Transitioning from school to summer can be hard, especially when summer vacation means exercising again.

While at school, the excuses of "having to study", "having too much homework", or "that extracurricular I did sure took up all my time" actually work. However, once you go from books to beaches, the line of excuses dissipates quickly.

So whether you find yourself halfway through the transition, or five steps before the start, here’s the stages of getting back into exercising as told by one of my favorite shows, "How I Met Your Mother".

1. Realizing You Need It

As summer starts, so do the days of checking yourself out in the mirror. Within the first few glances you feel great, but then the realization of wearing a bathing suit hits you and suddenly you find yourself wishing you hadn’t made so many excuses about exercising during school.

2. Achieving Motivation

The idea of exercising is glamorous. Defining abs, stellar muscles, a glorious butt - it all sounds so enticing...yet so far away. It’s hard to get that beginning push. Your bed seems so much more welcoming, and you can’t help but wonder: “Do I realllyyyy need to start today?”

3. Friendly Motherly Intervention

Next comes the stage of force. You still find yourself laying on the couch, trying to convince yourself to get up; however, your mom has other plans for you. She’s been waiting for days for you to up and leave the house, to finally begin your exercising, but instead you’ve begun to resemble a potato. Finally, after being tired of watching you waste away, she intervenes, probably to remind you that you’re paying for this membership and not spending it on new clothes.

4. You Meet Gym

After finally mustering up the energy to get to the gym, you’ve made it. You step up to the treadmill with your water bottle in hand, ready to jump right into things. However, one little problem: your body wasn’t so ready for the intense work out you accomplished.

5. False Confidence/Regret

The first time you see your weight drop on that scale you feel on top of the world - which is great, it’s fantastic, but don’t let it get to your head. At this point in the transitioning, you feel compelled to stop going to the gym, and start up your old eating habits You feel unstoppable, but fail to remember that one pound doesn’t ensure more to follow. This immediately ensures regret, because the next time you stand on the scale, you realize that minus one pound has turned into that plus four.

6. The End Of An Era

After countless weeks, days, and months of working out, you’ve finally reached the home stretch. As summer comes to a close, you feel great about yourself. You find yourself eating healthier, feeling better, and overall loving life. You aren’t stopping to compare yourself in the mirror anymore, you find yourself admiring who you are because you may not have lost all the weight you wanted, but you’ve gotten healthier; and, a healthier body, means a healthier mind.

Now let’s make sure we make sure we’re exercising our way through the school year this time.