In the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle, sheer grit only takes you so far - Stanford

How hard is it to exercise, really? I mean, come on. The elliptical machine is right there in my back room, I can zone out with Friends reruns while I train, and I’ve got more than the usual motivation to exercise every day. You see, my mom died at 50 of a heart attack, and now at 39 years of age I’ve got high blood pressure and the high cholesterol that probably gummed up her arteries.

But more often than I like to admit, I take a nap instead. And I still don’t eat enough fruits and veggies, and drink way too much beer. Why? Why? My friends say, “Come on, girl. You can do it if you put your mind to it.” The same attitude is ingrained in this country’s psyche like images of the Nike swoosh: Just do it.

Well, it might not help me change my ways, but I’ve finally got an explanation. A shift in the thinking of health-behavior researchers makes it official: In the long run, willpower just isn’t enough....