In adopting a healthy lifestyle, one of the hurdles to get past is to think of it as a short-term process. It’s not undertaking a temporary diet; it’s changing the way you eat for the rest of your life. There is no end date for this diet or lifestyle; you’re in it ’til the end.

I am often asked by people, “How long are you going to do that for,” or “When are you going to start eating normal food again?” Normal food? The stuff with all the sugar and grains in it? I will never eat those ingredients without being very careful of the amounts I eat. I do eat cake, pizza, and other foods I typically avoid from time to time, but I make a habit of not eating them at-will. I only imbibe those foods at special occasions or holidays.

The end game for me is to live a healthy life, or at least as healthy as possible. I know that there’s already damage that has been done through years of not eating right and not taking care of my body as I should have, and then there are genetics, but outside of those, I’m doing everything I can to keep my body healthy. I have every intention of doing this for the rest of my life, because it’s something I truly believe in and it makes me feel better physically and emotionally.

To be truly successful at getting healthy and remaining healthy, you have to commit for life and to make it something that you can do indefinitely. That’s why Whole30, Paleo, and Keto have worked so well for me; they are easy to adopt long-term.