Nope, this is not an April Fool's joke (hehe- almost got you;))... making your new, healthy, and positive habits STICK is actually possible and doesn't have to be gruelingly painful or miserable :)

Have you ever tried to create a new habit (hello New Year's Resolutions and fitness goals for summer) and you were great at keeping up with it for about 2 weeks -maybe even a month- until you were thrown right back into your old ways. How does that happen and why is it so hard to create new habits that actually STICK?

We tell ourselves:

On Monday, I will change my diet and finally lose the weight for good
I'm going to start exercising 3 times a week. No excuses.
I'm going to call my parents more often.
I will get up earlier and actually get ready instead of rolling out of bed and scrambling into work.
I am going to cook at home more often.

And then slowly but surely, you sneak in a little cookie after lunch, switch from the 1.5 hour long vinyasa class to the 1 hour restorative one, call your parents while you run to the brunch you are already late for, and so forth... you get the picture.

The slope away from your new habits is a slippery one.

To help you (and me:)) create new habits and be able to stick to them without draining ourselves and making our lives boring, rigid, and uninspired, I want to introduce you to my friend Maria Brilaki. Maria did her graduate studies at Stanford University and is the author of "Surprisingly... Unstuck: The Power of Small Healthy Habits In A World Addicted To Instant Results." She developed a "9-week exercise program for lazy people" called Exercise Bliss. Find out more about Maria on her website www.fitnessreloaded.com.

In the interview, you will learn:

how you can get started and create new, healthy, and positive habits
what the real challenge is when it comes to sticking to new habits (hint: it's not a lack of motivation or will-power!)
what the Harnessing Motivation Technique is and why it can make or break your new habit
how you can start to really believe in yourself and your abilities (this was Maria's and my favorite question ;))

In the comments below, we'd love to hear from you: What new, healthy, and positive habits would you really like to create for yourself but have had a hard time making stick? What is your biggest take-away from this video?

with love,