Perhaps the most difficult thing about maintaining a healthy lifestyle is the challenge of dealing with barriers along the way.

We all have them; time constraints, boredom, injury/sickness, peer pressure, discomfort with exercise/gyms, lack of knowledge, etc., but how can we prevent them from stopping our progress?

For example, I'd love to use weights more often, but I'm in the gym 8 hours a day ... the last thing I want to do is stick around longer!  Plus, I'm recognized as staff, so people stop to ask questions, give comments, and/or make conversation, so it's too hard to get in a workout anyway...

Hrm.  I can let this stop me from working out, or I can come up with some options to help me overcome these barriers.  What if I use another YMCA?  That way no one recognizes me, and it's a change of scenery!  There is a Y biking distance from my apartment.  Or, I can get some dumbbells and resistance bands to keep at home.  Heck, I could even bring them up to my rooftop and do a small workout outdoors on nice days!  I hadn't thought of that before...

Sometimes it helps to brainstorm, and think of what possibilities there are to overcoming barriers.  Tell a friend what your plan is, that way you're accountable to someone else for the promise you've made to your health.  The YMCA offers free consultations with a trainer, in a group or one-on-one.  During these appointments, special attention is provided to creating strategies to use when barriers show up.

What barriers have you had in your journey, and how did you combat them?