UNITED STATES—In life, sometimes you have to take a moment and re-examine what is going on in your life. A lot of the time when people discuss lifestyle changes they assume it is geared mainly to eating and dieting. While I think that is one aspect of life that is important it is not the only one. A diet is just that: something temporary. A lifestyle change is like a full commitment to totally change or adjust your way of doing things.

For example, you might decide to become a vegan. You might decide to hold out on sex until marriage, you may decide to make it a habit to exercise 5 days a week at the exact same time each day. The list goes on and on and on. The key is commitment. Yes, you heard me, commitment, I know that is a tough word for so many people to hear, but being committed to something makes all the difference. Why? It forces you to dig deep to fight for what you want to accomplish and to not give up in the process if you have a bad day. Look bad days happen to all of us, but that doesn’t mean you throw in the towel.

Look, I cannot tell you how many days the thought of exercising just takes the life out of me, but I find a way to get out of my psyche and make it happen. How so? I tell myself I will regret NOT doing more than actually doing it. Of course I’m tired, of course I want to sleep, of course I’d rather watch TV than exercise, but what will my body say? Exercise is a big lifestyle change for most Americans. There are those who frequent the gym, those who walk outdoors; others have gyms or exercise equipment in their home. I’m the latter, why pay for a gym membership that so many people never utilize and pay for month after month.

Use what you have when it comes to exercise equipment because why would you pay all this money and not utilize the items that are sitting right in front of you? Its common sense America and you don’t have to think twice about it. When you diet, make it a full-time commitment, it cannot be part-time, because you can easily fall back into those bad habits. This goes back to temptation. Get rid of those things in the house that you know you SHOULD NOT be eating or those items that you have difficulty just eating a few of. It goes back to that great notion, “Out of sight, out of mind.”

Lifestyle changes don’t always have to deal with food and exercise, sometimes they can deal with your emotional wellbeing. You might find it fitting for you to converse with a therapist to deal with your thoughts, family issues, work issues or even personal goals you want to accomplish. You might decide to get a financial manager to help you budget your money better and to save more for retirement instead of continuing that excessive shopping spree that seems never ending.

Written By Kelsey Thomas