Something is Always Better Than Nothing

Since school started in late August, it is suddenly very difficult for me to fit in my morning workouts. Between getting my husband off to work and two kids to different schools at different times, my own morning routine is getting pushed to the back burner.  My usual 45-minute time slot for exercise has been gradually shrinking to 30, 20, and sometimes even only 10 minutes. For a while, I was just skipping it and hoping to fit it in later in the day, but I quickly realized that wasn't a realistic solution. I finally decided I was going to do something in the time I had, regardless of how little it is. 10 minutes is enough time to run a mile, and 20 minutes is two miles. It may not be long, but it's long enough to get my heart rate up, work up a sweat, and get my muscles warmed up enough to be able to stretch effectively when I'm finished.

You may encounter this problem in your own life, thinking a good workout will take at least an hour or even more (particularly if you have to factor in travel time to the gym). Remember this: doing something is always better than doing nothing. It may seem like a ludicrously obvious statement, but when it comes to exercise, it is very easy to forget. One of my favorite tricks is to always put on my exercise clothes when I get out of bed, without even thinking about it. That way, I am already ready to do something when the opportunity presents itself. When you look at the clock and see you only have 20 minutes before you have to get ready for work, think, "What can I do in 20 minutes?" and then just go do it…even if it's just a brisk walk around the block. I promise you will feel better than if you decided to skip it.

Also, if you're constantly running short on time for exercise, think about where you can carve out an extra 10, 20, or 30 minutes in your day. If you watch even one sitcom each day, you've got extra time. And I'm sure most of us would have to admit that we spend at least an hour or more each day on Facebook or surfing the internet. Something as simple as taking a short walk after dinner can dramatically improve your health.

Making exercise a priority is a commitment and can be a drastic lifestyle adjustment for some people, but the change in your energy level and the way you feel about yourself (and maybe even your waistline) makes it well worth it.

Going Through The Motions

You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning, and the prospect of heading to work fills you with dread and you secretly wish for a mild apocalypse so you have any excuse to stay in bed?

Yet, you get up anyway and go to work. Your logic kicks in and you know you have to go or there will be consequences. You don't sit and debate about it for too long, because you know you don't really have a choice. And when you get there, you may feel tired and unmotivated, but you know you still have to do your job. So, even if not with the enthusiasm and vigor your boss may prefer...you go through the motions.

This same method can be applied to making healthy lifestyle choices. Sure, there are days when you are motivated to eat well and have tons of energy to burn during your workout. But, unless you're some kind of robot, there will likely be many more days when you are tired and unmotivated and dreading that healthy salad or the workout you know you need. These are the days when you need to go through the motions.

I know I have posted along a similar vein before, but I think it bears repeating. The euphoria and enthusiasm that came along with committing to a healthier lifestyle will eventually fade. There has to be something else waiting in the wings that will kick in and help you stay on track even when you're tired and busy and unmotivated.

This is where habit comes in--there are plenty of things you do every day without even thinking, because they're part of your routine. Just like you don't debate about whether you feel like brushing your teeth today, you should make your healthy lifestyle choices like exercise and eating properly part of your daily habits.

How do you do this? Try these 4 simple steps:

1. Have a plan. Don't wait until 11:30 when your stomach is growling to start thinking about what you're going to have for lunch. Plan your meals the night before, and pack your lunch as soon as you wake up in the morning. You will be surprised how much this little change simplifies your life (and saves you money!). Plan and shop for your meals ahead of time, and you won't be leaving anything to chance.

2. Schedule your exercise for the week. Plan your longer workouts on days when you know you'll have a little extra time, and schedule rest days or short workouts on days when you will be very rushed. Once you've made your schedule, stick to it. Don't think about it...just do it.

3. Start your day with a large glass of water. Just the ritual of this easy task will start your day off on the right foot, and remind you to tend to your health throughout the day.

4. Become a creature of habit. Nothing is more stressful for me than having to figure out what I'm going to eat every day. So I have the same 2 or 3 things for breakfast and lunch every single day, and I don't have to think about it (I get a little more creative with dinner). Identify a few easy and healthy meals that you enjoy, and eat them all the time.

All Calories Are Not Created Equal

When I was really, really overweight and extremely unhealthy in my mid-twenties, I asked my doctor for help losing weight. Her response was very concise: a calorie is a calorie, so eat fewer calories and exercise more. The take-home message: it doesn't really matter what you eat, as long as you don't eat very much.

