Leading a healthy lifestyle isn’t something that’s out of reach for most people. Initially, it might seem like you’ll have to overhaul your entire life, but you can and should make these changes gradually. You want to ease yourself into eating more vegetables, exercising more, getting more sleep. This builds up your willpower ‘muscle.’ When you first start, you want to pick up a habit that is easy enough that you don’t need the motivation to do it. It should be so easy, you can’t say no. Rather than doing 50 pushups, start with 5. If that seems like it’s too much, work backward to find the number that you know you can do consistently. Instead of cutting out all sugary drinks immediately, bring the number down by one or two. Once you’ve gotten used to that, increase your habit in very small ways. Little gains add up and by the end of the month, you’ll be much further along than if you tried to do everything at once and gave up.

Leading a healthy lifestyle requires time and patience. However, the benefits far outweigh any potential negatives in the beginning. Once you’ve gone down the path of healthy living, you’ll wonder how you ever lived before it. You’ll feel happier, healthier, stronger, and more focused in your life.