So you’ve done what you thought was the hard part: You started a regular exercise routine to get fit and healthy. But now you’re finding out that keeping up with it is as hard as starting out in the first place. You need to keep exercising, but how do you do it without getting bored and losing motivation?

Ask yourself what makes fitness fun. What motivates you most and keeps you focused and centered on a workout? These methods can help you stay focused and interested in your exercise routine:

Find a buddy. Working out is often more enjoyable when you do it with someone else. Find a friend who will exercise with you, and won’t let you back out of your gym dates.Set goals and a schedule. If you don’t plan time for exercise and dedicate yourself to it, it’s hard to stay motivated. Schedule times and dates for workouts on your calendar, and jot down what you plan to do and goals you want to accomplish.Push yourself. Don’t work out to the point of injury, but push yourself during exercise routines — don’t give up because you don’t feel like it or you’re tired. Push yourself to go a little harder or a little longer, and you’ll feel great afterward.Read or listen to music. If you’re walking on a treadmill or using a stair-climbing machine, try reading so you lose track of the minutes while you’re burning calories. Or pump yourself up with some favorite music: high-energy, fast-paced songs can give the boost you need to get through your exercise routine. Create a playlist or CD of songs that motivate you for a workout.Cut out the routine from your exercise routine. You’re more likely to lose motivation if you stick to the same workout routine, so come up with options so that you don’t get bored. Walk one day, run another, hop on a bike, and try different aerobic and weight machines.Where to work out. Your environment can have a big impact on how well you focus on your exercise routine. If you prefer being outside, schedule an exercise program around outdoor activities. If you get too distracted by other people in a health club, try investing in videos or exercise equipment and do your workout at home.Eat for exercise. Don’t exercise on an empty stomach, but don’t eat a huge meal right before exercising, either. Stick to a healthy, balanced diet for lots of energy, and have a light, healthy snack before a scheduled workout so that you don’t feel hungry. To make working out a part of your lifestyle, you may need to occasionally come up with new and fun ways to exercise. Just keep your end goal in mind — better health, fitness, and happiness — and find ways to enjoy your workout.

Beware Magical Claims and Passing Promises

“It seems to be human nature to be attracted to fad diets, which promise quick and easy results,” says Allen Knehans, PhD, chair of the department of nutritional sciences at Oklahoma University Health Sciences University in Oklahoma City. Weeding out fad diets takes a bit of effort because, Knehans acknowledges, “there is no standard definition of a fad diet.” Here are some of the red flags that indicate a weight-loss plan is an ineffective fad diet:

The diet promises that you will lose weight fast or at an unrealistic pace. The claims sound too good to be true. The diet’s recommendations are based on a single study – or no research at all.
The diet’s recommendations seem extreme.
Statements made about the diet are refuted by reputable scientific organizations.
It refers to foods as “good” or “bad.”
Personal testimonials are used to “sell” the diet.
The fad diet involves crash dieting, or very intense reductions in eating and drinking.
“Fad diets are the parachute pants of nutrition,” explains nutritionist Judy Penta, BS, a certified holistic health counselor and certified personal trainer with Patients Medical in New York City. “Usually these diets are popular only for a short time — a season or at most a few years — then become unpopular or even laughable when the new fad comes along.”

Feeding The Popularity Fad Diets

Why do fad diets become the rage? A number of factors typically fuel their popularity, including:

Celebrity endorsements. Who doesn’t want to be as popular and slender as the latest starlet?The promise of quick weight loss. In this age of instant everything, there’s a natural temptation to fall for a weight-loss plan that promises quick weight loss in only weeks rather than months.The “elimination” mentality. The idea that cutting out certain foods will result in quick weight loss plays into popular beliefs about dieting. “Many of these diets promote elimination of one or multiple food groups for a set number of days or in very specific combinations with some sort of gimmick,” says Penta, adding that many people equate misery and deprivation with dieting and so are more willing to accept this type of weight-loss plan, at least for a brief while.Peer pressure. If all your friends are following the fad, it’s tempting to join in.
Fad Diet Safety Questions

The most important question about any weight-loss plan is not whether it is effective, but whether it’s safe and healthy for you.

Many fad diets work for a short period of time, usually causing you to drop pounds due to possibly unhealthy calorie reduction or water weight loss. Occasionally you may learn a trick or two about adding healthy foods to your diet or maybe a new recipe that you enjoy.

