I've just finished reading a few books (not to mention countless online articles, searches, etc.) about how to REALLY eat healthy, lose weight and keep it off.
And I've discovered a sad, sad truth: It's Hard!
There are no shortcuts to eating healthier foods. There is no super pill that you can take to meet all your nutritional needs. No one will come and tackle you when you try to put that donut in your mouth. If you don't count your calories (or at least have some idea of how much you're eating), you will be blissfully ignorant of the fact that say, a Bloomin' Onion from Outback is 1500 calories and you'll keep wondering why you can't lose weight.
Similarly, there are no shortcuts to getting in good exercise. No personal trainer will knock on your door every morning to personally motivate you (unless you're willing to pay a whole lot of money!). Thinking about exercise is not the same thing as actually exercising. Doing a push-up is really a heck of a lot harder than you remember it being in high school and if you can't do one, then yes, you're out of shape.
In other words, no one is going to do the work for you, motivate you, force you to eat healthy foods or exercise except - YOU! If you cannot find the motivation to do what needs to be done - be it getting up at 5am to work out or eating more salads and fresh fruits - no one is going to do it for you! The bloomin' onion will not magically smell less tempting. Running 3 miles will still require all the effort that running 3 miles always did (and probably more effort if you haven't done it in a while) and your body will NOTcooperate just because you decided to take on these new habits. As a matter of fact, it will fight you every step of the way! And who can blame it? It's so much nicer to lay in bed and watch the Biggest Loser with a bag of chips (or maybe that's just me) than get out in the cold, rain and heat and run.
Yet you STILL must do it. Despite all these obstacles, challenges and calls for self-control and self-discipline.
Because it's the only way you will become the healthier, more fit, more energetic, wholistically whole YOU.
And that is the bad news about being healthy.
It takes hard work.
And there's no getting around that.
Two good books:
