The temperature seems to have risen finally, the snow has disappeared and the evenings are a little longer, now is the time to really start putting the wheels in motion for your fitness and health goals.

Maybe you want to lose ten kilos or maybe it's just two or maybe you just want to improve your fitness and tone up a little. Whatever your goal is, you need to start now! Don't leave it until your holiday is only four weeks away or until you head out one sunny day in the park and your sweating away in a turtle neck because once again your too embarrassed of what lies beneath. As a personal trainer every year I get inundated in June by late comers who desperate to achieve goals in the time available, don't be one of those get it sorted today!

So once you've decided to get yourself a great new body in time for summer it's time to commit to paper, pin it up on your fridge and tell all your family and the important people in your life about your goals. This creates accountability which is a great driving force and also lays down a exactly what you want to your psyche and has the saying goes “if you don't know where you going, how are you going to get there”.

Now you know what you want it becomes easier to map out your journey to it. For example if you decided that you wanted to lose 10 kilos in 15 weeks you know

that you are looking at half a kilo each week. That's a very achievable target that you can manage each week making it more manageable than just looking at the big picture.

Maybe you want some help then a nutritionist or a personal trainer is a great way to go but if you already have some training experience and a gym membership and just want to go it alone here are my top tips to get you looking great for summer.

Cut your carbohydrate intake by 50% and cut out 100% of the worst kinds like bread, chips, soft drinks. Up your protein intake a little to help recovery and muscle tone. Up your good fat intake e.g. nuts, avocados and fish like salmon. And finally keep learning, nutrition is an ever complex subject that is ever changing and where the same two approaches never produce the same results everyone.

Train at least 3 times per week and mix it up with some weight lifting and interval training for cardio. Weight lifting, but I'm a woman! Yes even if you're a woman and your goals are weight loss weight training is very beneficial. First of all it will improve your muscle tone and second of all weight lifting produces a greater EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) which equates to more calories burnt whilst going about the rest of your day. Also interval training targets your fat more effectively and also burns more calories again obviously beneficial to you and your goals.

And finally with the coming longer nights even if you can't make to the gym or just don't have a membership, there is no excuse not to get out and exercise in the park.