Reason # 3: Failure to Start Slowly

You want that new body, and you want it now! But back in real world you’ll have to give yourself a couple of months to see real results in appearance department. However, you’ll notice increases in strength, energy levels, and endurance almost right away.

Soluiton: Give your body a chance to adapt to this new stress called exercise. It will reward you by getting stronger and fitter. Small, gradual pushes work best. For example, if you’ve haven’t jogged in years, walk first. Gradually, ad in brief intervals of jogging during your walk, and before you know it, you’ll be jogging for a pain free half an hour.

Reason # 4: Lack of Time to Devote to Your Program

This is a failure to prioritize and put yourself, and your fitness program first. When you take a closer look, you’ll realize that you don’t need all that much time. About a half an hour per day, 4 or 5 days a week will get big results – if you exercise smartly, you can get by with even less.

Solution: Save excuses for boss, but be honest with yourself about when, and where you can train. Also, if you put together some basic equipment (a small bench and some dumbbells), you can save travel time to and from gym, and squeeze a thirty-minute workout before, or after work right at home.

Reason # 5: Poor Eating Habits

You wouldn’t expect your car to respond at its optimum level if you filled its tank with wrong fuel. A successful exercise program has to be fueled by solid nutrition, with an adequate balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fats.

Failure to eat right while training hard can result in loss of muscle mass, and increased amounts of stored body fat, just what you don’t want.

Solution: While shopping, read lables and always choose low-fat, low-calorie option. Stay away from fried foods that are high in fat, and avoid junk food like plague. Take a common sense approach to eating right, and make sure you avoid any extreme fad diet.

Michael Stefano is a 20-year veteran of FDNY, as well as author of The Firefighter's Workout Book.

His workout routines and articles have been featured on such internet giants as America Online, Yahoo!, eDiets, and iVillage.

In addition to a number of B-complex vitamins that help to produce energy in cells of body, beef also contanins vital mineral, iron. Iron aids in delivering oxygen to muscles and cells, thus providing you with energy needed to get through your busy day.

So just when you think you've made up your mind on ostrich or beef, lets serve up another alternative, Buffalo, also called Bison Meat.

This heart healthy meat, also low in cholesterol and fat is a good source of protein (35% more protein than beef), and another health-conscious, rich tasting choice of red meat. Tender and flavorful, buffalo has fewer calories and less cholesterol than ostrich.

Buffalo is nutrient dense because of its proportion of protein, fat, vitamins and minerals compared with its caloric value. Being high in iron, moderate in zinc, and low in sodium, makes this sweet flavored meat an excellent choice for those of us who are looking to maintain a low fat, low cholesterol diet, essential to good health.

Choices, choices, choices.

In today’s world, taking care of our hearts, eating a healthy yet tasty diet, and of course, looking very best we can, are of serious concern. Eating smart and following a solid STRENGTH, CARDIO, and FLEXIBILITY routine, will help you achieve our goals. Good luck in your selections.