Self-Discipline in Eating and Exercising

Faced with incessant marketing, persuasive friends, a yen for the sugary and salty, and the irresistible lure of the nap, your determination to eat smart and exercise regularly can be less than ironclad. Abandon your resolution, give in to temptation and you lose -- not those pesky 5 extra pounds, but your chance for real fitness and robust health. It does take self-discipline to make an eating and exercise plan and stick to it. But the effort can be a pleasant, not a painful one.

Get Real

• Know your goals and then know yourself. Track everything you eat for a week. Write every bite in a small notebook. Do the same with your slightest move, from parking farther away from the mall to running a daily mile to spending Saturday morning weeding the garden. Chart your behavior with a cold, analytical eye. Compare your results with CDC recommendations: trim calories by 500 to 1,000 calories per day to lose a safe 1 to 2 pounds a week; maintain a healthy weight with 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week. Do the math. Match the numbers to your goals and adjust up or down slightly to make achieving those goals a realistic objective. Then congratulate yourself -- brutal honesty is one of the toughest steps in a healthy lifestyle plan, and it's already behind you.

Get On With It -- Diet

• The details are where you get to have some fun and shore up flagging discipline on the double-order-of-fries-roll-over-and-go-back-to-sleep days. Dig into food research and proven dietary recommendations to create meal plans you can manage and will enjoy. Harvard's Healthy Eating Plate suggests a nutritious daily breakdown of vegetables, grains, proteins and fruits. Mediterranean diets are full of fresh, bright produce, savory condiments and good value for calories. Vegetarian, vegan and ethnic restaurants may introduce you to new flavors and recipes. Trade up to better habits. Eat by candlelight, not the flickering screen of the TV. Chew and swallow slowly in order to taste your food and realize when you begin to feel full. Swap calorie-laden desserts for a handful of grapes, or just drop desserts and take a walk instead. Disciplined eating does not have to be distasteful.

Get a Move On

• Make a mantra of the benefits to lacing up those sneakers and slipping out the door. You will maintain or lose weight, lower high blood pressure, reduce your risk for heart attack, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, several cancers, osteoporosis and debilitating injuries from falls. Movement helps you to lower stress, anxiety and depression levels and increase feel-good endorphins. Now that you're motivated, schedule five half-hours of aerobic activity and two to three strength-training sessions per week. Grab 10 minutes here and there if that's all you can manage. And choose activities you like to do -- get your tennis game on, go for bike rides, sign up for Pilates class, join a yoga studio, swim laps in the ocean or your local pool, hike the Appalachian Trail. Stay active, and your body will reward you with better sleep, better energy and better-fitting jeans.

Get Some Help

• A rule in scuba diving is to go with a buddy -- it could save your life. Same deal with diet and exercise. Enlist your family to embrace some new, healthy eating habits, or at least to hide the chips and ice cream. Find a friend to power walk around the mall with you every afternoon or take up canoeing together. Accountability boosts discipline like a rocket. Change your lifestyle in stages. Start a daily jog or walk while you research new foods and clear out the fridge. Trade sit-and-spread TV time for an evening bike ride or a stretching DVD. Write everything down and post it where you can see it. Putting plans on paper makes them real. Keeping food diaries results in weight loss. Guilty reminders are powerful prods to stick to your routine. And ensure the routines you create are safe for you by checking with your doctor first.