I know now how very flawed that thinking is. Doctors are not taught about nutrition. Doctors are trained to treat symptoms of disease by prescribing drugs. Nutrition is about disease prevention and real healing, two things that are missing in our current health care system. Unfortunately, far too many people are relying on their doctors for nutrition information…and getting some really bad advice.

We humans have evolved to avoid starvation. When we eat less, our bodies think food is becoming scarce, and we automatically switch into conservation and storage mode [read: loss of energy and gaining weight]. When we eat a lot of food, our bodies understand that it is ok to burn calories normally and let us maintain a normal activity level.

We humans also evolved eating mainly things we could pick or kill. This means vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, and meat. Agriculture, and consequently the introduction of cultivated grains and dairy products, is a very, very, very new thing. Our bodies simply weren't made to eat the way we are currently eating.

Blood sugar fluctuations are the main cause of weight gain. When you eat food with a "high glycemic load," your blood sugar spikes. High blood sugar is toxic, so your body freaks out and does whatever it can to lower your blood sugar quickly, which includes socking it away as fat.

To prevent blood sugar fluctuations, you must eat foods that are high in fiber and don't have quickly digested carbohydrates like refined flour and sugar. Good quality fats (like olive oil, coconut oil, and unrefined nut oils) also slow digestion and keep blood sugar steady.

The best foods to eat for weight loss are unprocessed, natural, close-to-the-source foods. It really isn't complicated, but it's difficult to remember when we are surrounded by low-quality, convenient, cheap food. The way your body processes 600 calories of donuts is completely different from the way it processes 600 calories of black beans or fish or sesame seeds.

My advice for the healthiest way to eat, and the best way to lose weight, is to eat a relatively high-fat, high-fiber (vegetables and fruits), low-dairy, grain-free diet.

Step Away From The Scale

I recently heard a story about a woman who weighs herself obsessively...as soon as she gets up, after she goes to the bathroom, before she gets dressed, before she eats, after she eats, etc.  This story really highlighted the problem I think a lot of people have--focusing on precisely the wrong thing when concerned about weight loss.

Focusing too much on the number on the scale is giving too much importance to the end result, and not enough to the process of getting to the desired result. It's like if you were concerned about money and you spent your time repeatedly checking your bank account balance, rather than doing any of the actual work to solve your money problems (looking for a better job, developing a family budget, cutting back on spending, etc.).

You know when you are eating well and exercising enough. And you know when you are eating too much, or the wrong things, and being too sedentary. You know when you're gaining weight, and you know when you're losing weight...without having to see the proof on a scale. You can tell by how you feel, how your clothes fit, and how much energy you have.

If you're trying to lose weight, tracking your weight from the beginning to the end of the process can be a huge motivator and a really exciting way to see your progress. But weighing yourself more than once a day, or even daily, can really become problematic. As women, we know our weight fluctuates for reason beyond our control (hormones!!), and little things like how much salt you had or how much water you drank or what you ate can cause huge weight fluctuations from day-to-day--without really being a reflection of whether you are gaining fat or losing fat.

Real success will come when you are able to forget the scale and do the work. Start a food journal, plan what you are going to eat for the day, go grocery shopping for healthy food, exercise for 30 minutes, drink a glass of water. Focus on these tasks, and make them part of your daily routine. It might take a long time to lose the weight, and you need to commit to small daily habits that will continue to lead you in the right direction. And if you want to see your progress on the scale, weigh yourself once a week.

Do Something Right Now

I am spending a lot more time standing in my yard lately, as a result of getting a fantastic fence and not fully trusting my dogs out there alone. With all the ice and wind we've had, there are millions of sticks littering my huge yard. Today, I found myself standing out there frowning in dismay at the thought of tackling the huge job of picking up all the sticks. I was picturing rallying the family and scheduling a huge chunk of time out of our weekend when we would all sweat and toil together to get this big job done--complete with whining and complaining (mostly by me, but a little from the kids) and sore backs and grumpy husbands.

Then, as if struck by lightening, I was inspired with an incredibly fantastic and creative idea!  It turns out, I can start picking up the sticks IMMEDIATELY. Every time I am out in the yard with the dogs, I can take 5 minutes and pick up some sticks. Then, the job will be done, and I no longer have to frown in dismay when I'm standing in my awesome yard.

If you haven't picked up on it by now, the moral of the story is: there is no time like the present. We don't have to wait for some huge inspiration or a mega-dose of motivation to get started on our goals. Particularly when it comes to health and weight loss, waiting for motivation or the perfect circumstances to get started is setting yourself up for failure.

