If you set a goal to attend an exercise class once per week, yet you haven’t made it in 3 months, you're not alone.

If your New Year's resolution was to cut out fried foods and soda, yet you can’t put down Popeyes and Pepsi, you're not the only one.

Sticking to health and fitness goals is a significant battle for most people, and everybody has their reason for why they keep missing the mark, as I’m sure you do.

While it’s helpful to know your specific reason, I don’t believe that is the root cause.

For example, I eat unhealthy foods because I’m too busy to cook. That’s a surface reason, what you need to do is dig deeper to determine the root cause, that’s what this blog post will address.

So without further ado here are the 3 real reasons you're not reaching your health and fitness goals.

Lack of Knowledge

When you don't know what to do it's easier to do nothing. Of course, you know it’s better to consume less sugar, drink more water, and exercise, but what exactly does that mean and how does it relate specifically to your life?

You might know not to eat a bag of Snickers every night, but if you don't know that one Gatorade, Red Bull or Naked Juice Smoothie have more sugar than a full-size Hershey chocolate bar, your lack of knowledge might be keeping you from reaching your goals.

If you’re aware that you should get 30 minutes of exercise per day, but the only activity you do is 30 minutes of slow walking around your neighborhood then that might be why you’re not hitting your weight loss goals.

Being unclear about the specific steps you need to take to reach your goals can keep you from achieving them and leave you in a stagnant place.

So, what's the solution? Learn. Read the blogs. Watch the videos. Hire a personal trainer, nutritionist, or accountability coach if need be. Click here for personal training and accountability support.

You can't blame your lack of knowledge for your lack of achievement because thanks to the internet most of the information you need or resources you can hire to help you are right at your fingertips.

Lack of Consistency

As I was reviewing a new client’s intake questionnaire, I read what she felt her most prominent reason for not reaching her fitness goals was. She said she must be doing something wrong because she didn't see the results she was seeking after 14 days.

I was baffled, and we had a long conversation about the fact that developing a healthy lifestyle doesn’t involve a get thin quick scheme. It will take weeks, maybe even months, of consistent action for you to see the results you’re seeking.

It’s time to say goodbye to the belief that eating a salad for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and going to the gym every day for 5 days is going to get your body beach ready. It just doesn’t work like that, and if you can’t maintain a realistic routine consistently, you will likely never reach your goal without the use of a surgery table.

Lack of Motivation

If you expect someone else to make your dreams come true, you’re highly unlikely to achieve them. You must have the desire and the motivation to see your dreams come to fruition. This often starts with knowing your why. You must determine the reason why developing better health, nutrition, and fitness routines are important to you.

For example, if the thought of wearing a bathing suit or swim trunks this summer frightens you, your why might be that you want to feel confident and comfortable at the beach or at the pool with your friends and loved ones.

If you can't enjoy running around with your kids in the backyard, your why might be that you want to become more physically fit so you can participate in activities fully with your family.

If you're tired of looking in the mirror and being unhappy with what you see, your why might be that you want to finally make yourself a priority.

Establish your why and use it as motivation to actually reach your goals instead of always giving up on yourself.

Next Steps

There are obviously tons of detailed reasons why people don’t reach their health and fitness goals. Maybe you have a demanding job, and it's easier to pick up fast food than to cook when you get home. Perhaps you're a single mom, and between working and taking care of the kids, you don't have the time or energy to implement a healthy living routine. Maybe you don't have the funds needed to purchase healthy meals and buy a gym membership.

All of those reasons may be valid, but they still go back to these top three that I mentioned above.

Due to your lack of knowledge, you might not know that you can develop a full exercise regimen based on free Youtube videos.

Your lack of motivation might be the reason why you watch Netflix for hours after work instead of taking a 30-minute walk around the park.

Your lack of consistency might be the reason why you eat at McDonald's instead of packing your lunch for work.

The intricate details of your inability to follow through with your health and fitness goals do not matter. What matters is the reason behind it. So, identify what that reason is and take it a step further by determining what you can do to combat it.

Whether it's taking the time to develop more knowledge, putting yourself on a schedule so you can be more consistent, or taking the time to delve deeper into your why so that you can stay motivated, you have to do what you have to do.

Sometimes that includes bringing in outside expertise from a coach or trainer. If you need accountability coaching to have someone else hold you accountable for your actions, or if you need a personal trainer to get you in the gym and work with you one on one, I can provide that support.

I’ve helped hundreds of clients reach their health and fitness goals by doing the work, and I’d love to help you too.

Learn about my fitness training and accountability coaching here.