If you want to change the way that your body looks you need to have a goal.  Goals are necessary in order to come up with a plan of attack, without a clear goal you will no doubt waste time with  program or routine that will leave you spinning your wheels and getting nowhere.   You may want to get into better shape to simply feel better or you may want to take it to the next level and develop a head turning physique.  Regardless of how big or small your goal is, you must first recognize that goal to understand what you have to do to achieve it.

You must take into account many factors when looking at your fitness goal.  Factors like:

• How many days a week am I willing to workout?
• What type of lifestyle do I want to maintain?
• Are my expectations realistic?
• What is my timeline?
• Do I REALLY want it?
• How much am I willing to spend?

Basically it all boils down to how much you are willing to sacrifice for this goal.  Only the lucky few walk around in great shape without sacrificing for it.  Some people have won the genetic lottery and can eat whatever they want and don’t exercise but look great.  Most people are not so lucky and have to sacrifice on some level (time, money, comfort) to achieve the look they want.  Make no mistake, if you want to change your level of health or the shape of your body you will have to sacrifice something.  Your present lifestyle has got you where you are today and you have will to change it.  The more extreme you want your body image the more extreme your sacrifices are going to be.

How many days a week am I willing to workout?

If your goal is to improve your health and feel better, you may be able to get away with 2-3 trips a week to the gym.  You may only have to spend 30 minutes at a time in the gym.  However, if you are trying to transform yourself from a flabby couch potato to a hard body, you may find yourself in the gym every day of the week for an hour at a time. 

What type of lifestyle do I want to maintain?

Your lifestyle will not only change by making time for the gym.  Gym time will have the least impact on your lifestyle.  Even someone who is trying to build the perfect body is only going to have to make time for one hour of a twenty-four hour day.  The other twenty-three hours of the day spent outside of the gym are just as, if not more, important as the time spent in the gym. 

This is where your lifestyle really changes.  You will have to change the way you eat through out the day.  You might have to change the way you socialize.  This may mean anything from going out to eating less, consuming less alcohol or not at all, and it may even mean not being around certain people in your life right now.  For example, lets say that you are trying to lose 30 pounds and have a few overweight friends you usually socialize with.  If they are still on a destructive course of overeating or eating the wrong foods, you don’t need the pressure or temptation that socializing with them may cause.

Are my expectations realistic?

This is a big one!  If you have been 30 pounds overweight for the last 20 years and haven’t done anything more physical than walk to the fridge, chances are you are not going to build a great physique in a couple months.  That’s not to say you can’t get there.  You will just have to come up with smaller goals to achieve on your way to that one big one. 

It may take you many months to get from a 40” waist to a 32” waist.  Make that your long term goal.  Your short term goal may be to get to a 38” waist.  Once you reach that set another short term goal.  This way you stay motivated rather than thinking that it is going to take forever to reach your long term goal.

What is my timeline?

You will want to establish a timeline.  This will enable you to set realistic goals.  If it is a lifelong journey to a fitness lifestyle you wish to take (regardless of achieving your goal, you should continue with a fitness lifestyle to maintain it) then, you can take your time with slow steady progress.  You can take baby steps and ease into this new lifestyle.  However, if you need to get down to a certain weight, or body fat percentage by a certain date, you may have to jump in headfirst and take some huge steps.  Once again, be realistic, you don’t want to try and lose 30lbs in a month.  If you try to lose too much weight too fast, you can cause yourself long term harm.  This is the basis of most “yo-yo” diets.

Once you determine your timeline you can develop a plan of attack to achieve your goals within that time.  Keep in mind that the less time you have the harder it is going to be, not just physically but emotionally too.

Do I REALLY want it?

Well do you?  Are you willing to go to the gym even when its miserable outside and you have had a terrible day at work?  Are you willing to watch what you eat and put temptation aside for as long as it takes?  Are you willing to stay home and rest your fatigued body when friends are asking you to go out and party? Well, are you? 

If you REALLY want it, you will sacrifice whatever you have to in order to reach your goals.  The people who are successful in changing their bodies for the better work hard at it. There is no easy way.   You must sacrifice and your goal and end result must be more important to you than any temptation or distraction you encounter.

How much am I willing to spend?

It is going to cost you money one way or another.  Are you going to buy equipment for home or get a gym membership? How much can you afford to spend on supplements?  If your goal is to go beyond the norm you will more than likely require supplements of some sort.  Do you hire a trainer to get you started on the right foot or try to wing it on your own?  Hiring a trainer may seem like a lot of money but it could shave off lots of time that you might waste spinning your wheels trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t.  It’s funny how some agree to pay thousands to get lyposuction and endure months of recovery and permanent scarring to lose 10lbs when they could achieve even better results for far less with a proper diet and training program.

Ask yourself all these questions and come up with a plan of attack.  Whether it’s to hire someone to show you the way or buy a book and educate yourself, the bottom line is, if you want it bad enough and it means enough to you, you will do whatever it takes.  Stay focused on the goal.