I need to force myself into better habits. Like, I have pretty terrible control over eating junk, but I can completely control this at the grocery store. It’s halfway guilting myself, and half treating all items in isles as prechewed baby food that consists of over processed chemistry experiments. I try to only buy stuff that looks like it grows, and never purchase things that have complex chemical names or flavoring of any kind. It is not that I’m wearing a tin foil hat here. The bias aligns with healthy foods and the precognitive bias lessens my susceptibility to marketing. I take it to the extreme though. Like carbonated beverages are using the opposing sensations of sweetness and an acidic gas to create a new type of sensation novel to evolutionary adaptations. So, to get away from that addiction I started calling it what it is, acidic gas infused poop colored corn oil. Artificial sweeteners are basically zero calories because they don’t burn in a standardized flame test. So I think of them as fire extinguisher media. Childish, I know. It gets worse. I’m a grow ass adult paying a game of the floor is lava in a in a grocery store. Just don’t tell anyone.

I tried doing all kinds of exercise junk for ages and it never stuck. Until I started riding a bicycle almost everywhere. It is probably a bit safer now (in the USA) than when I started because there are so many e-bikes going roadie speeds without the experience required to earn those speeds. Other than the hazards e-bikes create for other cyclists, they are paying a lot more of the blood tax that ultimately makes it safer for all cyclists. I’m partially disabled after 2 cars crashed into me in 2014, so weigh the risks. However in 2009 I was 350lbs, and by 2013 I was 190lbs. I got into racing and hardcore riding during that timeframe, but it all started by just being cheap and riding to work to save a few dollars. It may make your commute a bit longer, and it takes adapting but there are a ton of benefits and the quality of life improvement over car life is enormous. Driving on public roads is an unbelievably negative mental drag on life that you need to stop in order to really assess. The hard thing to overcome is preconceptions about road bikes and the clothing. Everyone has their hangups they overcome. The equipment is primarily functional not aesthetic. Wearing a proper road kit is nothing like regular clothes for many reasons, but for commuting the key is to cool down in the last couple of miles because the clothing is extremely efficient at evaporation. So long as you give yourself the time at the destination, you can be completely sweat free and presentable after a quick change of clothes. This makes your day better at work and lets you completely disconnect and unwind by the time you get home. It is the most positive lifestyle change I ever made. Exercise doesn’t need to be a chore you motivate yourself to do, it can be made into a part of basic life in general. I eventually collected the gear and commuted in all weather, except lightning and pounding rain. It really isn’t bad riding in the rain most of the time. It is like having an air conditioner really. If you’re riding hard, you can be just as wet either way. The only difference is watching out for painted pavement in any kind of turn to avoid going down.