When you want to lose weight, you have to have an exercise program, follow it closely, and you must not deviate from that routine. Losing weight and gaining muscle is not easy. Getting in shape through physical training can be brutal and frustrating, but let us remind you, you must not deviate from your plan to get healthy. Find a treadmill to run on. Go to the local gym to get some extra reps in. Jog up to the track at the school around the corner from your house. Whatever it is that you have to do in order to get rid of that extra fat around your hips and stomach, do it.

With the expandiny variety of national health club facilities, all of which have the best treadmills, ellipticals and other gym equipment, it has become easier than ever to exercise. It’s hard to come up with excuses to not exercise. Even if you are extremely busy, do you really not have the time to run on a treadmill at home, get some strides in on the elliptical?

I like your idea of a community blog about getting healthier. So here’s my story. For the past few years I’ve gained about a pound a month. Getting older, this happens–but the math doesn’t look too good. A pound a month for the next 20-30 years? No, really bad idea. So I did two things. Cut white carbs, all of them. White bread, donuts, white potatoes, rice, pasta. I found good substitutes. Yams! Carrots. Quinoa. (A different kind of grain.) And dark chocolot is fine to eat, and now they say it’s good for you. So I’m not missing much. And I used my rower for a half hour every morning. Just one half hour, rowing steady while watching the news. I now lose 2 pounds a month, maybe mostly because of my diet, but I need to keep my skin tight, not flabby, so I add muscles, which weight less. So that’s my story. I swear it will work. Twenty-four pounds a year. Pounds that will stay off.