Do not go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.  If you do, you may buy a lot more food than what you need. And worse, you may be more likely to choose unhealthy food. When you eat right before you shop, you are not thinking about buying every food item you see that looks good so you will more likely stick to your intended list.

Certain areas of the grocery store should be seen as having treats that should be occasional purchases and not routine ones - your bags of cookies and chips, tubs of ice cream, etc.  Only walk down these aisles if you are satisfied with the progress of your diet changes and it's been a while since you had those treats.  A good way to prevent yourself from buying these things every time is to only get your favorite flavor and only when it is on sale.  Look at that $5.99 tub of ice cream and say, "Nah, it's not worth it.  In a few weeks, it'll be $2.50."  Then wait the few weeks.  Maybe at that point, you will not even be craving it anymore.

Exercise is contagious.  The more you do, the more you want to do.  So too, the less you do, the less you want to do.  This is because it takes energy to exercise - or even to get yourself out of your comfy bed to do it!  But exercise also releases endorphins in your brain - the chemical that makes you happy and feel accomplished.  If endorphins are released on a regular basis, your brain will get addicted to this "exercise high" the same way it gets addicted to drugs.  You'll be finding excuses to exercise instead of not to.

Get into a pre-bedtime routine and add some activity to it.  How about push-ups and sit-ups?  Or jumping jacks?  There is so much that you can do right in your residence.  You can start slowly and build up.  How about 2 sets of 25 sit-ups and 1 set of 10 push-ups a night?  This may take just 5 minutes of your time.  Always forget?  Hang a sign in your bedroom until it becomes habitual.  You can then increase the amount as you improve.

No time to work out?  For those busy times with work or school, find a way to get some movement into your life.  If your place of school or work is large, try walking to as many places as you can and taking the stairs, instead of using other forms of transportation.  So too if you live in a city.  Walking to the coffee shop, grocery store, or restaurant can build exercise into your schedule and you won't even think about it - you'll be too focused getting to where you have to go.

Tough time getting to the gym?  Or the library?  Or errands?  Make a schedule.  Write it down.  Even include potential time slots for each activity.  Seeing a schedule, especially writing one, can give you that extra motivation for following it.  Keeping everything in your head can be quite overwhelming and decrease your motivation.

Hello all and welcome to the Wellness Project.  My name is Matthew Bassan and I am a sports medicine physician.  It is my goal and passion to advise you, the reader, on changes that you can make to live a healthier life.  Some of these changes will be an easy adjustment while others may take a lot of work.  The truth is, I too, am attempting to integrate many of these changes into my own lifestyle.  The basic components that will be the focus of this lifestyle project are diet and exercise.  A lot of you may already have healthy eating habits - at least some of the time.  And exercise may be a part of a lot of your routines.

The benefits of a healthy diet and regular exercise are numerous.  First of all, they help to keep your weight in the healthy range.  Secondly, the endorphins released from exercise can elevate mood.  Energy can also be boosted.

I have seen people training for marathons and eating "perfect" diets.  What is that anyway?  No need to be perfect.  My goal is to suggest small changes that will help you move your needle in the healthy direction.  Some blogs will focus on tips in these areas while others will be more personalized examples and stories.  Stay tuned.