You will definitely be more successful in creating long-lasting positive habits by just starting on little details. The huge well of motivation we feel when starting a new diet or embarking on a New Year's resolution inevitably fades, and you need a backup system. Small, easy, reliable habits keep you on track when your motivation hits the highway.

The key to success is establishing easy to follow habits that don't feel like a strain or interrupt your life. Do one small thing to improve yourself several times a day, and it will eventually add up to be a whole new you. And get started right away.

What can you do right now? Here are some ideas:

-Drink a glass of water.

-Take a 10 minute walk around the parking lot at work.

-Go grab an apple from the fruit bowl.

-Do 20 sit ups, or jumping jacks.

-Do a 60-second plank (believe me, it's harder than it sounds!).

-Take some vitamins.

-Close your eyes and tell yourself that you are beautiful and successful 10 times.

-Lie down on the floor and stretch out your back.

In an hour or two, think about another healthy thing you can do...and continue throughout the day. You may find that it's fun to think of new things, and you look forward to each new little challenge.

Success has a snowball effect. Maybe that one apple or 10-minute walk will motivate you to eat a little healthier dinner, or skip dessert. The better you feel, the more motivated you will be to continue the little healthy changes. Before you know it, you will have established a new habit--you take a walk during your lunch break every day, or swap out your afternoon snack for a piece of fruit, and you don't even have to think about it.

This is how to make long-term changes and really transform your life, rather than committing to some super restrictive, extreme diet or lifestyle change that will inevitably fail.

So, go do something good for yourself! (And feel free to stop by and pick up some sticks in my yard :-)

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A Fresh Perspective for Spring

The cold weather is finally on the way out!!  I am so ready for all the wonderful things that come with warmer weather. I wore a pair of shorts to the gym the other day and caught my reflection in the glass door as I was going inside...I can definitely use some sunshine!

To be honest, I find it very difficult to eat well in the cold weather. I crave heavy, sweet things and a lot of dairy. It's also difficult to get motivated to go outside and be active, so I spend too much time inside (which leads to more eating).

Spring officially starts in exactly 8 days. This is a perfect time to take stock of your daily habits, and consider some changes that may make the warmer months more enjoyable (or at least allow you to fit back into your cute shorts!).

Sometimes, the best approach is simply "Back to Basics." Remember these simple rules for healthy living, and try to incorporate them into your daily habits:

1. Drink plenty of water throughout the entire day. Starting your morning with a glass of ice water is a great way to establish this routine. Complete hydration is essential for flushing unwanted yuckies out of your body. If you're feeling bloated and sluggish, drinking more water will give quick results.

2. Incorporate vegetables into every meal. Eating more vegetables will fill your body with all the nutrients it needs, including fiber. This will help calm cravings, flush out your digestive system, support your immune system, and improve your gut health. (See below for my simple and yummy veggie soup recipe--an easy and delicious way to get plenty of vegetables every day.)

3. Move your body every day.  Even if you're not a fitness nut, exercise is essential for every aspect of your health (and can motivate you to eat healthier throughout the day). Get some sort of exercise every single day--walk, run, bike, vacuum, do jumping jacks, lift weights, play basketball...whatever sounds fun!

4. Cut back on processed foods, and eat more whole foods. Many experts point to processed/manufactured foods as the primary health concern of Americans. Processed foods are basically anything made in a factory, and contain refined ingredients like white flour, sugar, and artificial colors and flavors. Focus on whole foods that resemble the way they were picked off the plant (vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, etc.).

Veggie Soup

1 large can of San Marzano tomatoes (whole, peeled)
3-5 stalks of celery (the inside, leafy pieces work well in soup)
3-4 carrots
1-2 onions
1 zucchini (green squash)
1-3 cloves garlic
Water
Chicken base, or vegetable bouillon cube for flavor
Red wine, if desired
Parmesan cheese, if desired
Salt
Pepper
(I also like to use Montreal Steak seasoning)

Chop up all the veggies (except the tomatoes) and saute them in a little bit of olive oil with some salt until they are tender. Add the entire can of tomatoes (including sauce), about a liter of water, and the bouillon or chicken base. I also like to add about 1 cup of red wine--this really enhances the flavor. Allow to simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, and blend with an immersion blender (or transfer to a regular blender). Taste, and adjust seasoning. Finish with a couple tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese.

