The roar of the crowds, the thrill of witnessing gold-medal history, the pain, the drama, the excitement — the Olympics!

Soon we will bear witness to what years of persistence, perseverance and patience can yield. This is exactly what it takes to actualize our health and fitness goals.

It is now six months after the start of the new year, and undoubtedly for most of us, all of our good intentions to lose the weight and live healthier have come across the barriers a busy life can put up. Changing your habits to change your body does not happen overnight, nor does it happen without great effort. A habit is a routine or behavior that is repeated with such regularity it becomes automatic or unconscious.

Developing new habits, especially later in life, is hard because they often compete with old and often contradictory habits. Knowing this, you can take heart and inspiration from the Olympic spirit and persevere. Your health is not a goal solely measured by a smaller waist size or fewer pounds on the scale. These are merely side effects of a lifestyle characterized by your habits.

Healthy habits such as choosing the stairs instead of the escalator, water over diet soda, and salad with dressing on the side over bread all add up to a healthier lifestyle.

When you exercise, you can’t expect to have a toned torso when your hour is finished. You can expect, however, that your body is getting the signal that you are using it. Give it enough signals consistently over a long period of time and eventually that torso will be tamed. Actualizing your health goals takes time, and any program promising results instantly and effortlessly is surely a fraud.  

Rather than trying to change everything at once, pick one goal and have that be the theme for that particular phase. Depending on your personality and motivation, the length of the phase can be days, weeks or months. I usually recommend phases anywhere from two to four weeks to give the body time to adjust to the changes you are attempting.

An example sequence might be cardio, strength and cutting sugar, described in the box above.

Build gradually. In the cardio phase, for example, if you can’t do all that walking in a day, make note of what you did achieve and try better the next day. If you have a sedentary job, accomplishing 10,000 steps can require devoting an hour to walking. Try to sneak it in throughout the day to make sure you at least get close.

Throughout the 60-day journey, these healthful habits are steadily taking root, preparing you to begin the cycles anew with more advanced goals. Stick with it and have patience.

Let that inner Olympian out and keep trying.

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Reggie Palma is an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. Email questions to Fitnessatyourdoor@Mac.com.