Wonderfully Fit Personal Training

Visualize your outcome. Cut a picture of the dress you like out of a magazine or tape up a picture of you in your skinny jeans on the fridge. Whatever you're aiming for, make sure it's somewhere you can see it and make sure it's a realistic goal.

Doggie bag it. Portions at restaurants are growing bigger by the day. Tell yourself at the beginning of the meal that you only need half and ask your server for a take-out bag as soon as you're done. This will prevent you from picking at your plate and provide you with some lovely leftovers for tomorrow.

Skip the gym. Yep, you heard that right. It’s good to give yourself a change of pace…shock those muscles and make the most out of your workouts. Head to a hill with a friend and take turns running up (and down) it—see who’s “king of the hill”. Take a dance class. Play tennis. Play tag. Find a workout that reenergizes you and gets you excited about exercising again.

Step it up. Wanna burn about 15 calories a minute? Jump on the stair climber (the machine that looks like an escalator) the next time you’re at the gym. It’ll help you blast the biggest muscles in your body: booty, hips, thighs and calves. Just make sure you stand up straight (no leaning, ladies) and use the handlebars for balance only (NOT to support your body weight).

Go for the burn. Squat your way to a better you! The squat is one of the best lower-body exercises to hit your glutes, hamstrings and quads. Try using a stability ball the next time you’re at the gym for an extra burn. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and put the stability ball between your lower back and the wall. Bend your knees 90 degrees—making sure your knees don’t go past your toes. Put your hands on your hips or hold hand weights if you really want to work.

Give me 10. Ten minutes are better than ZERO. Can’t stand the idea of working out? We all have those low energy days. When you’re feeling ho-hum, head to the gym or workout anyway and promise yourself you can quit after 10 minutes.

Break it up. Hate doing abs? Break up the monotony by putting a set of abs in between each set of your weight-training routine. Since you never have a chance to sit still and cool off, you’ll keep your heart rate up and burn more calories and body fat. Hooray!