This soup lasts for about 5 days in the frig without any deterioration in taste or texture.  It's really easy to make and really delicious!

Skinny Does Not Equal Healthy

I was listening to a seminar yesterday about health issues, and the audience was comprised of health coaches. The speaker asked the audience to think about what health issues they are personally struggling with, and talk to the person sitting next to them about it for a few minutes. A couple people protested, and claimed they didn't have any health concerns to discuss (seriously??). The speaker said, "Yes, you do. Trust me. Everyone does."

It really got me thinking about what good health means. I think the only accurate way to think about it is on a continuum that is very specific to each individual. Good health for me is probably very different than good health for you. I pay attention to a number of factors that let me know if I'm on the right track, or need to make some changes.

For me, good health means feeling good, having enough energy, being free of pain and headaches, feeling supple and flexible rather than bloated and stiff, having good digestion, and being happy. If someone asked me, as in that seminar, to discuss my main health concern, I would probably say being overweight. When I'm eating well and exercising appropriately, I feel really good. I know how to make myself feel good and have my body work properly. I don't need to experiment with my diet because I know exactly how I need to eat to feel my best. That's actually really exciting! There are so many people who don't know why they feel bad, and struggle for years with trying to figure it out.

So if I know so much about myself and how to make myself feel good, why am I overweight? I have a body that gains weight and holds onto weight very easily. I am very sensitive to blood sugar fluctuations (which makes your body store sugar as fat immediately), and I unfortunately don't always eat exactly the way I should to prevent that. I also like to drink beer, and that happens to be one of the foods that gets stored as fat easily and quickly. I am still addicted to sugar, and have a hard time avoiding sweet foods after dinner (the worst time to eat!).

Being overweight is such a "public" problem. Everyone can see what I'm struggling with. And in our society, it is a problem that is highly judged. It implies a weakness in the individual, or shows they are a glutton. Everyone that I come in contact with immediately knows what my greatest health concern is...and it can be very embarrassing. It's very easy to read that preceding paragraph, and think, "Why don't you just stop drinking beer and eating sweets?!" In fact, I thought that when I was writing it.

If my continuum of good health was a range from 0 (terrible health) to 10 (perfect health), I would say right now I'm about a 7. But the important point for me to remember is that I used to be a 0. There was a time when I probably couldn't name one single thing that I was doing "right" for my body. I was eating horribly, not exercising at all, suffering from terrible stress and anxiety, and was very unhappy. I was stiff and had no energy and my back hurt so badly that there were many days I couldn't get out of bed. I suffered from paralyzing stomach pains, had awful digestion, and frequent migraines. I also weighed close to 300 pounds (although I don't know the exact number, because there was no way I would have stepped on a scale back then).

Now, I am very happy. I eat very well most of the time. I exercise frequently. I know how to relax and enjoy myself. I love my life, and I don't have very much stress. My stomach feels good almost all the time, and my digestion is working well. I hardly ever get headaches, and I never have to spend the day in bed because of pain or sickness. And now I weigh about 200 pounds (you all already know what I look like--sharing the number on the scale doesn't make me any heavier than I already am).

So, the bottom line is that I've come a loooong way and made so many improvements to my life. The difference between then and now is amazing. I am so happy to be where I am! I have learned to love myself, regardless of the shape of my body. I do still have some struggles, but so does everyone. I don't have to have achieved perfection in order to help other people or feel that I'm on the right track for my life. I'm healthy, but not skinny, and that's fine. Just ask my husband...

Also, read this: http://www.foodmatters.tv/articles-1/why-skinny-doesn-t-always-mean-healthy

Willpower

In the arena of health and fitness, there's a lot of jabber about willpower. We probably all think of willpower as our ability to make ourselves do something we really don't want to do, or, conversely, avoid doing something we really do want to do.

The first two definitions on Wikipedia are:

• Self-discipline, training and control of oneself and one's conduct, usually for personal improvement
• Self-control, the ability of a person to exert his/her will over the inhibitions of their body or self

For many, I think this concept implies sacrifice and a little bit of self-punishment. If only we were strong enough, we could accomplish what we really want to do. And when we don't succeed, we berate ourselves for being weak.

There are many things in life where I truly believe you should avoid things you don't like. For example, I don't think people should eat foods that don't agree with them. I don't think people should stay in relationships that aren't working for them. It's easy to think you're giving up, but I prefer to think you're honoring your intuition about what is best for you. I think you should find ways to eat and take care of yourself that don't require a lot of effort (willpower), so you can stick with them.

