One very important aspect of self improvement is fitness. The average happy person is often times an athlete living an active lifestyle. He lives a fulfilling life which results in confidence and a sense for self worth. Living a healthy lifestyle involves these things; such as: diet and exercise, healthy relationships, self improvement, and education. If one of these areas is lacking, the other areas in your life may suffer as well. But the common problem in the United States is the lack of physical fitness in the lives of many due to conditions of the American lifestyle.

In the U.S a lot of people believe that they don’t have time to exercise. Another fact is that a lot of them dread spending hours at a gym or a fitness club, doing those exercises that may seem actually corny and like they have no practical purpose. Back in the earlier century, when people worked, they worked. They often lifted heavy, exerted a lot of energy, and broke a lot of sweat on their jobs. This helped keep the weight gain down for many people.

Another aspect of the lack of fitness in today’s society is the food supply. There is a lot of chemicals being added to the food supply which can contribute to problems in the body like the slowing down of the metabolism and diseases. There are others who resort to “diet foods” to keep their weight down. Sadly, some of the diet foods may have side effects that may prove them to be more harmful than helpful.

The pursuit of fitness is a very important part of self improvement. In pursuing a healthier life it is best to find a program that is best suited for you so as not to overwhelm yourself. At the same time you don’t want to go too easy on yourself either because that could create little to no results.`

How to Keep Motivated on Your Exercise Program

Being excited to exercise for a day or a week is easy to do. If you notice that at the beginning of the year, the gyms are packed with people. Later, the crowd size diminishes and only the serious ones continue with their newly found exercise program. During the holiday season, people buy treadmills, elliptical machines, and other exercise machines. At the start of the year, they are focused and motivated in using these exercise machines. Later, these machines become great places to dry your clothes or some other purpose that has nothing to do with fitness. The machines begin to collect dust from non-use. Has this happened to you? If so, that was the past.

You can start over again by knowing some techniques to keep you motivated to exercise regularly. You can keep yourself motivated towards fitness by having a purpose or a goal; and a burning desire for accomplishing your goal. One of the best ways I found to motivate myself is being active in sports- especially competitive sports. You can be active in: * a softball league * a regular track and field event (I enjoy the sprints) * a running club * martial arts such as Tae Kwon Do, Kenpo, etc. * a bowling league (just kidding, but…) * a physical education class such as weightlifting * a basketball league (is a great way to keep in shape) * attending physical fitness seminars It is also great to be around those who are physically active.

If you hang around those who just hang out and drink, you will acquire those same habits. If you hang around those who exercise and are active, you will acquire those same habits. When you are involved in basketball leagues, martial arts sessions, etc., you will have the tendency to stay fit in order to be active in those activities. This is a great way to keep motivated in your exercise program for the long-term.