I have an important question for you that will give you insight to achieving your health goals.  

Here's the question...

Are your friends, family members and co-workers encouraging you to achieve your health goals or discouraging you by the way they act, talk and live out their own lives?

The people we spend the most time with can have a profound effect on our lives and our ability to make progress on the goals we've set before us.  Don't believe me?  Write down the names of your five closest friends, co-workers or family members. Now think about where and what they eat, what they do for fun, how they sleep, how much they weigh, and what their current health is like and put a plus sign (+) next to their name if they live a healthy lifestyle or a minus (-) sign if they don't practice healthy habits.

If you have more negatives than positive there's a strong chance you will always be like the crab that tried to leave a crowded bucket of crabs but never could because the other crabs always pulled him back into the bucket.  Why is this?  Because the people we’re close to and emulate are what we become, particularly if they’re the same sex as us.  

To live a healthier lifestyle and to make long term changes to your habits you must build a strong support system that could include the following:

- healthy friendships (if you don't have any healthy friends seek them out)
- accountability partners/personal health coach/trainer/etc.
- online resources (discussion boards/healthy chat rooms/blogs/social media)
- formal group support meetings

I love the quote by Jim Rohn that states "If you fail to create your own plan chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan and guess what they've got planned for you?  Not much!"

We don't get to choose our family members but we can choose where to invest our time.  If you're currently being challenged by your friends and family in regards to making healthy choices you simply need a better "Support Plan".  Go to work on improving your plan and add in some activities that will give you the support you need to stick to the healthy habits you're beginning to develop and seek out those individuals who are getting healthier themselves. 

Let's get better together shall we?