Every once in a while there are bad days.

While I find Body-for-LIFE to be just this side of magical, even the most positive people will still have bad days.

During our second challenge, we took photos every week to closely monitor our progress. I’ll never forget week five. It was your average Sunday. Nothing in particular had gone wrong. Nothing extraordinarily bad had happened. But both Gino and I were simply having a bad day.

It will probably happen to you, too.

So, how do you get through the bad days?

I remember when we first started, a few times we turned those bad days into our free meal for the week, thinking a little indulgence (chocolate, pizza, Mexican food) would make us feel better. This may work for some, and it may work for you.

But it did NOT work for us.

In fact, allowing ourselves to “give in” actually made us feel worse.

Here’s what I’ve found helps me most when I’m having the worst day. Get that blood pumping with some cardio. That’s right. Whether it’s cardio day or not, my worst moods are elevated by 20 minutes on my elliptical trainer, or a quick run with the dogs. This pumps endorphins into the system and makes you feel better.

Beyond that, it helps your inner-integrity as well. You’re making positive change when you fight stress by replacing a bad habit with a good one.

Each and every time I do my cardio, my inner-credibility boosts up a notch. I know I’ve made another smart decision and I know I’m doing one more thing to get better instead of go back to the old me.