What's your motivation? Do you start getting in shape and two weeks into it you slow down, plateau and give up? Or does your priorities change every day? Staying in shape throughout the entire year should be on your mind. Staying motivated is the single most important thing you can do to stick with and reach your exercise goals. Yet most Americans have good intentions. They try but something called motivation sometimes escapes them. Motivation is a good thing. It keeps us excited of new possibilities, but getting it part of the time seems as if you will eventually wane from it and resort back to old habits.

You decide to take it upon yourself to change the way your body looks and feels. It won't be easy, but you have one thing on your side that is going to help you achieve some fitness goals. Motivation. You set out some realistic goals and you begin to watch how you eat and you start to tone up your body. You schedule a vista with your doctor to get a complete physical. You seek out a personal trainer. You may take an appointment with a nutritionist. Then the hard work begins. Nothing will come easy for any one that is de-conditioned. Yet in time the aches and pains will subside. You tell yourself you're in it for the long haul.

Are you one of those come each Spring thinking it's that time of year when I am going to have to face the bathing suit question? Talk about motivation! How can you not think about bikini season? Most fitness and health magazines spam you with articles after articles trumpeting their best kept plans to whip your body in maximum shape. And how about the photos? Of course they will be of young hard-bodied women. Depending on your age and body type you know what is ahead of you right? Hard work.

Discovering what it is that keeps you from reaching your fitness goals will help you to make long term changes in the way you live. Only then will you be ready to set goals and obtain them. Next is knowing what it is that motivates you to stay focused and then capitalizing on your strengths. Do you have an interest in swimming or jogging, or maybe Pilates or yoga. Having an interest in a physical exercise that you can see doing for a long period of time is a good start.

Pilates is another great exercise you can do. Pilates helps increase your stamina and endurance. It will improve your core stability and balance, your flexibility and give you more overall strength. Staying in shape through exercise is beneficial regardless if it's weight training or just plain old walking. It's important to keep your body moving and active. You'll burn off calories. You will see inches taken off from your waist and that person you saw in the mirror awhile ago will still be you but a different more fit and healthier you. It just took some motivation throughout the highs and lows of your life. But the results are fantastic.

Regardless of where it comes from or how it got to you motivation can mean different things to different people. Maybe you thrive on competition and enjoy besting your time every time you go for a long run. Or perhaps you have a friendly competition with an exercise buddy and you stay fit just trying to keep up. Maybe you gain motivation from a group exercise class. Whatever it is, knowing what motivates you, making that motivation work for you and having the lifestyle-changing habits to keep you motivated is what will work for the long haul.