By Nate Whitten, June 2015 Issue.

Are you at a loss as to why you aren’t seeing the changes in your body that you wish to see? Do you keep doing the same thing over and over only to find that you are getting no results?

Barring a legitimate thyroid condition, there is no reason a person should be working hard to achieve a specific goal only to end up feeling like a failure or stressed out over limited or minimal results.

I am a strong believer that you can have your cake and eat it, too. But that means you have to make sacrifices somewhere else in your life to see a difference and/or achieve your goals.

Unfortunately, this concept often gets lost at the bottom of the dessert plate you just licked clean. But, just as you are aware that eating Mexican food from a truck behind the bar at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night means you won’t be the bottom champ of the night, beginning to accept the consequences of the nutritional choices you make throughout your day is the first step to change.

Acknowledging that there are always consequences (not punishments) to your decisions will help you become more successful in living life to the fullest. Fitness, like life, is always a matter of if and then. Implementing the following examples will help you enjoy your cake – in all aspects of life – to the fullest.

If you want to lose weight and eat a bowl of ice cream – or cake, in this case – every night before bed …

Then know that you will need to burn off those extra calories tomorrow morning. Then get your ass out of bed and do it. Then, when you’re sweating like a pig and pissed off that you have to run the street at 5 a.m. and it’s not even a walk of shame experience, you may think twice about eating the bowl of ice cream the next night.

If you want to find a good relationship with an amazing person …

Then know that amazing people are attracted to like-minded amazing people and then be an amazing person. Then share your bowl of ice cream in bed before snuggling under the covers with your amazing person. Then you have now cut your caloric intake by half and you only have to run half the distance tomorrow morning.

If you want to bust through the fitness plateau you’ve reached in your work out …

Then know that continuing to do what you’re doing now is will not get you there. Then start doing something new. Adding more weights or more reps can certainly help. You need to discover a new challenge and raise the bar of your status quo.

Then you will see new results and you will be inspired to push to higher limits and find success in your goal. Then you have a reason to skip the bowl of ice cream, and instead of running at 5 a.m. you’ll be burning calories having morning sex with your new amazing partner.

If you hate your job and can’t stand the people you work with …

Then accept that neither the job nor the people you work with are going to change.

Then it is up to you to make a change. Updating your resume, adding to your level of education, taking a chance on a new career you’ve always been interested can get you moving onward and upward to a job that you can love. Then you’ll be more satisfied and fulfilled in your job, making more money. Then you and your amazing new partner with whom you have sex day and night can take that vacation and enjoy splurging on some ice cream whilst touring the back roads of Europe.

Life, fitness, nutrition and health are all things within your control. When taking time to think through the consequences of your choices, both good and bad, you will finally get the results you are looking for.

Let’s be honest though: Sometimes bad choices are worth the consequences. When you’ve enjoyed the activity of your “bad” decision, own the consequence, laugh at your misstep and move forward into personal responsibility and ownership of your own destiny.

If you balance your choice with your consequence, then you can have your cake and eat it, too.