After years of research and much trial and error, I’ve finally discovered the best diet and exercise program ever. So, how did I do it? Read on.

We all want to live longer. For most people, that means making some changes. And sometimes, those changes can be hard. But, out of necessity, I’ve really taken an interest in health & fitness over the last five years or so. I’ve changed my eating habits, I started working out again and I even started doing yoga.

I can tell you unequivocally the greater the effort I put into taking care of myself the better I feel. I can also tell you that the older I get the harder it gets to feel well, so taking better care of myself just makes sense. I’ve even reached that unfortunate point in life where I get sleep injuries.

You know when you go to bed and feel just fine but you wake up and some part of your body now hurts. What happened? Did I get in a fight in the middle of the night that I don’t remember? Why does my – fill in the body part here – hurt so badly?

Getting older sucks but it’s inevitable. Do you remember how you felt when you were younger? Wasn’t it great? If you are still young then enjoy every moment of it, because it doesn’t last forever. You too will wake up with a sleep injury some day. It’s coming. You’ve been warned.

So what do you do to feel younger, or at least make the aging process a little easier? You can find every type of advice imaginable on the web. And believe me, I’ve read hundreds of articles, watched dozens of videos, and tried just as many exercise programs and meal plans.

And here’s what I’ve discovered in all this research. Everything kills you! I know it sounds pretty depressing, doesn’t it? The fact is we’re born to age and then eventually die. There is no secret fountain of youth.

But let me explain myself a little further. When you research a certain health or fitness topic online you undoubtedly find more information about that topic than you could possibly imagine.

And if you research it enough you will find arguments for both sides of the debate, including why something that most people think is good for you, is actually bad for you.

Take milk, for example. Some people swear by it as a great source of protein and calcium, because it is. On the other hand, depending on which study you believe it’s also been linked to all kinds of health risks, including prostate and ovarian cancer, broken bones and high cholesterol; not to mention belly fat.

The same can be said for whole grain. It’s great for your heart, but not so much for your gut.

I could go on and on about which foods and diets are beneficial and which ones aren’t. The problem is there is a legitimate and convincing argument for both sides of the debate. And you’ll always find “strong evidence and statistics” for each side on the Internet.

The same can be said for exercise programs. Some “experts” swear by cardio, and others live and die by weight-lifting. HITT programs are the big craze now, but you can find dozens of other programs that are reportedly the “best,” including CrossFit, Orangetheory, Zumba, P90X, Insanity, 21-Day fix, and so on, and so on, and so on. (This post contains affiliate links as noted in our Amazon Associates Disclosure in the right sidebar.)

The fact is no single exercise or diet program fits everyone. So here is what I’ve discovered about health and fitness. Are you ready for this? The best diet and exercise plan in the world is the one that fits you best. It’s the one you will do.

If you dread a certain meal plan, no matter how healthy it is you won’t stick to it.

If you hate getting up at 5:00 am to lift weights and run on a treadmill, then why do it? Stop it. You’ll eventually quit, anyway.

If you hate feeling guilty because you ate 1830 calories today instead of 1800, then try another plan that allows you 1900.

If you don’t enjoy having a trainer yell in your face because you can’t possibly do one more push-up, get a new trainer.

If that green smoothie diet is giving you the runs, try something solid.

You get the point. We’re all different and each one of us will respond to different exercises and meal plans in our own way.

So again, the BEST program for you is the one you will stick with. It’s the one you will actually enjoy doing.

So then, how do you determine what works best for you? The short answer is trial and error. I’ve tried several different meal plans, including what, when and how much, I eat.

I’ve also tried numerous exercise routines, including Insanity, T25, workout videos from YouTube, going to the gym every day, and many others. Some of these I’ve enjoyed and others not so much.

Currently, I do yoga/stretching and cardio every morning and then another type of workout routine in the afternoon, usually with Bodylastics resistant bands. Without that early stretching, I couldn’t really function.

Every morning I feel sore when I wake up. In fact, I feel like a 70-year-old man as I walk down the stairs for the first time each day. Yes, I’m always anxious to get going on the day’s tasks, but I make time for that stretching because it makes me feel better. In other words, I actually enjoy doing it.

The world of health and fitness is constantly in flux and that means the latest and greatest exercise and meal programs will always change. For example, Carol and I are planning to try intermittent fasting soon to see how that goes.

I’ve already seen a lot of positive reports about this program. So will it work for us? Time will tell. But if we hate it, I’m betting we won’t stick to it.

The bottom line is when you find something that works, and that you also actually enjoy doing, then stick with it. After all, that’s the best diet and exercise program you will ever experience.