January, the month of setting goals for positive change, is over. Now it is time to make those changes into part of your everyday life style. Hopefully you are making time to work out and eat better, now you just need to stay motivated to keep obtaining your goals. Here are six tips to help you stay motivated.

1. Have your goals where you can see them. Last month you wrote them down, now put them where you will see them every day. Looking at them will remind you to stay on track.
2. Schedule all your workouts in advance. Get out your calendar and find all the times that you will get your workouts in. Once it is written down, the time has been made - you have no excuse.
3. Keep it fun. Do workouts that you enjoy. Go to group classes, they are a great way to stay motivated, you know there will always be someone there to push and encourage you to work harder.

In the last post, The Snowball Effect,  we discussed the best way to prepare yourself to complete your goals. Hopefully you made your list, and are tackling the most important changes first. You have a plan in place, and are slowly working on your quest to make yourself everything you know you can be. You want to lose weight, so you are eating breakfast everyday and hitting the gym at least 4 times a week…no? If you made your list ten days ago, now is the perfect time to really reflect on what you have accomplished so far. With a little dose of reality, now is the time to fine tune your goal list.

1) Give yourself an evaluation; are you making an honest effort at changing you bad habits? If not, don’t be hard on yourself, just get started now!

2) Look over your goals. Are there steps missing? Be sure you have all your bases covered, maybe you want to bring your lunch to work 4 times a week, but you’re not making time to go to the store. You want to quit smoking, yet you are still spending time with people that provoke this negative behavior.

2012 is here and as a New Year beckons us, so do resolutions. Those pesky resolutions that we had dutifully left behind a few weeks into 2011 are resurfacing.  Maybe you did better than most people and completed everything you set out to do. But for those who try and fail again and again, there may be a better way.

Sometimes we put too much on our plate or we might go the wrong way about creating success and instead get nowhere. If you haven’t been as successful as you would have wanted to be then maybe restructuring your plan will help.

So what is your goal? Write it down and then write down how you will accomplish your goal. If your goal is to lose 20 pounds did you write down go to the gym 5 times per week, eat six small meals, cut calories, reduce carbs, and stop eating junk food? Or something along those lines?

Those are all great goals but maybe that is trying to do too much at once and it can be overwhelming. It’s better to make one change at a time because studies have shown you have an 85% chance of success. However if you try to change two things at once, your chances of success drop to around 35%. Three things at once? Almost zero.

Now you are saying - but if I only do one thing I won’t be as successful. Actually, you will be successful because you are going to create a “snowball” effect. You will work on one goal at a time. Focusing your time and energy on that one thing so you will be successful. First, you need a plan so get out your pen and paper and start writing.

By Amy Pennington

The holidays are typically a time of excess and staying on track and eating healthy can be challenging. Eating a well-rounded and nutritious breakfast will carry you through the morning and get the day started off on the right foot. I find that when I have a hearty morning meal that doesn’t weigh me down, I’m less tempted to grab a cookie or other quick nibble like crackers. This recipe is a great way to curb your appetite, nourish your body and help minimize over indulging during the holidays. It is also a fancy-looking crowd pleaser and an easy Christmas morning breakfast for family. (Although, I’ll be fighting my sisters creamy baked French toast for room at the table, no doubt!)

I love eggs served with a side of sautéed greens. If I can eat greens at every meal, I will, and sautéing chard, kale, or spinach with garlic alongside an egg is a culinary match made in heaven. This is a one-pot-only meal, perfect for a dinner when you have only eggs in the fridge for a “main” ingredient. The dish can be made with little fuss and attention. Serve a crusty piece of bread alongside, and it’s a meal that can be made at a moment’s notice and feed lots of mouths for cheap. The only thing needed from the grocery should be the greens, otherwise all of these ingredients are pantry staples.