As you run through the list below you will understand why you must “commit”. There will be cases in the list below where you will want to come up with excuses:

“I don’t have time.”

“I don’t know how.”

“It costs too much.”

It’s your choice—you can be healthy and drastically improve the quality of your life, or you can be unhealthy and decrease the quality of your life.

1. Cook With Olive Oil

Olive oil has extremely healthy fats, and it provides us with nutrients that help our bodies function. Replace butter, vegetable oil, and “zero calorie” cooking sprays with olive oil.

2. Sleep 8 hours

This one is critical! Sleeping 8 hours a night leaves us energized and ready to take on the day. When we get less than 8 hours of rest, we lose focus and are inefficient.

If you’ve had enough sleep, you will find that you’re able to get substantially more done in less time. Those hours you “saved” by sleeping for only 5 hours are eaten up by the massive fatigue that sets in as the day goes on.

3. Always Pack a Healthy Snack

Guess what’s going to happen throughout the day? You’re going to get hungry.

When you get hungry, you will naturally reach for whatever happens to be around. By always having a healthy snack prepared, you are setting yourself up for success. I pack an apple, raisins, and almonds in a bag every day to have with me wherever I go.

4. Add Fruit To Your Cereal

Purchase some raisins, blueberries, bananas or oranges. When you make some cereal in the morning, dice up the fruit and add it to the bowl—it’s easy to do, and your body will love you for it.

5. Eat The Vegetables

Always eat your vegetables. “Not liking vegetables” is the equivalent of saying “I don’t like people”—it’s a massive generalization. There are a vast array of vegetables, so keep on trying different ones until you figure out which ones you like. Once you have that figured out, be sure to eat them with every meal.

6. Walk, Run or Ride a Bike

The next time you want to go somewhere, leave your car keys at home. Take a walk, a run, or pull out the bike— in addition to being healthy, it feels great to get outside and be active.

7. Cook at Home

When you cook at home you have 100 percent control of both portion size, and what goes into the food itself. When you go to a restaurant, you have minimal control of what goes into the food, and they choose your portion size for you. Cooking at home is healthier, period.

8. Eat a Full Breakfast

When we wake up, our bodies have gone a very long time with out any food, and even if you aren’t hungry, your body still need nourishment. By eating a good, solid breakfast you jump start your metabolism.

In addition, eating a delicious, healthy breakfast will do you a world of good. You’ll accelerate your metabolism, and you get to eat a delicious and healthy meal—win-win!

9. Drink Water All the Time

The average person needs to drink 64 ounces of water a day, but unfortunately most people walk around dehydrated every day. Since we do this so often we become used to it and believe that our dehydrated state is normal. I recommend purchasing a water container and carrying it with you everywhere you go.

10. Make A Smoothie

Smoothies are awesome! Pick 2 or 3 of your favorite fruits, add ice and protein powder and BAM— you have a crazy-healthy snack. These are easy to make, and so good for you.

11.Make Health a Priority in Your Life

If you are going to be healthy, then you must make your well-being a top priority in your life. Commit to being healthy, and then stop at nothing to make it happen.