To be most successful you need to form realistic goals–goals that will be attainable in a timely manner.

You should also begin tracking the calories you consume and burn off. If you have never tracked before, there are many available online resources. Just remember, a person should never consume fewer than 1,200 calories a day if being active as well. The average person who cuts 250-500 calories from their daily diet can expect to lose a half pound to one pound of weight each week.

To accelerate your weight loss, increase your physical activity. While monitoring your caloric intake by itself can help you lose weight, physical activity is going to increase your physical being.

At Anytime Fitness, we do not want to see people workout out for two or three hours daily to meet their goals. If you can structure an efficient cardiovascular training workout with a strength training routine simultaneously, you need not spend more than 60 minutes in the gym.

When it comes to structuring a workout, there are two very important variables that trainers look at: cardiovascular and strength training. (Right here I am going to say hold on ladies; it is genetically impossible for us women to bulk up like men unless we are very specific about how we eat or shooting something illegal into our bodies.) I have always referred to cardiovascular training as the ‘day-time’ calorie burner. When we are training our cardio systems, we are repetitively moving large muscle groups to raise your heart rate above a resting rate, which in turn burns the most calories.

When it comes to strength training, I like to think of it as a ‘night-time’ calorie burner, as the magic comes when our muscles are resting. For each pound of lean muscle mass on your body, that pound can burn about an additional 50 calories during the day. If you pair the day-time cardiovascular calorie burner with the night-time strength calorie burner, you will become the lean, mean, fat-burning machine. This is how you will reach your goals the fastest.

The most efficient way for you to train like this would be through a circuit training workout. It combines bursts of high intensity cardio with specific strength movements to maximize an individual’s workout time. Again, if you have no idea what a circuit training type workout is, talk to a trainer or check online. I have always thought www.self.com provides some of the most precise and easy to follow video guides for things like this. Our AnytimeHealth website allows our members to build workouts, watch workout and exercise videos and additionally provide those tracking tools for the caloric intake and activity burning tracker.

Even if you are a novice or a seasoned gym rat, there are plenty of new exercises to try and there is always room for improvement in one’s diet. Don’t make your changes cold turkey. Plan for it, map out your strategy and go for it. No matter how strong you pursue your changes, don’t forget that your health and wellness should be one of your highest priorities. Any change (large or small) for the sake of your health is an improvement and can help you get rid of some of that holiday weight gain.