Getting yourself out of a rut.

So up until this point in my life, I haven't really had any reason why I couldn't eat healthy or exercise. I've never been off of the bandwagon and therefore, never had to get back on the bandwagon. Well...Up until about a month or so ago. I'm sharing this only because I want you all to see that I am human...regardless of being a trainer and a soon-to-be Dietitian. I am human...and this experience has lead me to become even more human. I've been off and on sick since mid February--my birthday weekend to be exact (horrayyy). I've had the flu (possibly twice), severe GERD *acid reflux* and heart burn to the point where I couldn't eat practically anything, nauseau (from meds), horrible head aches, possibly asthma, fevers,...you name it. Let me just sum it up and say, my body has been OFF of its rocker for a little over a month. I've had a hard time eating, experiencing decreased energy, decreased appetite, and some days, the inability to get myself to the gym/exercise. Just to allow you to understand me a little bit, I see all of this as "detrimental" to my life/health. This was a big deal to me. I couldn't eat fruits (because of the severe GERD and heartburn), barely could consume vegetables, and basically lived off of toast for a week and a half. I had to take several days off from exercising. This all lead to me being in a small rut. LONG story short, my body got used to the days off of exercising and also got kind of used to eating just toast (which is NOT okay with me--soon to be dietitian here). Although this is definitely not a year long rut, or a rut of many many years...it was still a rut nevertheless...just on a smaller scale. SO how do you get out of the rut? Well for me, it was kind of easy...because I wanted to exercise again....I wanted to eat fruits and vegetables and eat normal 3 meals a day. But I think I am no different than most people..most people WANT to change or get back on the bandwagon...but wants don't always relate over to changing a behavior. Just because you want to lose weight...or eat healthier...does not equal action. This brings me to how and why people change behavior: People change when... 1) It is important to them 2) They know how to 3) They believe they can. If any one of these componenets is missing, behavior change will not occur, or will not last. So when coming out of my "rut"...I knew it was important for me to get back into healthy behaviors for my mental and physical health...I obviously knew how (eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and exercise)...and I did believe I could because I had been doing these healthy behaviors my entire life. But what happens when one of them is missing? If it isn't important to you to change: no motivator...no reason to change...or the reason is not something you hold at high priority. If you don't know how to do the change: thats where education comes in...look up information from reliable expert resources (American Dietietc Association, American College of Sports Medicine), ask professionals in those fields. If you don't believe you can: this is where counseling comes into play...looking deep within yourself....figuring out what it would have to take in order to feel confident that you can change. Remember, the only person stopping you from your goals is YOU. So again, I understand how tough it might be to get back on the bandwagon. I think if you look at the 3 components that have to be in place in order to change and really ask yourself what's missing...you might be able to start making some progress towards a healthier life. Ask yourself: Why is it important that I change? Do I know how to do the change (eat healthier, exercise, etc)? And do I believe I can make the change? I think once you answer those questions, you'll be all set.