Q: How do I stick with it? How do I do what I know I should, but just don't do? (Part I)

Q: How do I stick with doing what I know I should? I am pretty good about exercise, but I eat things I know I shouldn't. I just have to make myself do it, right?

A: It isn't about making yourself do anything, or it won't last. You have to find a way to do it without having to force yourself with tools like discipline and will power. Forcing yourself means you view it as a chore. If you view it as a chore, it won't last.  The key is finding your real motivation.

Discipline and will power mean you have to make yourself do it. I'm talking about finding something bigger that drives you so you aren't forcing yourself, but rather you want to do it and enjoy doing it. 'Enjoying' and 'wanting' may sound foreign in the context of eating right and exercising, but that's the point.

For me, it was a culmination of things that hit a couple of years ago when my wife got sick and I realized I had put on much of the weight I had lost when I was younger and basically felt miserable physically and about myself. Our young son was watching all of this. That isn't what a child should see as health role models. It literally flipped a switch in my head and drove me in a way I hadn't been driven before, not even when I lost 65 pounds when I was 17.

Now I do it because I genuinely love it and don't like not doing it. I don't have to push myself. I see myself in a totally different way, and fitness isn't something I have to do, but something I want to do and is intrinsically tied to who I am. Before, the best way to describe it was a chore.

No one wants to do chores.

The same goes for eating right, which is where many people would benefit from focusing. While there are probably a few key things you can change in your diet that will have dramatic effects, if you don't find that thing that makes you want to do it, you'll fall off the wagon when temptation arises.

What will motivate you to come at it differently? That's a question you can only answer for yourself. I can help you do that, but ultimately, it has to come from you to really shift things. Figure it out, and you will enlighten.your.body.

Clean 2014

I like to give myself major, overarching goals for each year (#4 from my 10 Principles is to set goals, both near and far - this covers the 'far' part based upon which you set your 'near' goals).  My first time doing it, my goals were around the makeup of my body (lowering my weight and body fat). The second time, I focused on what my body can do (running a certain number of races of a certain distance within the year).  I used both of those big goals to build a series of steps to get there.  For instance, my second year goal was to run five 5Ks in a year. I setup my training and found races to get me there. I actually didn't technically do it since I did one 5K, one 5.6K, one 10K and a half marathon which was good for 21.1K.  I more than did the distance (41.7 vs 25), but just didn't do it as I had said I would, which I'm more than ok with.  I also did a century ride as I picked up road cycling, and climbed the three tallest peaks in New England in three days.

So the question is what to do next year.  I could set another goal of completing some specific thing, like doing a marathon (on my mind, but I think it'll be 2015, though I have an ultra-marathon relay race and a half marathon planned already).  Rather than continuing the same type of goal as last year, I decided I'd challenge myself differently, and want to invite all of you to join me.

I challenge myself to live cleanly.

I already eat pretty healthily, but I want to take it up a notch, and take a stand publicly.  I've found that going public about things makes it much easier to see you to your goals.

So what do I mean by 'clean'. For me, specifically, it means no coffee, no soda, no processed foods.

I've found myself dependent on coffee, and completely lethargic and grumpy (to put it nicely) when I don't have it. That is not ok at all. I'd love to go the next step and say, "no caffeine," but I don't want to cut out green tea or other things that have caffeine as they have other benefits.  Coffee is definitely the main way I get it, and I don't get relief from feeling run over by a bus if I have other kinds of caffeine, so it's definitely most important to cut out coffee.  No dependence here!

I also find that I feel much worse (physically and emotionally) when I put junk into my body.  Junk doesn't mean treats, but processed foods that are more manufactured than made.  Foods that aren't so much food than a series of chemicals brought together and put in a container by machines. I don't eat much of it, but I do eat it at times, and I never feel good after.

The last thing is no soda.  I actually tried to do this in 2013, but started cutting myself slack on airplanes, and then when driving long distances and then when eating out at a restaurant.  I don't need it, and it isn't good for me, so enough.  No excuses, no exceptions.

As an aside, I would have added "no alcohol" but I've been doing that already.  I was never a big drinker, and decided it was pointless to have a couple of glasses of wine a year (what I had gotten down to), so I might as well just keep it out of my body. I wasn't having enough to get the benefits people talk about from wine, and doing so would concern me about the other things I'd be asking my body to deal with (sugar, toxins, etc).

I am actually going to start this now rather than waiting until 2014 to start. I don't need to put off the health and mental benefits for another couple of months.  Today is the fourth day I've been 'clean' by this definition, and I'm definitely coming out of the dark with the coffee dependency, which is great.