“The fad diets succeed at jolting you from the grind of mindless snacking, eating junk food on the run, and all the calorie and fat-packed extras like whipped cream in the cappuccino, or grabbing a slice of pizza on the way home from work. Just making these lifestyle adjustments is usually enough to see some weight loss,” explains Penta.

However, while you are reaping the benefits of your new quick weight-loss plan, you have to consider its overall nutritional makeup. Unfortunately, many fad diets do not meet the nutritional needs of most people. Here are some signs that a fad diet is not healthy for you:

Muscle cramps
Dizziness
Confusion
Fainting
Dehydration
Severe constipation or diarrhea
Mood changes
Constant hunger
People who are on medication or have chronic health concerns must be especially cautious with fad diets, says Penta, and should always talk to a doctor before trying any new diet. There are also some psychological consequences to fad dieting, Penta adds. The fact that the diet resulted in quick weight loss without meeting your nutritional needs can lead to regaining weight rapidly if you revert back to your old eating habits and, ultimately, to yo-yo dieting.

“The sad fact is that fad diets set the individual up for failure. When the diet fails, the dieters may blame themselves and develop a feeling of demoralization and hopelessness that they are unable to lose weight,” says Penta. This can make it harder to make the healthy changes needed for long-term weight loss.

Find Better Alternatives to Fad Diets

If you are concerned that a weight-loss plan could be a fad diet, do some research — look for the science behind the diet’s claims. A better solution is to work with a nutritionist or registered dietitian to create a realistic diet that will be effective for you.

“People should follow recommendations made by reputable organizations, such as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,” Knehans says. The reality of weight loss is that, in the long run, a slow and steady approach brings more lasting results than any quick weight-loss fad.

That said, a plateau will usually break on its own after about three weeks, but here are several ways to help get your metabolism back on track quickly!

Exercise Tips

1. Variety: Often we fall into an exercise routine — meaning that we do the same workout regimen for weeks at a time. Think of it like this: if you do 10 push-ups after not working out for months, you will be sore, but if you do 10 push-ups a day for 10 days in a row, you will no longer be sore. This is because your body adapts to your exercise program, and as it adapts, the workout becomes less challenging — and, unfortunately, less effective.

The solution is variety. You have to mix up your exercise routine in order to consistently shock your system. Here are a few different ways to mix up your workout:

1.Alternate the weight — one week lift heavy, and the next week lift light.
2.Change the number of repetitions. This usually goes hand in hand with the amount of weight you are lifting: one week heavy weights, low reps; the next week light weights, high reps.
3.Change the exercise: One week do a chest press, the next week a chest fly, and the next week push-ups.
2. Intensity: The best way to speed up your metabolism is to boost the intensity of your training. By picking up the intensity, you’ll burn more calories, challenge your body, and literally force your metabolism to burn a little brighter because of all the energy your body needs to complete your exercise regimen.

Food Tips

1. Eat more: Ninety percent of the time plateaus are caused by your body’s survival mechanism of protecting against famine, which is triggered by calorie reduction. The best way to fix this quickly is to give your body a little more food so it feels secure. Varying your calorie intake is my best advice for keeping your body from plateauing: For the next three days vary your calorie intake between 1,800 and 2,400 calories. I know this may sound crazy, but trust me…I know what I’m doing. Then, after three days, drop back down to the calorie allowance that I have set for you through this program.

2. Reduce your sodium and DRINK LOTS OF WATER: Keep your sodium under 1,500 mg a day at most for as long as you can manage. You can achieve this in part by cutting all processed food out of your diet for two weeks.

I promise you that if you follow these tips to the letter, your plateau will be shattered by the end of week 2!

“It is an individual measurement that is not always dependent on how much physical activity you do,” notes Jim Pivarnik, PhD, president of the American College of Sports Medicine and director of the Center for Physical Activity and Health at Michigan State University in East Lansing .

So how can you tell if your exercise and healthy diet habits are paying off? There are several ways to measure your fitness level.

The Five Components of Fitness

“Measuring fitness is multi-dimensional,” explains Pivarnik. “Long-distance runners have excellent cardiovascular health, but if all you are is legs and lungs, you won’t have a lot of strength or flexibility. By the same measure, someone who is overweight and aerobically fit is healthier than someone who is in the normal weight range but doesn’t exercise.”

Overall physical fitness is said to consist of five different elements:

1.Aerobic or cardiovascular endurance
2.Muscular strength
3.Muscular endurance
4.Flexibility
5.Body composition