If you are new to exercising and working out, here are some tips and tricks for you (some that I have learned the hard way so that you don’t have to.)

1. You will be sore!  Don’t be afraid of the soreness, use it as motivation to keep going!  Even if you are sore, you will feel better after you exercise.   You will learn to hate it and love it all at the same time.  Don’t let soreness prevent you from working out.
2. Don’t give up if you don’t see major results after the first workout 😉  You didn’t put the weight on in one day, you won’t take it all off in one day (or one week…or month)  It takes consistent daily work
3. Choosing a healthy lifestyle is just as much mental as it is physical. You have to make a choice every day to keep going.
4. Form is everything!  If you are new to exercising proper form may feel a bit awkward, get a mirror and watch your form.  If you are doing a movement with improper form (especially if you are using weights) you are more likely to injure yourself.  Injuries are not fun!
5. Always warm up! It is not worth the time you save to skip warming up.  Your muscles will thank you and you will be less likely to injure yourself if you are properly warmed up.
6. Always stretch!!! Just like with warming up, it is not worth the time you save to skip stretching.  Your muscles will thank you and you will be less likely to injure yourself if you are properly stretched!  Do NOT skip stretching.
7. Breath!!!! Don’t hold your breath!  Sometimes when things are hard we tend to hold our breath.  Don’t do that!  Proper breathing helps with core stability, plus you need to breath to prevent yourself from passing out.  I always remember proper breathing by inhale on the easy part, exhale when difficult or blow out against gravity.  So when doing crunches, exhale on the crunch up inhale on the way down.  Push ups: exhale when pushing up, inhale on the way down.  Lifting weights (even 3 or 5 lbs) exhale when lifting the weight inhale when lowering
8. Don’t overestimate your exercise’s impact while underestimating your caloric intake
9. It is not about being better than someone else, it is about being better than you were yesterday!
10. You CANNOT spot reduce fat!  You can work specific areas and muscles, but the only way to get rid of fat in a “problem area” is to lose weight all over your entire body.  You may carry more weight in your midsection, or have wider shoulders, or like me you might have chubby knees and cankles (I seriously HATE my cankles!).
11. While you can get in better shape, you cannot change your overall body shape.  If you are pear shaped you will just be a smaller pear. (see number 8)  You can exercise all day every day and you will still have your original body shape.
12. Be accountable to someone.  Studies show that people who are accountable to someone, not only have more success with weight loss , but also are more successful at keeping the weight off long term.

I hope that you find these tips to be helpful!  Enjoy your workouts, exercise is fun!

Disclaimer: While I am not a professional or a personal fitness trainer, I have been exercising for years.