Main Page> Articles> Eat Better, Exercise More Changing your lifestyle requires commitement. It means changing the way you think and feel about exercise, food, and life in general. If you want to lose weight or just feel and look better, you need to change your life patterns. The first step to feeling and looking great is to change your attitude. You need to want to change and commit to it. There are many excuses people make to not begin to change. They say they don't have the time to workout or eat right. By saying this, they are saying that they don't have time to take care of themselves. Everyone is busy. By changing your attitude, you are accepting the fact that you are a busy person but you are going to make time to make yourself feel better. You recognize that this change will give you more energy and a more positive outlook on life. Diet is the most important factor in determining your health. Not just your long term health, but your short term health as well. In the long term, proper diet can reduce heart problems, stress and many other sicknesses many people face. In the short term, proper diet will provide you with more energy and possibly less colds and digestive problems. To cut out unhealthy foods and bring in more healthy ones, it helps to plan your meals out ahead of time. Plan out all your meals and snacks as well as when you will have time to prepare the food. It is important that you plan time to make the food. If you don't, you may end up reaching for a bag of chips because it's easier to open a bag then to peel and cut some carrots. If you cook for your family, introduce them to your new way of eating too. If they don't like what you make, they can make something else. Otherwise, because of you, your whole family will be eating better. If you don't do your own cooking, start to take an active part in the food preparation process. This could include helping the cook plan the meals or starting to make your own meals. To help your diet change, make sure your new diet fits into your lifestyle. Don't plan to eat a large meal that takes 30 minutes to prepare if you only have 20 minutes to make it. If you know you will be rushing to get out the door, plan a meal that can be made and eaten quickly. I find that making food on Sunday, then freezing it helps save time during the week. To increase your veggies, try cutting up lots of veggies at once, then putting them in the fridge. Everytime you need a snack, just grab some of the pre-cut veggies. Time must also be made for exercise. Try to find time each day to devote to exercise. If you feel y ou don't have time to exercise because of your kids, include them in it. Babies can be used as resistance in a weight workout or taken for a jog in a jogging stroller. Children have tons of energy. Play games like tag or basketball with them. You'll be working out and enjoying quality time with your kids. During the week you should be lifting weights, doing cardio activity and doing some stretching and relaxation. To make sure you stick to your exercise program, pick 3-6 days a week that you will exercise. For each of those days, plan exactly what time you will workout and what you will do during that workout. Don't let yourself miss that workout for any reason. Treat each workout as an appointment you made and don't break it. Nothing is more important than your health, so don't let life's smaller details get in your way. Should an emergency come up and you really can't make the workout appointment, do not skip the workout all together. If you make an important appointment with someone else and have to miss it, you make it up. Treat yourself with the same respect. It takes work to change your lifestyle. Don't let anyone or anything get in your way. You want this, so go after it and get it. If you need any support or advice, please e-mail me at bestrong_ca@yahoo.com