• Sustainability - Each person should find his favorite fitness activities and then apply them into his weekly schedule at a time of day that will be easy to commit to.
  
• Setting realistic goals - A step by step approach is very important to the beginners as well as for the advanced. Don’t set contracts in your mind that your body is not ready to meet.
  
• Consistency – it is better to do a little bit everyday rather then to push hard for a short time and end up giving up.

3. From Diet Blog

It's accountability. You have to pay attention to your missteps -- that all-meat pizza ... plus bread sticks and a soda or two! -- then face them down, and get back on track. Everybody gets off track from time to time, and nobody but YOU will shove you back on there.

The keys to fitness and health are in your hands, and no one else's. The decisions to make the time and give the effort to get and stay where you need to be are yours to make.

It's easy to make excuses about being too busy, having too many temptations (or holiday parties), or one of the hundreds of other excuses you can come up with. It is so easy because it is true that we are busier than ever and it seems that something has to give. But why is it always our health that suffers?

So acknowledge that you get off track now and then -- we're human -- we all do that. But recognize it and hold yourself accountable when those things happen. Be a check on yourself, correct mistakes when you can, and forgive yourself when you get off track. Then Kick your Butt back Into gear and get back on. Then you will be ready to tackle the New Year armed with the tools and plan to have a New Year that includes a Healthier and Happier you.

Check out this article on Get Organized to Succeed at Healthy Eating

Let us know what you do to organize your life to succeed at healthy eating.

4. From Oxygen Women's Fitness Magazine & Diet Detective:

How to do it:

Be SMART about your goal setting. This means making your goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. For example, putting the SMART principle into action would be committing to losing 15 pounds by spring. Now that’s a goal!

Diet Detective took a slightly different take on SMART. They call it Specific, Motivating, Achievable, Rewarding, Tactical. If you want to read the full article on that, here it is: Being SMART

5. From Fit at 51:

I have so many things to say but please check out the articles above to help you along your way. I do follow most of these principles.

Do plan ahead!!!! Try to cook multiple chicken breasts or make a lean turkey or beef meatloaf that will last a few days that allows you to have dinners ready to go or leftovers for lunches. Cut up veggies in advance for snacks or to be ready to cook/microwave for dinner, preportion your snacks in mini zip lock bags for the week, use a crock pot & cook while you are gone, schedule your exercise time on your work & home calender so you don't miss it. Pick a day good for you & do all your cooking at once if necessary.

I have discussed all of these in past posts (lost on a past blog site!). Try to pick exercise/fitness programs that you will like & stick with for the long haul. Plus, just moving & having fun burns calories! Also, don't set yourself up for failure by taking on too much too soon. Small baby steps working towards short & long term goals that you can live by and with is what counts.

Have fun, stay consistent & make your goals achievable. I know you can do it!