Hi F.R. and everyone else reading,

intro- (feel free to skip this paragraph, it doesn’t concern the topic at hand and basically says “hello and thanks”) I just signed up at Tiny Buddha!  I suppose I’ve been hunting for something like it awhile and am excited by the content and tone in what I’ve read here.   Discussion, especially in an environment such as this where acceptance and honesty are highly valued, is probably one of the most important, fulfilling and useful ways to share information and advice.  I am excited to join this forum and feel it will be a helpful resource to me.  I know I certainly need help with lots of stuff and perhaps, hopefully, can provide some help as well.

As for keeping up with regular exercise and healthy eating, I think the best way is to let the results speak for themselves and do your best not to ignore what they say.  You most likely began or are beginning to work out and eat better because you feel a little off and want to feel better.  It’s hard to argue that after a good work out and meal, your body and mind are more enjoyable to hang out with.  Resting is easy, positive thoughts spring up and doing things is more satisfying and productive in general.  I know from experience that getting started is the most challenging part of making a behavioral change.  It is frustrating how little resistance I can put up against my impulse to procrastinate.  I get my athletic shoes out, put on my workout clothes, plan out and picture myself going running or biking, sit down to pull on my socks and somewhere in between putting the left and right socks on decide that it’s been a long day, I’ll go tomorrow and then turn on the T.V. (I usually exercise at the end of the day, right before dinner.)  But this can apply just as easily to the morning: the thought may pop up that today is going to be so busy, I’ll be able to run a little longer tomorrow etc, etc.  At this point, it really is just a matter of forcing yourself to go.  Stop thinking and start doing.  Creating little reward systems for myself hasn’t really ever helped me too much.  I’ll end up just rewarding myself anyway out of guilt.

So, if you manage to get started and make it through a week of daily work-outs, you are at the most crucial and vulnerable point.  The benefits have just started to make themselves apparent and now that you do actually feel a bit better it is shockingly simple to tell yourself, well, I’m really making progress, in fact, I’ve done so well this past week that can take a break and then just stop.  It is so true when people say that it takes a month to really form a habit.  Push through this attempt by your mind to go back to your old ways and keep going.  Once you have completed a full month of daily exercise, not only will you feel so much better that stopping won’t be nearly as appealing, you will have created a pathway to follow each day and it will feel weird to not walk down it.  The script has been flipped and you will have to talk yourself out of going rather that talk yourself into it.

Besides, your body and mind will not be able to shut up about all this new activity you are granting them.  Not only are you getting fit and healthy, feeling good but you are going new places, seeing new people and doing new stuff.  All this will just increase the weight of the snowball that is now really gathering mass and speed, carrying you with less and less effort down your new path and providing lots of fun and positive stuff to do that you could have never foreseen.  Hope this helps and wasn’t too long.  I like to write a lot.  Cheers.