Three times a lady, twenty-one times a habit?

There has always been this way of thinking that if you do anything (good or bad) for 21 days it will become a habit. I am struggling to find any hard evidence of the number of days, but I can say in my experience it's pretty close. I was lifting weights this morning and realized, as I occasionally do while exercising, this is hard! I reflected a bit on the fact that I have found a way to lift weights or run 5-7 times a week for the past 8 years. Was it really after doing that for only 21 days that it just became something that I did. I'm not sure, but what I am sure of is that it became much easier after that time. I encourage everyone one to get off the couch and exercise. People always moan about how tired they are and how long they have worked during the week. Find someone else to sell that to, because many of us "fitness zealots" work out when we're bushed. More importantly, if you are chronically tired it is all the more reason to exercise. If you are tired on a given day then it is all the more reason to go that day! Here are my tips to making your trip to the gym a habit: 1. set the goal of "forcing" yourself to exercise 5 times a week for 1 month (or 21 days) 2. go either before work or before you go home from work or find a partner to hold you accountable 3. your intial exercise goal is to go consistently for 3 months (in other words forget about how big, strong, skinny etc... you get) 4. Once you start exercising set a goal to drink 2 liters of water a day without adjusting the rest of your diet just add the H2O on top (oh, and for those of you saying I would be peeing all of the time; THAT"S THE POINT!) 5. Always remember that the first step is the hardest