Many people have been asking me lately about diet motivation, especially around the holidays. If you’re like most people you have tried some form of diet but have run into problems staying motivated.

You might have made your New Year’s resolution to lose weight this year and for the first couple of weeks everything seems to going fine. You’ve gotten rid of all your snacks, you’ve stopped eating fast foods and replaced them with a healthier diet. That’s fantastic but now you find yourself sneaking a snack in once in a while and getting lazy with your workouts.

Believe it or not the key to your diet motivation is your mindset. I would love to tell you there is a magic pill or easy button that will take off the weight but there isn’t, no matter how many people try to sell you on that idea. You didn’t put the weight on overnight and it won’t come off overnight either.

Here are 3 tips that can help keep you on the right track to your diet goals.

Diet Motivation Tip 1: You must have a realistic plan. Start writing down what your short term goals are, 30 day, 60 day, 90 day. Where do you see yourself at those stages. Keep it realistic, if you write down you want to lose 50 pounds in 30 days you are setting yourself up to fail. Remember you didn’t put 50 pounds on in 30 days. I’m sharing from my experience of losing 35 pounds in 90 days. That is a more realistic and healthy goal.

Diet Motivation Tip 2: You don’t have to be perfect everyday. You will have days that you might miss a workout or maybe not followed your diet as you should. Don’t get down on yourself and let this turn into a mindset of failure. Take it one day at a time. Some people throw in the towel if they have missed a workout or had a bowl of ice cream and feel that they have to start over from scratch. That’s not the case. Just don’t let it turn into a vicious cycle.

Diet Motivation Tip 3: Surround yourself with people moving in the same direction. For many it is difficult to workout and diet by themselves. That’s why a strong support group is so valuable. It makes it nice to be able to share experiences and results with others while on your journey.

If you have the right plan and determination your goals can be reached. Stay consistent with your workout and diet regiment and remember “do your best and forget the rest”! I hope this article will help you with your diet motivation and your journey back to fitness.