When it comes to fitness, we all want to be healthy, eat better and live worry-free lives…but we all can’t have that. For many of us, maintaining a healthy lifestyle takes more effort and discipline than we care to admit. The daily monitoring can be tedious and continuous motivation is often hard to come by. But with these 5 simple tips, you can easily stay on track and stay motivated to reach your workout goals.

1. Make a schedule. Hold yourself accountable by creating a schedule (and actually sticking to it). When you have that looming workout in the back of your mind, you are more likely to check it off of your list.

2. Change it up. When you do the same workouts over and over again, the monotony could not only make it more challenging to get motivated, but it could slow down your training and force you into those nasty workout plateaus. Bust out of those by sprinkling in new workouts and challenges that will keep you pushing for more.

3. Set Goals. Whether you set a daily goal or a monthly goal, it’s important to have a goal so you can work toward something. When you have something to work for, you are more likely to work to accomplish it.

4. Eat Smart. As always, a good training routine does nothing without proper eating. Ensuring your body is able to fuel and recover properly is critical to your overall athletic success. Getting the right proportions of protein, carbs, and liquids is simple to do and doesn’t take a lot of effort. You can find many creative and tasty recipes and snack ideas on Pinterest that will get you started on the right path to better eating.

5. Have Fun. One of the most important things to remember with any workout regimen is to have fun! When you enjoy your workouts, it gives you something to look forward to and it will be that motivational factor that gets you up and moving on those more challenging days.

With just a little effort and some planning, you’ll be in better shape in no time. For more tips and tricks on living healthy eating smart, check out our Facebook and Twitter pages!

[photo credit: secretsoflif3.com]