Getting in shape for your wedding, honeymoon, and new life with your spouse has got to be one of the most motivating goals. At the same time, like any goal, you must achieve it one day and one rep at a time. To keep yourself motivated, you can use some tried and true tips. Research tells that within the first eight weeks of a training program, about 50 percent of people drop out. The usual reason given is lack of time. But one behavioral scientist studied prison inmates who had plenty of time on their hands. As it turned out, in the prison study, about 50 percent of the participant's dropped out. So, what can we conclude from these studies? It's hard to change our habits.

Visualize Your Perfect Day

To keep your motivation high, you need to remind yourself why achieving your goal of being healthy and fit on your wedding day is important to you. Studies show that we're much more likely to make positive choices and change our bad habits if we're fully aware of the benefits that we will receive as a result of sticking with our programs. Take a moment to consider the benefits that you will gain.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Why do I want to exercise, eat properly, and live healthfully?

• How will my life be better if I become more fit?

• What will be different about how I will feel and look when I'm fit?

• What will be different about the types of things that I will do when I'm fit?

• How will I look and feel on my wedding day when I've achieved my shape-up goals?

Try keeping a journal or writing a letter to yourself. Spell out exactly how you imagine your life will be better as a result of you sticking with your program. When we can really recognize why we want to make the tough choices each day to be more active and to eat healthy foods, it's much easier to make the right decisions.

Visualizing your goals makes it easier to achieve them. Post the benefits that you will receive by sticking with your program on your refrigerator or on a bulletin board to serve as a constant reminder. Include pictures of your wedding dress and honeymoon destination to make it even more real for you.

At the same time that you keep the benefits of achieving your goals at the front of your mind, it's also helpful to remember what the negative consequences will be of not making any positive changes. This can also be motivating as a reminder to keep up the good work. Recall that it's hard to make changes in our habits. When the food is delicious, that second portion may be calling you. Those are the moments when you need to remind yourself of why you're going to stop eating when you're full, or that you're still going to take a walk outside even though it's cold.

Getting By with Help from Your Friends

One of the most essential factors to stick successfully with a new exercise, eating, or stress management program is having the support of family and friends. In one study of new exercisers, couples who trained together had a 92 percent success rate of keeping up with their programs. People who trained on their own only had a 55 percent success rate at sticking with their new programs — the typical drop out rate. Recruiting support from the people around you can make all the difference between success and falling by the wayside. Chapter 3 provides lots of tips on training with friends and family, even working out with your dog or a neighbor's dog.