Diets are short-term solutions. It might be before a dance, a date or an interview, you’ll start nibbling on carrot sticks for lunch and celery for dinner, hoping to rid yourself of those unattractive excess pounds. But in the process, you feel unsatisfied, irritated and your productivity suffers.

Diets don’t last because they are extreme solutions with expiration dates. Eating healthy and maintaining an active lifestyle isn’t meant to last a month, it’s a way of life. And it results in you looking and feeling great. The effects are miraculous and contagious: your confidence in yourself and abilities is boosted and you start to take on bigger life challenges.

But to truly make a lasting, impactful change, you need to acclimate to a healthy lifestyle that’s sustainable. It has to be realistic, non-extreme, and must fit with your schedule. You have to drop those old, unhealthy habits and work towards adopting better ones.

Find healthier options you enjoy and learn to be more moderate with your servings. Remember that unhealthy choices are nothing more than short term pleasures that lead to weight gain, negative consequences on our general health and a loss of confidence.

Loving your body and taking caring of it is rewarding. You boost your immune system and fight off illnesses, get more attention at social gatherings and enjoy a clearer conscience. And guess what?

You don’t need to turn vegan to feel and look great. You don’t need to run endless miles either. What you need to do is focus on eating the foods your body needs to be satisfied, set realistic workout goals and reward yourself periodically. By keeping your diet clean and workouts frequent, your body will start to reject the desire for processed and fatty foods.

You need to start replacing unhealthy, fatty foods with healthy alternatives and adopt exercise as an integral part of your day that you enjoy. Exercising doesn’t just make you look good, it also releases endorphins in your body that have a positive effect on your mood.

You reduce stress in the process. And with this plan, give yourself time, and you will see changes that positively reinforce you. Soon enough, you will want to continue with your new lifestyle.

Follow these simple tips and you’ll be well on your way to looking and feeling great:

1.) Set realistic, time-bound goals that you can achieve within your normal schedule – Getting in the habit of setting goals and working towards achieving them will only lead to you become better at taking on bigger challenges and seeing bigger, more positive changes in your body.

2.) Plan your workouts and your meals so that you might align both with the goals you strive to achieve – Pre-planning helps you avoid going straight back to bad snacks in times of stress, as you’re prepared with healthier alternatives. Writing things down also increases the likelihood that you’ll stick to your exercise routine and waste less time, which makes the routine more efficient and a better fit for your busy day.

3.) Find your niche and stick to it – The gym isn’t for everyone, and neither is a quinoa salad, but the options are limitless and once you do your research and talk to the right people, you will figure out what food choices best fit your personal needs and what exercise routines best fit your personal abilities, interests and goals. The key here is to adopt a lifestyle that is sustainable and effective in helping you reach your envisioned self.

4.) Switch up your workout routines and take on bigger goals – You might begin your lifestyle change with an easier set of goals, but in order to progress and effectively reach an optimal you,  you have to keep challenging yourself with bolder goals and more strenuous workout routines. The great news is that the results you’ll see are a positive reinforcement that will keep you moving forward.

Remember that this isn’t a temporary change; it’s a lifestyle change. It’s a change that will work to give you more confidence and make you a happier person. Training yourself to set goals and reach them in the gym is a positive learning experience that will stretch out into other areas of life.

Your mental endurance and goal setting skills will apply to your work life, and you will soon realize the true impact a healthier lifestyle has. It’s not a chore, burden or deprived state.

It’s a way of life, one that becomes the only way of life, as you reap the many benefits this change will bring. You have to look within yourself and work on that before you can sell your potential to the world. Start with your health.

Samer Sweidan & Parisa Nadimkhah | Elite.