A PERSONAL trainer who has helped hundreds of people work towards their fitness goals has shared his top tips.

Ben Fox, at Health Squared, has given our readers some advice on how to keep motivated and lose weight as many struggle with their new year's resolutions.

His message comes as the county's super-slimmers share their fitness plans and success stories to inspire others.

Need some extra motivation? Some of Oxford's super slimmers share their experiences

  1. Have a clean slate policy – don’t worry about slipping up because if you focus on that you will beat yourself up.
  2. Keep making progress – don’t wait for Monday. If it’s important to you start now.
  3. Align your goals with what you value the most – People often use the excuse of being too busy to work out. But if you make your goal as important as perhaps your family it becomes easier.
  4. Aim for progress not perfection
  5. Eat more vegetables
  6. Drink water and stay hydrated
  7. Eat lean protein for breakfast – this will give you more stable energy throughout the day as opposed to carbohydrates

He said: “If you have fallen off the wagon, there is still time to get back on it. Don’t wait until Monday, start now. It is about making that continuous effort to reach your goals. You don’t have to be perfect you can just try and that is better than trying to be perfect.

“It is also important not to compare yourself to other people, focus on you.”

Mr Fox believes that the 80 per cent diet and 20 per cent exercise principle is not the best guidance to stick by. Instead he said we should be putting as much effort into what we eat as we do into exercising.

He said: “When you train and eat healthily you will get the best results. It’s more accessible and easier to change your diet these days but training requires more guidance which can be intimidating at first, but worth it in the end.”