I want to lose weight, but eating right and exercising are both hard for me

Oh, do I sympathize. At various times throughout my weight loss journey (which is still ongoing), I’ve had trouble with both eating right and getting to the gym. Sometimes it just seems like it takes so much energy. So much time. So much … healthy food and exercise. Yeah, well, that’s what we have to get past here.

If you’ve read any of the rest of the website, you know that I look at living a healthy lifestyle like I look at any other serious commitment in my life. It can’t just be something we want to do but don’t ever get around to. If we felt that way about work, how would the bills get paid? If we treated our marriages like that, we’d all be divorced. (Hmmm, maybe not a good motivator.) Anyway, you understand what I’m saying. Losing weight, eating right, getting a healthy body – these things take a commitment that is lifelong and that is not easy.

OK, well, if I haven’t scared you away completely, I’m going to offer some suggestions to make it easier for you. You need to start slowly. It’s not something you can, or want to, master in a day. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed, and getting overwhelmed leads to discouragement. Discouragement leads to a sense of wanting to give up, and, just like we can’t give up on our marriages or our jobs because we have a bad week, we can’t give up on working on our health because it gets hard now and then.

I can give you some tips on changing your diet and your exercise routines slowly. Ultimately, though, it’s up to you. Make one change. Get comfortable with that. Then make another. It’s not easy and it’s not quick, but I know you can do it.

For tips on making changes in your diet, click here.

For tips on making changes in your exercise routine, click here.

Also, take a look at our pages on the basics of eating and exercise.

Changing Your Eating Habits One Step at a Time
Changing Your Fitness Habits One Step at a Time