{How to} kick-start your workout

Want to exercise but haven't got the time or motivation? (Haven't we all been there before?!) Angela Parker, fitness expert and owner of Body Inspired Fitness, offers her simple strategies on how to get over it and get moving.

• "If you are having trouble getting motivated to workout, the key for me is accountability. Tell your friend you are going to workout, sign up for a class or put it on Facebook. You have to set up those things of accountability or it will not work."
• "You have to set it up the night before. You'll never find the motivation in the morning. I make it so easy for myself. My clothes are out. My shoes are out. My keys are by the door. My coffee is ready to go. I know where I am going. I know what I am doing. I don't give myself one excuse."
• "Some people are not morning workout people, and that is okay. But if your excuse is that you can't wake up in the morning, then you need to try to find a different way to do it. Walk on your lunch break. Meet someone after work. Be a weekend warrior."
• "If everyone worked out for only 30 minutes a day, it would change your whole life. Everyone has 30 minutes. You don't even have to leave your house."
• "[If I only had 30 minutes], I would do a 5-minute warm-up, a 15-minute workout and a 10-minute stretch. Knowing that it is only 15 minutes means you are going to work hard and power through it. You can do anything in 15 minutes."
• "You always want to warm up. You always want to get a little bit of sweat. Then you want to train all your muscles. The most important thing is stretching. It has changed my body more than anything else; it's how I am able to stay really lean."
• "If you only change one thing in your diet, I would say no packaged food. That's it. You have to eat food the way it comes. Cheez-Its don't grow on trees."

Thanks Angela! Need more inspiration? Check out Angela's arsenal of online workout videos packed with moves you can do right in your living room—no excuses!

(Illustration by Marc Johns)