Of all the seasonal motivators to get into shape, nothing strikes fear in the hearts of people more than the thought of getting back into a swimsuit. A quick glance in the mirror getting out of the shower, and the mind can race into calculations of how many weeks before we’ll have to do it. If you throw a towel over the mirror and wait too long, you may find yourself frowning behind a beach wrap or wearing a T-shirt all summer. Speaking of calculations… that’s a great place to start with our plan!

Figure out how many pounds you would like to lose by a certain date. A client of mine just set a goal to lose 15 pounds by the actual first day of summer. If you can break that down to a reasonable amount per week, you now have a short-term goal to meet each week. Just like a sales quota, it’s very tough to meet big, long-term goals without being able to bite off a chunk at a time.

Once you know how many pounds you’ll need to lose each week, it’s time to create the best dieting strategy. I always recommend being specific, and I help people assess their individual needs not only calorically, but by going a step further to determine grams of protein, carbohydrate and fat. The main reason is that your body needs a certain amount of each in order to function properly and reach those goals easily. A haphazard approach makes it too likely to see inconsistency in the results.

Genetically, we can be far enough away from any “norm” that one diet approach is a disaster, while another may be perfect. The more experience you get under your belt, the easier it becomes to learn the best dieting approach for your body and even for your likes and dislikes regarding food. However you set up your diet, you now have a goal amount to lose each week and you have a written game plan to achieve it. These first two steps set you up to succeed.

Knowing your body well begins with your first diet: Record what you do, track progress and make notes. This is the step that bridges the first two and the second two steps. You have your goals and your plan; now you need to make sure you’re on target each day.