The honeymoon is over. You trained for your wedding and looked amazing, and as a reward, you indulged on your honeymoon so that it was more like a butter/cream/sugar-moon instead. Don’t worry if you’ve put on all the weight you lost for the wedding. I’ve got 10 tips to help you get back in shape and stay that way for many anniversaries to come.

1) Partner up with your spouse and motivate each other. As the adage says, “You are the average of the five people you hang out with the most.” So plan your entertainment, meals, and workouts as a couple and motivate each other when you’re having a tough or lazy day.

2) Set specific, realistic goals and have a set time period. Then identify and eliminate your barriers to exercise and eating well. With an easy-to-accomplish plan, you’ll even be able to exceed your goals.

3) Get on the scale. Studies show that if you weigh yourself each day, you’ll keep your fitness and nutrition goals in mind. Skipping the scale for weeks at a time may lead to unconscious weight-gain. A weigh-in a day keeps those pounds away.

4) Try something new. Never took a spin or Pilates class? Never gone cross-country skiing or hiking? What are you waiting for? Surprise your body and learn something new together to keep things fun and your fitness on track.

5) Cut workout time in half. Don’t waste time standing still and doing biceps curls! Multitask instead by combing arm, leg, and abdominal exercises, like a curl, lunge, and twist. Then add a cardio interval. Multitasking workouts cut time while boosting metabolism, heart rate, and perspiration. Check out NikkiBeachBride.com for sample cardio moves and four challenging multitasking workout DVDs that take only 30 minutes to complete.

6) Eat more. Think of food as a fuel, not as a gift, which means passing on food that’s high in fat and sugar, and taking just half of the portion you’d normally heap on your plate. Also, keep the tank half-full at all times with several small, healthy meals. If you never get famished, you’ll make wise choices with your head, not your belly.

7) Put one sneaker in front of the other. Many of us waste too much time saying we need to work out, dreading the process all the while. Trick yourselves by just getting dressed for it, putting on your favorite workout music, and not really thinking about what you’re about to do. If you take it one step at a time, before you know it, you’ll finish the cool-down and feel amazing.

Too cold to go outside? The chilly weather and lack of daylight make this time of year tough on fitness resolutions. Heat yourselves up with a healthy slow-cooked meal and break a sweat inside with a new fitness DVD or a fitness channel on TV.

9) Reward yourself. When you stick to these resolutions reward yourself with something free or inexpensive that makes you happy and inspires you to look and feel good. Maybe it’s a combined personal training session for you and your sweetie or a mini fitness vacation together.

10) Subscribe to motivational fitness sites or magazines. Whether it’s a new and healthy dish you can make, news about a recent medical study, interesting moves to try at home, or another person’s story about how they reached their goals, an inspiration will help you keep fitting in your fitness.

I planned to go for a run, but it snowed. My week has just been too busy to get to a fitness class. Everyone from work went out to happy hour so I skipped my personal trainer. After taking care of the kids and running errands, I was just too tired to do that fitness DVD. I just got laid off, so I don’t have the money for a trainer or a gym.

What’s your reason for being bad to your body?

Whatever your barrier to exercise is, there is always a way to fit in your fitness.
The secret is in goal setting. Most barriers to exercise are not real, they are just perceived. The first step to beating your barriers is to write them down and brainstorm ways around them.

No time?

Do shorter workouts and multitask your moves.(That is why I designed my fitness DVD to fit an hour long workout in just 30 minutes.) Don’t feel like exerting yourself today? Do yoga, pilates or just take a walk to do your errands. Bored with your workout? Try a new class or DVD. Invite your friends to a workout or go to thiers. Think you are too old or out of shape to work out? Try anything that is for beginners or a senior workout.

However the most powerful barrier many people express is that they have just
been out of the workout cycle for too many years. The answer to that is to be S.M.A.R.T.

To start the S.M.A.R.T. way, follow the guidelines us fitness trainers
learn when we are certified from Personal Fitness Training Theory & Practice pg 380):

Specific: Define your goal by how many pounds, miles, minutes, etc.

Measurable: Make the goal measureable so you are clear when it is achieved “I want to be able to jog for 20 minutes without stopping.”

Action oriented: write out the details like the time of day, what day is a class and what day you’ll go on a bike ride each week, what time of day, for how long and what days will be easier and which you’ll push yourself.

Realistic: Chose an appropriate goal for you, don’t try to run a marathon, but maybe try to run for 20 minutes without stopping as your first goal to work towards.

Timed: Set a time to measure your success. A wedding date? First day of summer? Husband coming home from deployment?

Wipe out excuses, start the S.M.A.R.T way, and fit in your fitness!

1. Set goals that are realistic and specific. Have a set time period as your goal to help you stick to a new fitness regime. Write down your plan of action for every day, week, and so on. Start with a plan that you think you can accomplish or exceed. For example, walk for 30 minutes, and then run for 20 minutes. See how many times you have to stop and walk each time. Eventually, work up to running for 30 minutes.
2. Identify and eliminate your barriers to exercise and eating well. Make a plan to conquer and avoid those specific barriers. Take each barrier or excuse and write down ways you can solve the problem.
3. Put one sneaker in front of the other. Many of us waste too much time saying we need to work out but dread the process. Get dressed to work out and don’t think about the next step. If you take it one step at a time, before you know it you will finish the cool-down and feel amazing.
4. Make yourself an upbeat iPod playlist or CD. You can dance around as you clean up at home. Or, you can find a hip-hop or African dance class at the gym, learn to belly dance at an adult education class or at the Y, or just plan a girls’ night out dancing. You can find a great list on my website.
5. Make dates to see friends and family and do something that doesn’t involve eating and drinking. Walk through the park, go biking in summer, ice skate or cross country ski in winter, walk the mall, take a yoga or cardio class, or run on a treadmill right next to your friend.
6. Think of food as a fuel, not as a gift. Passing on food that is high in fat and sugar, and take half the portion everyone else heaps onto their plate. If you go out to eat, you should pack up half food on your plate in a doggy bag.
7. Practice good habits when you eat out. If you have to be at a restaurant, identify the three healthiest things on the menu and pick between those.
8. Follow the food pyramid daily. Focus on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein and calcium, not sweets and fats. Also, take a daily multi-vitamin
9. Don’t eat any junk food lying around the office. Bring healthy, sweet or salty snacks to your desk, such as whole wheat crackers, almonds, grapes, or chocolate soy milk. Buy a slow cooker so that you can prepare a healthy meal in the mornings, and it’s ready for you when you get home (it’s like having a personal chef at home all day, and gives you that extra hour for exercise.)
10. Drink no more than two alcoholic beverages at parties and events (if necessary, cut extra drinks with spritzers) and have a snack before these events so you don’t attack the buffet line.
11. Drive less and walk more. Take the stairs when possible and never go a day without some exercise.
12. Invest in a gym membership, if you don’t have one already, and use it. If you don’t have the money right now, buy an inexpensive workout DVD.
13. Weigh yourself everyday to remember your goals and feel good about the choices you made yesterday.
14. Keep reading health and fitness columns online. Subscribe to weekly e-mailed fitness tips for regular inspiration, and subscribe to fitness magazines. Whether it’s a new and healthy dish you can make, news about a recent medical study, interesting moves to try at home, or another person’s story about how they reached their goals, any inspiration will help.
15. Pass this advice along. I saw a quote once that said “You are the average of the five people you hang out with the most.” So get your friends to subscribe to a fitness newsletter, such as the NikkiFitness newsletter, and find a partner to work out with and help you make healthy choices at a restaurant.