Happy 2011! With the New Year often come renewed intentions to commit to a healthy exercise and nutrition plan. It can be a challenging undertaking, but nothing is more rewarding than feeling good in your own skin. This is not a process that happens overnight however. In fact there may be days, especially initially, when staying in bed with a donut seems more appealing than getting up and getting after it. If it is instant gratification you are after, look elsewhere. But anything worth having is worth working for. Life might be like a box of chocolates, but starting a fitness program is like planting a garden. Let me explain.

When you set out to plant a garden, chances are you start with a little research to figure out which types of plants or flowers are conducive to the climate you are in. Then you prep the soil, buy the seeds, and get to work. You place the seeds in the ground, carefully cover them up with dirt, water them and give them all the TLC required. You continue to water them, monitor the sunlight and maybe even fertilize the area, despite the fact that for the first several days or weeks, there are no visible signs of growth. Yet you do this because you know things are happening beneath the surface. You act-"as if" you can see the growth, and you continue to nurture it and do what is required to make that garden grow. You don't wait to see growth before you commit to care for the plant, because without these initial steps, there would be no growth.

Similarly, when you start an exercise program, you may research gym memberships, activities or fitness protocols, buy some new workout clothes or shoes, and commit yourself to the hard work that lies ahead. For the first few days or weeks you probably feel motivated and perhaps even excited about the new healthy lifestyle you are embarking on. But there will be a time, 6, 10, 14, 21 days in when that enthusiasm or motivation begins to wane. Then you try on a smaller size pair of pants, and they still feel tight. Or you look in the mirror and you can't see your six-pack. This is when I want you to think back to your garden. Several days or weeks in, you check on the garden and all you see is the same pile of dirt. Yet, you continue to water and care for the area. Why? Because of the hundreds if not millions of gardeners who have come before you. The formula is tried and true. You don't dig up the seeds every few days to make sure they are sprouting. You go on faith and act "as-if" because when you take the appropriate action, things will start happening. For a while though, it takes place under the surface and it requires a bit of a leap of faith to carry on. Maybe not the same conscious, oft trying faith that sticking to a newly adopted exercise and nutrition plan require, but faith nonetheless.

Meaningful change takes time. Things happen slowly. Admit it: you didn't lose your six-pack overnight. It's not like you skipped a workout, over indulged and poof! The next day you your waistline disappeared. It took time to get that way and it will take time to un-get that way. It isn't like your jeans were super comfortable one day and the next you couldn't get them buttoned. Uh-uh. That's not how it happened. Change takes time, it happens slowly and when it is in your face 24/7, you are even less likely to see it.

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