I admit it's hard to worry about busting out the white legs in shorts or exposing all of your goods in the summertime bikini when it's still cold outside.

Yes, it's true my friends, summer is about to show her warm face. Doesn't if feel like life can be a continuous cycle of school, work, winter, holidays, hibernation, rebirth, flowers, summer warmth, trying to get in shape, worrying about the 4th of July party, and sadness that the days of summer are numbered. Back to cold?

I try to make the circle of this cycle as small as I can, but look at nature, she knows what she's doing. It is natural to have a cycle in life, and there will be a certain ebb and flow with your fitness life, energy, and intensity about your health and fitness regimen.

One can't be going 100 percent 12 months a year. Now having said that, you don't need to be eating pizza pies and donuts sitting inside watching the tube in December. A bit of easing off and turning up the intensity is good. Let's get excited that summer is upon us.

Today is the day to turn your backs on the winter months and look ahead to the blinding sunlight of the coming months. How can we get ready for summer?

1. Ask yourself what activity would be fun to do or take up this summer. It's time to trick yourself into getting "fired up" about this activity. As you walk to the gym (in the cold) or around the block keep that motivational vision of yourself whacking the tennis ball or competing in a mini triathlon in your mind. Use this dream to jumpstart you back into a regular fitness routine.

2. Recruit an ally. Find a friend or a family member to join in on the crusade. Have someone you have to be accountable to. Create a vision of something you want to participate in together. Become teammates in the quest for better health and fitness.

3. Starting today, write down your workouts on your calendar. Treat it like every other meeting, doctor's appointment, work, and kids to school date you have written down. Honor yourself and your commitment, and don't break the dates. Make this time non-negotiable like you do all of the other important things on those calendar squares.

4. Deal with the food. You may even feel miles from your goal, but today is the day you are starting. Gotta start with the food. Ditch all sugar drinks (including diet) and stick to the water. Consume booze only on special occasions, and not just the days that end in Y. Consider switching to red wine.

Try to eat as much real food as you can get your hands on. Avoid processed, nuked, fried, frozen, drive thru, bagged, canned, million year shelf life kinds of food. Strange concept I know, but try and eat fresh, real food. We are real people, and we should give our bodies living food. Stop eating when you are full. Just notice it and stop.

I know that your Mom told you to eat everything on your plate, and that's fine, but we have a skewed perspective on portions in our culture.

5. Do it for yourself and believe that you deserve to feel and look good. The human body is a magnificent machine, and you and your body fall under that description, too. Overweight, older, ailments, depressed...whatever the issue is, you still have to know that your body, your machine is an incredible gift to you that you should take care of.

Try to stop looking at what is not working great in your body or what you don't like about your body at the moment. Today, start celebrating your body and use that spirit to help you commit to taking care of yourself. For me it's simple - our bodies are our everyday miracles that we stopped noticing and even punish ourselves about.

6. Make it fun. Listen, if you can't stand running, don't jog. I'm not talking about suffering every inch of the way. I am suggesting putting in effort into discovering some form of exercise you like or can live with, and a few healthy food you don't mind eating.

I have an idea: try to think of exercise as "playing" and fun. Why do we hate movement so much? At times it's almost as if we're hormonal teenagers that just want to lie around on the couch. Come on let's go. Get outside and go play with some friends. Breathe in that summer air.

7. Write down a couple of goals. If you want to lose X amount of pounds or be able to run in a marathon, write it down. I think it's so much more motivating to have a purpose to train and eat healthy for. I am right here with you.

I was feeling a little blah about training, and now I am using "summer's coming" as my cue to turn up the heat in my health and fitness life. The blahs happen to all people just on various levels. You are not alone.