Here comes January along with all those resolutions. January is the mecca month for the weightloss industry. Billions of dollars are going to be spent on people buying products and memberships because they have it in their mind this is the year they will lose weight. The year that they will have the body they always dreamed of. And how will they achieve this body ? Well thru this diet plan, and that diet pill, and this gym membership, and that personal trainer, and that aerobic class, and this piece of gym equipment, and that exercise cd, and this carrot stick. This is how the dream will come true. And the feeling and smell of future success is in the air, how can it go wrong. Well the sad reality is it does. By February it will go wrong again for the majority of people who start the quest to get in shape and lose weight. Angry at the personal trainer, diet plan out the window, diet pills useless without diet plan, gym equipment in the corner collecting dust, gym membership in the drawer, workout cd on the shelf or selling on ebay and not a carrot stick in site only chocolate bars.What happened ? Why did this go wrong this year?

In January your brain is in Fantasy Land. Much of that having to do with being on a sugar high from all the holiday food that you been eating. You see the advertising and infomercial's. Everyone is having fun and not a care in the world and they are losing weight left and right. And even though it looks hard you are sitting on the couch eating your breakfast and thinking I can do this. Or you can be sitting on the couch drinking your coffee and watching the infomercial where they pop a diet pill or a miracle berry in their mouth and wow the pounds just melt right off. Yes send for that!!!! Or you go to a fitness center or gym and get that gym membership because you are going to workout everyday. Better yet let's get that piece of equipment or cd and workout in the comfort of your own home. Can't wait.

You now visualize your body a couple months from now in your head. Lean, mean and beach bikini ready. Weight loss will be fun, fast, simple and once you lose thru this program and pay this ungodly price on money, you will live happily ever after never to be overweight and unhealthy again. Ok where do I sign and when do I start?

By middle January reality smacks you in the face and you wake up from the fantasy and now you need an escape route from what you sign up for or what your started. Your reality starts by realizing exercise is not fun it's work or it is fun and you are not seeing any results. The diet pill and the berry isn't working. All they are doing is making you shake and tweek like you had 10 cups of coffee. You can't go to the gym or fitness center because you fear the workout that waits for you there. And by the time you get home and kick back, going downstairs to the treadmill or getting the workout cd of the shelf is too much work. WELCOME TO YOUR REALITY. So what can you do to get out of the situation. Well you think about it and then your remember what you did all the other years before. Excuses, Excuses,Excuses. Thank God for excuses. Which one can I use this year. No time, family obligations, too much work, too much schoolwork, medical problems, little aches and pains, you're bored with the workouts, not coordinated enough, too old, too big, just don't like it, too tired, too stress, too depressed, family can't cook for themselves, family will die without you, dog will die without you, turtle with die without you, I'm too skinny as it is I don't need to workout, I am going thru menopause, I am having hot flashes, I am going thru peri-menopause, I am going to thru some kind of pause, I have a headache, the Steelers need you, the Penguins need you, your company needs you, the drunk town the street needs you,

and I will be writing all day if I don't quit now.

My Holiday Gift to you is this. Here are several reasons why your quest to lose weight or your quest to get healthy took a dive into the toilet.

1# Reason Your Quest has Failed. You believe in quick fixes. There are no quick fixes. If something or someone promises you a great healthy body in a minimal amount of time chances are you have just fallen prey to a gimmick product or a scam or a Reality TV show that needs ratings in order to stay on the air. In some of these quick fixes and scams you may even lose a tremendous amount of weight only to gain it back in the near future. Again people are looking for that quick easy fix. So for marketer's they know that is the selling point to reel you in.

2# Reason Your Quest has Failed. No dedication This is not going to happen overnight. And this is not going to happen unless you get your lazy ass moving and do some work. In fact it may take several month to maybe a year before it all pays off. I say it takes a good 13 week before you even start to see the results that matter and that is with dedication and good work ethics.

Please remember 1/2 to 2 pounds a week is a safe and effective weightloss goal.

3# Reason Your Quest has Failed. You do not take responsibility for your own actions. You want to blame everyone and everything for why you are the way you are and then you want to make excuses of why you can't. In order to ever be successful in your quest for a healthier you, you need to lose the excuses. Excuses are the road to failure. You need to quit blaming others, quit blaming the past and quit blaming what life throws at you and take responsibility for your own life and clean it up. If you are waiting for that knight in shining armour or that fairy godmother to come clean up your life and make it all better GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!!!

YOU NEED TO MAKE THE LIFESTYLE CHANGE ON YOUR OWN AND YOU NEED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN LIFE AND ACTIONS.

4# Reason Your Quest has Failed. Lack of Knowledge. Knowledge is power if you choose to be ignorant that's your own damn fault. Educate yourself. Ask Questions.

Example: Maybe you brought a diet pill that promised you 10 pound a week weightloss but ended up instead making your heart race and sending you to the hospital. Research the product before you buy. Chances are if you would have empowered yourself with knowledge about the product you would not have put your life in jeopardy.

