When you first start an exercise program you're pumped.  You've established your goals and you've made the important decision that you need to start exercising and eating healthy to live a more fulfilling life.

You're fed up with all the quick-fix scams, gimmicks, hype and other garbage that doesn't constitute a healthy "lifestyle change."

Whether you've hired a trainer to help you or not makes little difference.  The important thing is that you are taking-action and you've decided to change.

So, with this new change in your life, you've got a completely different schedule and way of doing things.

Instead of watching Oprah at 4 comfortably on your couch, you're doing cardio for an hour. 

Instead of going out for brunch with your friends at Starbucks, your strength training

Instead of casually opening the fridge and blindly eating without accountability or going out with your friends for happy hour, you're eating 4-6 healthy meals per day every 2-3 hours and drinking nothing but water.

You KNOW this is what it's going to take. 

Your desire is strong and nothing is going to get in your way. 

Say bye-bye old, ugly fat and hello new, lean body!

Sure enough, the weeks and months go by and your body is starting to change!

You're losing weight, your clothes are falling of you.  You're looking good, your confidence is strong, you're full of energy and you have a new outlook on life.

Your friends however, have a different point of view.

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They want the OLD you back. 

The same person who laughed at the notion of regularly exercising.

The same person who went to fancy restaurants and ate everything in sight.

The same person who went out for drinks every weekend and got blitzed.

They are irritated with all this "exercise and eat healthy" crap and it causes them to feel insecure and lash out at you saying things like...

"Haven't you lost enough weight already?" or

"Why even bother to exercise...it won't make a difference...genetics are genetics."

WRONG!

It will make a difference.  They're just saying this because they HAVEN'T made the decision to change themselves.

God forbid that you want to better yourself.  These so-called friends would much rather make you feel miserable and suffer along with them and their unhealthy way of living. 

If you're faced with this situation, you can't let it detract from what you want.

If you want to lose 20 pounds, do whatever it takes.

If you want to wear size 6 pants, do whatever it takes.

If you want to have six pack abs and a 32 inch waist, do-whatever-it-takes.

Don't settle for less.  If this is what you want.  Take action and make it happen!

Always remember, the decision to better yourself is YOUR goal.  No one can take that from you, but you.

If your friends choose to make food as their escape, not exercise and continue to gain more and more weight, then that's their problem and their goal, it's NOTHING to do with yours!

Don't sell yourself short and don't be persuaded my the negative energy others afflict upon you. It doesn't matter what your goals are, you can achieve them!

Jim Coughlin is a personal trainer and the owner of Coughlin Fitness & Results, a nationwide personal training company. He is also the author of The In-Home Personal Trainer, a helpful guide to successful in-home personal training in addition to other products and many other popular fitness articles.

Jim is very passionate at motivating people to empower themselves to live a healthy lifestyle through consistent exercise and proper nutrition. He has free weekly success tips which you are welcome to subscribe to on his website http://www.fitnessandresults.com