You’ve decided to finally lose those unwanted pounds and work on getting the body you’ve always desired. Congratulations, you’ve just taken the first step by deciding to take action. While most people simply talk about one day changing their shape, you’re actually going to do something about it. Now before you run out and start some fad diet and sign a gym membership, take my advice on the best way to go about achieving your weight loss and fitness goals.

What you’ll find in this article is not a bunch of tips on the best exercises to do or the best diet to follow, but rather four secrets on how to actually follow through so you see results. This will help you to avoid the most common mistakes that people make when starting a weight loss program. Remember there are no quick fixes and short cuts for long-term, lasting results.

Secret #1: Making a simple commitment to your exercise program

There’s no shortage of big companies who want you to believe that a pill, fad diet or a special gadget will solve all your weight loss problems. Many of the claims are counter-intuitive and insult your common sense. But a lot of people still want to believe because there’s so much pain that comes from previous weight loss attempt failures. The truth on what works is actually quite simple and I’ll lay it for you right here: eat 4 to 5 small meals a day from whole, natural foods and perform a combination of aerobic and resistance training exercise. Take out your calendar right now and mark off the time each day for the next twelve weeks when you will commit to exercising. Then do it. Your consistent commitment will bring you the results you want.

Secret #2: Don’t go it all alone in the beginning but rather get with a coach

Almost every self-help book ever written talks about the critical importance of having a coach or mentor. A coach is an experienced and trusted counselor or teacher. It’s inevitable that you will come up against hard times on your path to losing weight and getting fit. A coach will guide, motivate, educate and support you so you can easily and rapidly overcome these hurdles. A coach is critical to systemizing your exercise program for maximum results and assisting you in heightening your motivation and strengthening your commitment.

A coach becomes your "objective feedback system," helping you see, understand and correct the problems that are interfering with your progress. Exercise and nutrition are bona fide sciences and learning everything you need to know on your own can take years of struggle and frustration, but not if you have a coach.

Secret #3: Learning the basic fundamentals of exercise progression

Have you ever met someone who says they exercise week after week, month after month, even year after year but they don’t seem to be seeing any new results? Believe it or not, doing the same workout over and over without expert guidance to direct your progress can actually decrease results.

You must learn how to progressively improve and fine-tune your efforts for maximum weight loss and fitness results. A certified personal trainer or fitness coach can teach you the basic fundamentals of exercise progression so you can effectively workout on your own later on.

Secret #4: Incorporating accountability to someone other than yourself

In a recent study at Virginia Polytechnic University, researchers divided people starting a walking program into two groups. Every week, each individual in one group got a phone call asking how their exercise program was coming along; the other group got no calls. At the end of 24 weeks, 45% of the individuals who got the phone calls were still walking compared to just 2% who did not receive calls. The results show that weekly accountability increases the likelihood of sticking to your exercise program by 2200%!

These studies only back up the real world evidence I’ve seen with over 20 years in the fitness industry as a certified Charleston personal trainer. I’ve long said the real benefit of hiring a personal trainer is not the exercise instruction, but rather the accountability and support. Let’s face it, starting an exercise and diet program involves significant lifestyle change and it’s hard to do it on your own. We all tend to make excuses to ourselves but success is significantly improved when you’re accountable to someone else.

The best strategy for seeing a body transformation is to start with some coaching from a fitness professional. He or she can help you build new habits and routines while educating you on the proper way to exercise on your own. Once you’ve developed your new habits and have a firm grasp of what you should do to see results, then you can set out on your own.

Invest in your success by taking a step-by-step approach to life-long exercise and nutrition habits. This way you’re not trying to overhaul everything at once all on your own. The time, frustration, and money you’ll save in the long run will be well worth your investment.