It's been well over a month since I started my new regimen of taking care of myself. Over a month of finally working out on a regular basis. Over a month of watching what I eat and drink, making smarter choices about what I consume. Have I been perfect? No. (As it turns out, "Grape Juice Beverage" by Minute Maid is one of the most addicting substances on earth.) But have I already learned a lot? Yes.

If you had mentioned to me at Christmas that by spring break I would have settled into a regular exercise routine, I would have laughed. At the end of January, I would accused you of reading my thoughts and I would have promptly put on a tin-foil hat. Today, a little over 30 days since then, I have deliberately walked over 56 miles, done over 600 pushups, over 1800 situps, and lifted over 6 tons of steel. And throughout the course of all this, something amazing happened. I didn't lose weight (that I know of) or build muscle (that I can see), but I completely changed a habit that was years in the making.

The first few weeks of exercise were tough. I had to force myself to get up and walk. The concept of getting on our hair-covered floor to do pushups disgusted me. But I slogged through them. The first few weeks of my diet were tough. I haven't wanted caffeine so badly in my life. I had to take up chewing gum to convince my stomach that it wasn't hungry at all hours. But now, none of that's a problem. I look at the Coke machine in the basement and don't even think about stopping. I see the tub of delicious peanuts under our TV, but they have long since ceased to call out to me. I get upset when homework takes me into the late evening, because my legs are begging me to go to the gym. It's hard to be a lazy bum when your desire to be sedentary is gone.

It took a month. One month. In that month I have completely turned around two major facets of my life. Who knew it could be so simple?