[This post is part of a series on my daily exercise and starting and keeping challenging habits. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.]

Somehow in all my ultimate frisbee, rowing, burpee, running, and healthy food talk, I forgot to mention the most important parts of any exercise or diet regiment — freedom!

1. You can eat anything you want any time you want. I know I do. I can always do more burpees or run another lap of Central Park to make up for it if I have too many empty calories.
2. You lose craving for things you don’t want. In my case, processed foods look less and less appetizing. Fresh fruits and vegetables look more and more appetizing. I eat fewer empty calories. Meanwhile I love what I do eat and eat a lot of it.

Seriously, what could you want more from eating and drinking than the freedom to eat and drink what you want when you want? Once you’ve covered that part of life, meaning it brings you effortless joy and reward, you have more mental resources to tackle the rest of life.

I can’t imagine what life must be like for people who still enjoy unhealthy food, haven’t learned the pleasure and reward of fresh fruits and vegetables, don’t know how to exercise regularly, and whose relationships with food and their bodies bring guilt, shame, and pity.

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