So, will you take up the "clean14" challenge?  What will your challenge be to yourself?  Will you start now, or wait until 1/1/2014? Take a long look at your life and how you fuel it, and find places where you can and will do better for your happiness, your health, and the example you set for your friends and family. Join the "clean14" challenge on Facebook and use the hashtag "#clean2014" on Twitter to share your challenge and how you're doing.  It's a great way to enlighten.your.body.

Why Do I Look Creepy? Mo' Awareness for Mo' Health

I look creepy.  Creepy and weird. And I look this way on purpose. Why? Because of Movember. Movember is a global initiative to raise funds and awareness for men's health issues.  We do so by growing a mustache over the course of November, and using that awkward, public display as a way to get people talking and interested in the issues.  Here's a quick bit of facts from the folks at Movember:

Movember is the global men's health charity encouraging men to grow and women to support the Mo (moustache) for the 30 days of November.  Through the power of the mustache awareness and funds are raised for men’s health to combat prostate and testicular cancer.

In the US, programs directed by the Movember Foundation are focused on awareness and education, living with and beyond cancer, and research to achieve our vision of an everlasting impact on the face of men's health.

Movember started in Melbourne, Australia in 2003 with two guys who wanted to bring back a past fashion trend - the moustache. That year, 30 guys participated but no money was raised. In 2004, amazed by the fun they had and the conversations that were sparked, four of the 30 original members came together to make their Mo-growing an annual, official charitable endeavor by adding an important cause – prostate cancer.  That year, 450 participants raised $43,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

Movember came to the US in 2007, with 2,127 participants raising over $740,000. This year, there will be official Movember campaigns in 21 countries.

Globally, 3 million participants have raised more than $446 million to date.

There are other, similar activities, like Septembeard and No Shave November, but having a beard doesn't get people to look at you and ask questions like having a mustache does.  Not by a long shot.

On a personal level, I found myself in many situations where the awkwardness of having a Mo’ couldn’t be avoided. Some people might shy away from growing for this reason, but I took it as a chance to address head on why I have a Mo’ and educate people about the cause. That’s the whole point. This isn’t a small item you wear, a 5K race you run, or an email you send asking for money for a cause you care about.  It’s something front and center you literally have in people’s faces every day. You can’t help but educate people on the prevalence of prostate Cancer and why they should get behind me, my awkward look and Movember as a whole.

I went to a business school to give a presentation mid-Movember last year. There was no getting around my Mo’, so I decided to put it into my presentation to add a bit of levity and the opportunity to educate the audience on Movember. Someone had suggested I shave before giving the presentation so I don’t look unprofessional, but what looks unprofessional about giving of yourself to a worthy cause? A simple explanation of what I’m doing moves ‘unprofessional’ into a feeling that I am doing something good, which no doubt improves people’s professional image of me. Add to that, more than half the guys who walked in the room for the presentation weren’t just guys but were fellow Mo’ Bros, and it was definitely for the better that I hadn’t shaved.

On a much more personal level, I have a young son, and he also got into it with me. We talked about it every day – he’d help me take my daily progress photo, and often jumped into the shot with me while puffing out his upper lip to try to get his Mo’ to show (he was three, so it wasn’t going too well).  He’s already committed to growing one this year, but I’m afraid he’ll be stuck wearing a fake for a few more years. He had literally been talking about it since the summer to make sure we were ready for it when Movember 1^st came around.  More importantly than his ability to grow facial hair is the fact that he is aware of the cause, engaged in it, and sees that being charitable matters and can be fun and engaging. I’m proud of how it’s taught him about giving back of himself.

Ultimately, that’s what Movember is about. Sure, we raise lots of money for a very good cause. Sure we have some fun with it. But the key is really how you can’t avoid talking about it with others, and that awareness is how we’ll ultimately make the most progress.

I'm proud to be the global team captain for my company, which now has nearly 100 members (vs just under 40 last year), and we've already raised over $10,000 (we should double or triple that by month-end). And it's a lot of fun with people really engaging in it.  If you're interested and able, think about supporting my fundraising/creepy-looking efforts here. I'll share my final picture via Twitter at month-end, so be sure to follow me to see how it turns out. What you see shaping up is more of a block of marble from which I will sculpt the final Mo'.  I have big plans for it.

Sometimes, you have to be willing to laugh at yourself and let your serious side down to enlighten.your.body. What are you willing to do?