Being too busy is one reason why people don’t exercise. In a world where people are not getting less busy, you have to put exercise in your calendar. This is one less decision you have to make everyday. The act of deciding whether or not to exercise actually takes up energy and mental space.

If exercise is important to you, then put it on your calendar. Schedule time to exercise. Share it with your family on google calendar so everyone knows where you are and what you are doing. This way you don’t have to think about it, and you don’t have to worry about people scheduling things for you that might conflict with your time to exercise. The decision is already made. It’s in your calendar. Time is already set aside for exercise. During that set period of time everyday, all you have to do is exercise.

Scheduling exercise makes exercise a priority. When it shows up on your calendar, that means it’s important to you. If exercise is something that you want to start doing, don’t leave things to chance. Don’t hope that you will find the time. The funny thing about trying to find the time for something is that you never do. We are all too busy. Life will get in the way. You have to make the time.

If you want to exercise, block out time for it in your calendar. Once you do this, the decision has already been made for you everyday. This is the first step to making exercise something you just do.

What is your body at its best? For one, it’s holding yourself to a different standard. We say different, because normal is based on an already sick population. Also, everyone is in fact different. Your body at ITS best might look and feel different than the person next to you. It’s personal.

Your body responds to things in its own unique way. Your body at its best is that journey to figuring out what works for you, as opposed to against you. It’s taking the time to write things down. 

Our motives are different. What motivates you might not motivate someone else. It’s learning why health is important to you, and then using that.

Its loving yourself. Getting healthy is more inward than outward. It’s not a certain look. It’s a certain feeling. Your body at its best looks and feels different for everyone. It’s about being a good steward of the one you have been given.

It’s a lifestyle, and the energy that comes with it. It’s energy, and designing a lifestyle around what provides it.

Your body at its best is about hope.

Willpower is one of those words that many people associate with weight loss. We assume that those who lose weight and keep it off must have more willpower than those who do not. This is not true in most cases. Willpower is a limited resource. We only get a certain amount of it each day, so using it as a weight loss tool can often be unreliable and frustrating. A better way to lose weight and keep it off is to take willpower out of the equation. Getting rid of that feeling of having to do something, and slowly changing it to wanting to do something.

Limit the number of decisions you have to make

Making decisions everyday takes willpower. If you limit the number of decisions you have to make regarding what you eat or an exercise plan, the less willpower it takes to do them. This requires a system. A system is a lifestyle that is built around the things that you want. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you can build systems in your life that support that.

For example, daily activity is a system. Any activity counts as daily activity. A 20 minute walk, or playing in the backyard with your kids. It all counts as activity.  It isn’t a goal everyday, it’s just what you do everyday. The keyword here is every day. This isn’t a decision you have to make. It is one that is already made.

Change what you want

Eating right can also be a system. A system isn’t cutting out things in your diet, it is recognizing the foods that make you feel good afterwards versus the ones that make you feel bad. It’s noticing. Eating right is knowing what eating is for. When you eat, you are fueling your body. The more you understand why you eat, the more you will want to eat right. Understanding the why and recognizing what gives you energy is a system built around eating right.

Taking willpower out of the weight loss equation means changing the things that you want, and limiting the decisions you have to make every day. There will be times when you don’t feel like going to the gym. When this happens, don’t go! But learn what does make you feel like going to the gym and working out. For example, try putting on your exercise clothes before you feel like working out. You’d be amazed at how often this simple trick will put you in the mood to exercise.

Try implementing systems for good health into your life. Willpower not required. Just knowing yourself, and being a little creative.