the 20-minute rule too if you have cravings. For instance, want some potato chips? Get a piece of FRUIT first and eat it. Still want the chips after 20 minutes? Then go and open the bag and get a FEW chips. (Moderation, not deprivation, remember?)

A lot of people try to eat a lot of OTHER things to get rid of a bad craving… only to give in in the end. If you do this, then yes, you’ve piled on double the calories. So try to stave off the craving as a first attempt. If it doesn’t work and 20 minutes has passed an you still want it, then go for it… moderately.

Exercise: just do it!

A healthy lifestyle is not just about diet or exercise alone. They really do go hand-in-hand. A lot of times, you won’t feel like exercising at all. But you know what? JUST DO IT. Why? Because 9 out of 10 times, you’ll reach the end of your exercise regimen feeling GREAT. Think of it this way: instead of spending time, thoughts, and energy on preventing yourself from going to the gym or jogging outside, just get on with it already!

Try not to entertain any other thought than getting out of that door. The reward is that you’ll go back through it feeling much better… and more than a few calories lighter. Good luck!