When it comes to being healthy, I am my own worst enemy. I know I need to be eating healthier and exercising more often, but I JUST DON’T WANT TO. I hate going to the gym, I don’t like diets because then all I can think about is the things that I’m not allowed to eat. I have taken numerous nutrition and health classes when I was at BYU-I and I understand the importance of it. Yet after all the information that I have been taught, I STILL DON’T WANT TO. I’ve been trying to come up with my WHY for going through a lifestyle change. I rather call it a lifestyle change because a diet sounds too restricting to me and that leads me to the path of destruction. By calling it a lifestyle change in my mind, it makes it more of a choice.

The WHY is the KEY to getting motivated (or so I’ve been told). After much contemplation, I settled on a few reasons why I want and need to get healthy. The first is, I am unhappy with where I am at and I know that I can be much better. The second is my family, right now it’s just my husband and me, but someday we will have kids and I want to be healthy for them. And lastly, when I’m old (like really old) I still want to be able to move around on my own and not be confined to a wheelchair or bedridden.

As I get ready to embark on this getting healthy adventure for what feels like the hundredth (maybe thousandth) time, there a few things I need to remember. First and foremost, this is not something that is going to happen overnight. Eating clean for a day or going to the gym for an hour for one day isn’t what this is about. I need to keep the long-term in mind and not get frustrated when a week goes by and nothing changed. Second, and probably my greatest weakness is that the scale isn’t the only measure of success. I can use fitting into old clothes or measurements of myself to see progress. Lastly, is to set goals that aren’t ridiculous. I don’t know how many times I have challenged myself with losing X (huge number) amount of weight by some not so distant date. I basically set myself up for failure and disappointment. Instead, I have created mini goals that are realistic, not so intimidating and will help me get to the ultimate goal.

Also remember, everyone is different. Some diets work well for some people and not others. People can work out all day and not see results but take out sugars and they drop weight like crazy. Experiment, find what works for you, and remember, progress is progress, even if it is just 2 pounds, BE PERSISTENT and you will reach your goals.

What do you do to get yourself motivated to start and most importantly, keep living a healthy lifestyle?