by Victoria Tiegert

Created on: June 27, 2009

In order to make your fitness goals become your fitness accomplishments, you will need to make exercise a part of your routine. It takes time for anything new that you incorporate into your life to become a habit, and until that time, you may need to have reminders and motivators in place to help you stick with it. Over time, you will find that you not only automatically remember and perform your workout, but that you even look forward to it. Here are some things that you can do to help as you begin to make exercise a part of your routine.

*Team Up!

Find a friend that wants to get fit and healthy with you, so that you can remind one another when it's time to get moving. This will also keep it fun and friendly. The time goes by faster when you have someone to chat with and you may even find that you further challenge one another to perform better and better.

*Set An Alarm!

Most people today have cell phones that have alarms and reminders on them. Set one to go off at your scheduled workout time and commit to stop whatever you're doing and head to wherever you are going to be exercising.

*Reward Yourself!

We all respond well to hard work when there is a reward waiting at the end. Think of something that you really want and reward yourself with after a certain amount of time has passed that you have kept to your workout schedule. It could be something that you want to splurge on, or it could be a day away somewhere special that you can just relax and unwind. You'll be doing it with more health and a fitter body, too, so you will probably enjoy whatever it is even more! You can also make your reward system on inches or pounds lost, muscle gained, BMI goals met, or any other fitness goal you are trying to attain.

*Keep A Calendar!

Get yourself some sort of calendar that you can use solely to keep track of your workouts and what you accomplish in each. There are many different types of fitness books that are created for this very purpose, but you can also use a simple pocket calendar or even a binder that you put together yourself. It will be exciting to be able to look back at how far you've come and each time you write in it, you will feel a little more motivated and accomplished.

It is always a challenge to start a new habit, but you can become accustomed to it over time. As you look and feel better, you will notice that you are truly looking forward to your workout and wouldn't dream of forgetting about it.

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