Are you ready to take the leap?

Starting on a journey towards a healthier, fitter lifestyle can be a terrifying prospect. It takes a leap of faith to commit yourself down that road.

Fear and insecurities will arise: “what if people look at me funny in the gym”, “will my partner still like me if I get fit” “what if I make a fool of myself”, “what if I fail”. The fear will not go away but you can control how you handle the fear.

To deal with these fears you first need to establish exactly what you want to achieve. Write this down.

Next put a time frame on achieving your goal. Remember when you were studying how a time limit put pressure on you to perform better and cram in the work no matter what?

Commit yourself to your goal 100%; make failure not an option. Remember you are completely in control of the experience of the transformation and also the outcome. You are aiming for this goal because YOU WANT TO, not because once you have achieved it you will feel better about yourself.

Be firm and put your family and friends in their place if they attempt to sabotage or steer you away from your goals. Often the people you are closest to will try to influence you away from the goal or subtly criticise you; “you are getting too thin, here have some cake” or “your obsessed with exercise” The reason they do this is because they fear change and are often too afraid to make that positive change themselves. Do not let them drag you back down; you might even inspire them one day to start down the path!

Next step is to create a method to achieve this goal. Firstly look at how you are looking after your body.

Are you getting enough sleep and handling everyday stresses?
Are you drinking enough water?
Are you feeding your body the right foods?

If you are not sure of the answers these questions then spend time doing some research online or seek the help of a professional who can guide you. This might be a Nutritionist, Life Coach or maybe even a Phycologist.

Next if your transformation is going to include starting a fitness regime then again do some research and seek out a trainer who knows what the hell they are doing. Here are some tips on how to choose a good trainer-

1, Spend your time researching their backgrounds both in the gym and online.

2,Observe how they train other people. You want someone who is going to push you and make you work harder than you would by yourself. You do not want a trainer who is going to spend an hour with you discussing what they did at the weekend.

3, Do they practice what they preach themselves? I overheard a trainer complain recently that they can "never get lean". Would you want this person training you for fat loss??

4, You want someone who is safe and will not cause you injury.

5, Do they invest time and money into providing a professional service and business or are they in the industry because they can get paid over £30 per hour after only completing a 6-12 week course.

6, Spend a bit of time on youtube looking at what is good technique and them compare it with what you see them teaching in the gym.

Achieving your goal, whether it be weight loss or gaining muscle takes time a time and dedication. You need to be ready to make the changes; if you are only prepared to dedicate 50% effort then you are wasting both your time and money.