Everyone knows losing weight is hard work. Very, very, hard work indeed. Except for some days when it isn't that hard at all, which I can never talk about because then everyone will hate me. Except, oops, I just mentioned it, so the hate is already on ... and I may as well continue.

Weight loss is definitely a lot of work. There are vegetables to chop. There are weights to lift and put down and lift again. There's running and stair-climbing and saying no to cookies that co-workers leave on the break room table.

It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of effort. And it always will. But I've been doing it for so long now that it's no longer as hard as it used to be.

Before you pelt me in a blind rage with those stability balls, let me assure you that it used to be much harder than it is now. During the first few months of healthy living, I felt lost in the grocery store trying to determine which cup of yogurt to buy: light, low-fat, whipped, or creamy? Which one was best? When I started exercising, I had no idea how to operate the elliptical machine.

The control panel was like a piece of alien machinery. It felt like a supreme sacrifice to be spending my free time in the kitchen making meals or in the exercise room sweating off calories. It was hard back then, no doubt.

Now it's become so much a part of my life that it doesn't seem as hard as it once did. Sometimes, I have to push myself to run really fast or to lift those final two reps in a weight set. Some days I wake up and think, "I do not want to exercise before work today."

But I get up and do it anyway. Is it hard? It's not pleasant and it's always work, but it's become so routine that it's not exactly hard, even if it's not always easy. Like any skill, the more you practice, the better you get at it and the easier it becomes.

I try comparing it to the hardest things I've ever done in my life. When I was 21, I took a programming class that was so difficult I'd come home and drink pina coladas while watching "American Idol" to recuperate.

When I was 22, I stood in the county courthouse staring at the judge's intricately carved desk as he finalized my parents' divorce decree. When I was 23, I had a nine-hour gallbladder attack that made me want to dig the organ out of my stomach with a spoon.

Those things were hard. Walking past the displays of discount holiday candy seems very easy by comparison. I've gotten to a point where I barely consider that stuff to be food since I barely ever eat it anymore.

If weight loss was difficult all the time, I don't know if I could stick with it. One of the keys to long-term weight maintenance is to find ways to incorporate healthy eating and exercise into your life so they aren't despicable things you dread doing. I enjoy running on the trail near my apartment. I like the foods that I cook for myself. I enjoy saving money on groceries that are cheaper than eating out.

Healthy living can be fun and it gets easier.

However, that computer programming class will always be hard.

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Jennette Fulda was born weighing 8 pounds 5 ounces, but eventually tipped the scales at 372 pounds. She chronicles her journey to lose over 200 pounds without losing her sense of humor on the blog Half of Me. In February of 2007 she had a virtual party in her fat pants after losing half her weight. Her book, Half-Assed: A Weight Loss Memoir, will be published in April 2008 by Seal Press.