I have been asked this a few times recently when people become aware of my lifestyle changes, fitness, and health journey. I have given it some thought, and the honest answer is yes; it has gotten easier.

It’s easier to eat good food when you know it’s tasty, good for you, and will fill you up. It’s easier to avoid snacking when the foods you eat at meals don’t leave you hungry or with an appetite a few hours later. It’s easier to exercise knowing the benefits of not only your heart, but how much better you feel afterwards and how much more capable you are in performing day-to-day tasks. It’s easier making decisions affecting my health and fitness having first-hand experience with how a bad decision will affect my body in the short-term and possibly long-term.

Is it hard to change your lifestyle to get rid of added sugar, grains, dairy, legumes, and soy? Sort of. I guess it’s different for everyone. It wasn’t so bad for me, while it was far more difficult for my wife. Is it hard to change your lifestyle from sedentary to one of being physically active? Not really, as long as you take it slow and have a plan and don’t try to join some fitness boot camp and attempt to keep up on day 1.

Motivation is where it’s at. You need to find a reason to achieve your goals. This is true not just for health and fitness, but for anything important. You have to make yourself, your diet, and your health a priority. You have to make getting in shape and losing weight your mission. You have to want it as bad as a person under water wants air. Until you can taste the desire to change, it’ll be an up-hill battle. Once you’ve embraced the desire and motivation to make the change, it’s all down hill from there and it gets much easier.