However, when it comes to exercise, I think a little willpower is necessary to get going. I think about this often when I wake up and get that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I realize I have to go for a run before heading to work. I suppose there may come a point in my life when I don't feel this way, but it hasn't happened yet!

For some reason, I always dread exercise. The only way I can get through it some days is to go first thing when I wake up, before I have time to think about it. But, once I get started, I always love it. And, once I am finished, and am so elated that I did it.

Most days, it requires raw willpower to get out the door. If I spent one extra minute thinking about whether I feel like running or walking or spinning or lifting weights, I would never do it. 

Yesterday is a perfect example: my husband and I made an agreement to get to the gym together twice a week. After all, we're paying for the membership, so we might as well use it.  I already exercise quite a lot, but he doesn't do any regular activity (other than what is required for his job). He works a lot, and it doesn't leave a lot of time for exercising. However, we can make time for it if we sacrifice a little of our fun time (which, let's just say, doesn't necessarily revolve around healthy activities). I need to cross-train more, so we agreed to lift weights once a week and go to spinning once a week.

If there is one thing I hate more than anything in the world, it's exercising late in the day. I love to get it over with and enjoy the self-righteous glow that follows me around whenever I run in the morning. When I wait until later in the day to exercise, I dread it all day long. Yesterday, we were signed up for the 6pm spinning class at the gym. Bill got home in plenty of time to get there, and I had even already changed my clothes for class. When he came in the door, he could tell something was wrong. I whined, "I don't want to go to spin!"  He said, "C'mon...let's just go. We really should."  I replied: "OK, go get changed and don't say another word to me about it." My commitment was wavering and I knew any further discussion would lead to us throwing in the towel and parking our butts on the sofa.

I grudgingly got in the car and we went to class. I sat on my bike frowning and wishing to God the power would go out and we'd be forced to go home. HOWEVER, once the class started and my blood got moving, I felt great! I spinned like I've never spun before! My legs felt strong and I was happy and sweaty and smiling! And, of course, afterward I was chatty and happy and energetic. We came home and made a delicious dinner together and had a great night.

I have to remember details like this, so next time I feel like exercising is the last thing I want to do on the face of the earth, I remember how much it has changed my life, and how it has squashed my depression, and how strong I am, and how great I'll feel afterward.

So, I am a little unsure about the concept of willpower in general, but when it comes to getting my butt to spin class, I definitely need all the willpower I can get.

Sugar-Free February

I read another woman's blog this morning about a program in Australia called FebFast where you agree to give up one thing (alcohol, caffeine, technology, sugar...) for the month of February, and simultaneously fundraise for youth addiction programs.

I wish I could describe the fear I felt at the thought of giving up sugar for one month. I guess that's the sign of a true addict. I know sugar is the thing that makes me feel the absolute worst in my life, and it's also the thing I feel I have the least control over.

So I'm jumping in with both feet. I feel I need to follow through with this goal in order to restore my confidence in myself, and also kick-start some weight loss I'd like to accomplish before running season. If things go well, I may even get my kids in on the action (occasional after-dinner sweet treats have become a daily routine, unfortunately).

There's something about writing this down and knowing that people are going to be reading it (and quietly judging me if I fail ;-) that makes it a lot more serious. Maybe someone out there will be inspired to give up something they feel enslaved to also.

Best of luck, friends!

T

Be a Badass

While I was running this morning, I got to thinking about the history of women in running. Did you know that just 53 years ago, in 1961, the Amateur Athletic Union banned women from participating in all U.S. road races? This was in an era when women were expected to be feminine, calm, weak, slender, and submissive. Women were strongly discouraged from strenuous activity, being told that exercise and running would give them masculine physiques and cause reproductive problems (did you know running can make your uterus fall out?!). The longest sanctioned race available to women was 1.5 miles.

Can you imagine, in this day and age, being told you aren't allowed to do something because you are a woman? Luckily, most of us grew up knowing we could do anything we wanted, and we probably take that for granted most of the time. Of course we still face challenges in certain areas of life as a result of being women -- I changed my college major from Geography to Sociology because I felt so unwelcome in the football-player-dominated Geography Department -- but we know that we would never be actually prohibited from doing something we wanted to do.

Women who tried to enter marathons back in those days were actually told that women were  incapable of running such long distances. They had doctors backing them up with medical advice that distance running was detrimental to the health of women. Women who just wanted to run and participate in prestigious events like the Boston Marathon were politely, or impolitely, told they were not welcome.

