Fitness is a Daily Choice

Fitness is a daily choice at every level – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.  For long-term fitness, balance and moderation is required.  It is not about any specific, trendy diet.  For our bodies, it is about choosing most of the time what we know fuels us best.  Exercising moderation means we can treat ourselves here and there and know that we will make up for it the next day.  We use discipline to make that happen!  We don’t beat ourselves when things don’t go as we planned.  We kindly pick up from where we are and start from there.

I’ve often used a reward system to get through tasks that didn’t feel very fun.  In college when studying something not very interesting, I would allow myself a treat or break every 15 minutes or so.  I often found that I could go longer without noticing.  Sometimes it was about “tricking” myself to just get going.  The same process can be applied for exercise or chores.  It also helps to make the task as pleasant as possible, such as listening to music we enjoy when exercising or cleaning.

In our diet at home, we try to exercise moderation.  If we have dessert one day, we might not the next day or choose something healthier, like fruit.  We also try to replace some items with healthier choices, especially when it is barely noticeable.  There are lots of new vegan items that are coming out all the time that I’m trying that concept with.  It’s an adventure!  For instance, I found that “Tofutti” is a fine alternative to regular cream cheese!  I don’t notice much of a difference in taste and feel better having it knowing that it doesn’t have the fat and cholesterol of the regular stuff.