I feel you know your body better than anyone. With that said you need to research anything that is going to have a direct effect on your body and your life and with the information and facts that you have gathered make a rational decision on what is best for you. Again just because someone is professional that does not make them ethical or knowledgeable. You need to take charge and make a decision on if you feel the advice given to you is right for you or not. I usually will listen to several different strategies and do my own research before I make a decision of what is best for me.

5# Reason Your Quest has Failed. Ineffective workout routines. Three ineffective workouts come to mind.

1. Either you are not working out hard enough

2. You are working out too hard and killing yourself

3. You are working out to a program that will not produce the results you want and will not work toward the goal you desire.

Also I am going to add to this section you quit too soon. You need to give your workout plan a chance to see some results. The reason you don't give it a chance is because it's work and it's hard . The reason for this would be your out of shape. Isn't that why you started this in the first place? You need to be patient and you need to drop the workout down until you get stronger. If you stay dedicated and work thru your excuses by week 13 you will see great improvement.

Words of wisdom: If you are having fun in the class and you can talk away like you normally talk in class you are in the wrong class. Pick a class that is challenging to you and drop down when you need too. No one is going to laugh at you or make fun of you if you drop down they are too busy sucking down air at the time to care about you. Any class can become a beginner class. Any!!!! The problem here is again you put pressure on yourself to keep up with other people that have been doing this for awhile. What you have to remember is that we all started where you started.

Start with a beginner class. If that class is too hard then talk to the instructor on how as a beginner you can modify the class and work up to the beginner level in that class. But if the beginner class is too easy jump up a level. Even if this class is hard you can modify the class and work up to the level but at the same time this class will challenge you so that you can improve your heart and lungs. And let me point out at this time heart disease is the number one killer of women.

6# Reason Your Quest has Failed. Ineffective and Poor Dietary Habits. You latch on to some new dietary plan or unique dietary plan to lose the weight.

You need to chose a dietary plan that is nutritionally sound for you. You need a well balanced diet.

Eating too much or eating too little will also lead you to failure.

Ok I have to address this because I have heard a little story coming back to me about caloric intake that I don't like. This one angers me because before I got into this field this is what personal trainers and aerobic instructors were trying to do to me until I met the right one who knew what she was doing. This is before I research things on my own and just trusted professionals but what I have learned is that professionals can be irresponsible at times and misleading. Allot of time in this business not only do you want to see results fast but so do the professionals because if they can get you skinny this is great for them. Not healthy, skinny.The problem is in the long run this does you no good and the number one reason would be it is a unrealistic lifestyle change that you will not be able to keep up. Also chances are it's not healthy. It's just a quick way to get fast results. A piece of chewing gum in a breaking dam.

With that said I have to address caloric intake.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER drop you caloric intake lower than 1200 calories and if you are a guy 1600. The only way that should ever happen is if you are under a doctor's supervision and I also know that is something that doctors don't even like to do. You would have to be under life threatening circumstance for that to take place. There are so many reasons why this is so wrong. And I will also add that any moron can tell a person ok you need to drop your calories down to 800-900 calories a day and you will lose weight. In other words you will drop weight no matter what on that kind of diet plan because you will be starving yourself to death. If you are paying someone to lose weight and they are telling your drop your caloric intake to 800-900 calories you need to go get your money back and find a new trainer or instructor. A personal trainer's job is to develop as safe and effective plan for what their client wants to achieve. Not a quick, unsafe plan that will benefit the personal trainer's portfolio.

7# Reason Your Quest has Failed. Poor Mental Attitude. Again success does not come overnight. You need to believe in yourself and be patient with yourself. So many people cheat themselves out of wonderful experiences because they just don't believe they can do it. This is one of my biggest problems as a personal trainer. You give up too soon on yourselves and I cannot stress that enough. DO NOT GIVE UP ON YOURSELF!!! I believe in anyone who walks into my classes and trains with me. What you have to realize is that you have to change your ways and do the work. Nothing in life worth anything comes easy.

I am a firm believer that you can do anything you want but only you can make that happen. Thru dedication, good work ethics and patience. So do not cut yourself short. Remember fear of failure and excuses are what stands between you and success. I have learned that sometimes you need to go thru failure in order to succeed. You may fail 20 times and on that 21st time you may succeed and guess what not only did you accomplish something you never thought you could you will have the best feeling in the world as to what you have succeeded in doing and those 20 failures are in the past and are forgotten. At that moment in time only success will be seen by all. I know for a fact that if you went thru every famous person's bio you would find failure before success. And the reason they didn't stay ordinary is because they kept going and didn't let failure, excuses,or people's opinion's get in their way. They believed in themselves and dedicate themselves to the quest and that is the key to accomplishment and success.

Dreams do come true you just have to pull them from your head and make them a reality by working hard and staying focus on what you want. And yes sometime that does mean sacrifice on your part. And yes sometimes that means sacrifice on your families part. The problem is people dream but do nothing. They expect things to just fall into their laps and that will never happen. So realize that you have to step up and make it happen.

Rule life don't let life rule you. Don't settle. And most of all believe in yourself and stand up for yourself.

This January when you make that commitment stay strong and no excuses. If you start to backslide come back to this webpage and read it again.