Enter the badass. Roberta ("Bobbi") Gibb loved running and ran up to 40 miles per day in her normal life. When she attempted to register for the Boston Marathon, she was rejected. Instead of accepting that fate, she hid in some bushes at the start line in 1966 and ran the entire course unofficially, finishing in the top 1/3 of the field. Then she returned and ran again in 1967, where she was one of two women to finish (she finished an hour ahead of the other woman, Kathrine Switzer). In 1968, there were 5 women. In 1972, the race organizers finally created a women's division. For the 100th anniversary of the Boston Marathon in 1996, she was given three gold medals for winning the yet-to-be sanctioned women's division in 1966, 1967, and 1968, and her name was inscribed on the Marathon Memorial in Copley Square, along with all the other winners.

Kathrine Switzer got a race bib in 1967 by registering under the name KV Switzer. She lined up at the start with all the other runners, and started the race. When the race manager, Jock Semple, saw her running, he became enraged and actually assaulted her, trying to tear her race bib off. Her boyfriend came to the rescue and pushed Semple off the course. (Semple has since said he was fine with women running the course, but was angry because he felt he had been tricked by her.) Switzer became quite famous as the first woman to finish the Boston Marathon, but Roberta Gibb was actually the first a year earlier.

Regardless of the details, these two women were badasses. I can't even imagine the fear and uncertainty they faced when doing something so outrageous in that sexist climate. They faced being unwelcome, shouldered-out of the race, physically harmed, and even arrested. But they loved running, and felt it was unfair that they had to do it alone or in secret or just for "fun."

Running is so hard. It is a huge physical challenge. And these women had to not only prepare for the race physically, but also muster the courage to face these huge obstacles. When I'm at home preparing to go out and run, debating about how far I'll go, kind of feeling sad and dreading this really hard thing I'm about to do, I am going to remember these two women and the enormous challenges they faced, and overcame, just so they could run.

Why do I run? Because I can.

Resolution Time!

Even if you swear you're not going to make a New Year's Resolution this year, you know you have that secret little inkling of something you'd like to change about yourself or your life. But you also know the statistics of how frequently NY resolutions fail, and how gyms are full for January and February, but empty again by March.

We all start the New Year with hope and anticipation and excitement, but it quickly fades. Why? Why can't we set out to do something to improve our lives, and follow through with certainty?

I believe it's because we focus too much on the end result, and not enough on the process of what it will take to get there. Take a common resolution to lose weight: I want to lose 50 pounds this year. This is certainly an attainable goal, and a year is a reasonable amount of time in which to do it. But how will I get there? I won't wake up every morning and say, "I'm going to lose 50 pounds today!" There needs to be a process in place...a system...that I can follow on a daily basis to achieve my goal.

It would make much more sense to have the resolution be: I will exercise 4 times per week, eat a salad for lunch every day, stop eating dessert, and stop eating after 7pm. That is a tangible, recordable, easy to follow system that will almost certainly lead to the desired result.

What about quitting smoking? You're certainly not going to wake up one day and quit smoking--if that was as easy as it sounds, no one would smoke anymore. You need a process that will result in success. Something like smoking one less cigarette per day, until you aren't smoking at all.

I believe we are also far too ambitious with our goals. We suddenly think we have to ability to make enormous changes to our lives, and can't understand why we lose our motivation. My advice is to only commit to changes that you can maintain for the rest of your life. If you can't imagine eating salad for lunch every day for the rest of your life, don't make that one of your changes--instead, commit to incorporating vegetables into every meal, or eating salad for lunch at least 3 times per week.  The changes you make should be long term and sustainable, rather than short term and dramatic.

There is rarely a time that you will be "finished" and can return to your old habits. Think of the self-improvement process as a lifelong journey that you can enjoy. It is much better to take 3 years to lose the 50 pounds, but keep it off for the rest of your life through long-term lifestyle changes, than to lose the 50 pounds in 3 months, but gain it right back again when you can't maintain the extreme changes you had to make in order to do it.

Most importantly, don't become jaded and bitter about past failures. Previous results are not an indicator of future success. Think of your unsuccessful attempts to improve yourself as practice, and remember that you know so much more about yourself now than you did when you started. You need to be your own biggest cheerleader, and constantly tell yourself that you are capable of change and deserve to be as happy as possible.

Good luck, and Happy New Year!