“You don’t have to, you get to.”

The reason why some people struggle with exercise:

You know you should exercise and, because you’ve told yourself you should, you feel like a failure when you don’t exercise.

The answer to the struggle with exercise:

You don’t have to, you get to!

Don’t exercise to lose weight! Exercise because you enjoy some kind of activity or because it makes you feel good. When you allow yourself to have fun and do things you enjoy, you’ll start looking forward to exercise and desire more activity. You don’t have to run a race to exercise—but definitely do so if it makes you happy, and you don’t have to kill yourself at the gym during times most people would be asleep—but, again, go for it if that’s what you love. Don’t make yourself sign up for something like CrossFit unless you LOVE it. Allow yourself to walk, dance, clean, play tennis, swim, bike, or play a sport instead.

You can always find time to stay active. Your workout doesn’t have to be an hour long ordeal, but you can make sure you move for 30 minutes a day, even if you have to split it into three, 10 minute segments. Walk during lunch, walk to work, walk to the store while running errands, walk your dog in the evenings, or simply play outside with your kids. EVERYONE can be active for 30 minutes a day.

Once you make an effort to move for those 30 minutes, you will start to feel better. Walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes a day and do read, listen to music, or even help your kindergartner with their homework. Do what works for you and enjoy it because you get to!

The reason why some people are never at peace with food:

You want food and can’t stop thinking about it. You feel like you have no control because you’ve told yourself you can’t have it.

The answer to being at peace with food:

Stop telling yourself you shouldn’t or you can’t and start owning your choices.

You can have what you want, but you have to decide if you really, truly want it. Is the food worth it? Will it satisfy your needs, goals, and wants without sacrificing any of them? When you tell yourself you can have any food you want and take ownership and accountability of your choices, your decision often changes. Food is no longer in control, you become empowered with the control, and your choices start to naturally align with your goals. Often times, you pass foods up because you actually don’t want them, and when you do eat something you want, you don’t feel guilty about it. Your body is now free to talk, and you are free to listen.