The path to a healthier, happier lifestyle is a crooked one. That's because positive change — walking more, eating smarter, and taking the stairs instead of the escalator — is rarely a linear event. Very often it's one step forward, two steps back and an energizing leap ahead when the time is right.

In September, the time is right. September is national Back-to-School month, hard-wired into us since the first kindergarten class in the caves at Lascaux. In September we have a leaf-turning opportunity to clean our slates, sharpen our pencils and settle down to study whatever it is we need to learn.

What is plant protein, and how can I learn to love it? What's the relationship between lifting weights and better balance? Why is eating a lot of hormone-injected, antibiotic-laden red meat a really bad idea?

So that's my back-to-school challenge to you today. Suspend judgment and quietly ask yourself: What do I need to learn or experience to move myself a little further down the path to a stronger body, greater joy and looser jeans?

It could be nutrition, the basics of eating in a way that is healthy, satisfying and delicious. September is a good month to dump your old quick-fix diet books, learn to cook, buy local, eat real food, read labels and not punish yourself for the occasional Snicker's bar.

Maybe you need to learn to make time for more daily physical activity. Who doesn't? Begin by keeping a calendar and finding at least three to five times a week when you can grab 15-30 minutes or more to move your body. Make an appointment with yourself, the way you would book a dentist or a haircut. Write it in: 8 a.m. — bike to work; 6:30 p.m. — walk around the neighborhood; 8:30 p.m. — lift weights while talking back to the news anchors.

If you make exercise part of your day, it soon becomes part of your life, and you look for times to schedule it instead of finding excuses to avoid it.

Another back-to-school strategy for change is keeping a fitness journal. Set some realistic goals, and make daily entries about your progress. And setbacks. Don't cheat; your journal will never appear on Facebook. Just believe that the process of writing it down, creating self-awareness, helps bring real change. On New Year's Day, read back through your new best friend, the journal. Toast to your struggle; celebrate how far you've come; continue your journal into 2009.

And finally, consider the amount of stress you're under. Way too much, I would guess. The pressures, perils and Palins of modern life sap our strength and boggle our brains, but you can navigate through in a less stressful way. Educate yourself about yoga, meditation and deep breathing. Study a relaxation technique. Learn and practice what it means to make strong healthy choices in a society where the word change has morphed into a synonym for more of the same, and scratching our heads in disbelief is becoming the nation's No. 1 aerobic activity.

I Can't Resist: The Paws That Refreshes

If you do yoga or Pilates, and hate yourself for not doing it when you travel, then you must know about a $30 dollar purchase that can change your life, Yoga-Paws.

It's not a new product, but it's new to me, and now I'll never pack a suitcase without them. Yoga-Paws are ingenious little padded covers that slip onto your hands and feet and keep you from slipping when you do yoga poses or Pilates exercises on smooth floors or creepy carpets. They're about 100 pounds lighter than a yoga mat, and they take up less space than your snorkel. Best of all, they really work. Yes, careful reader! I am on the road, writing this from a remote Greek island, and thanks to Yoga-Paws, I am able to pop up into a handstand — secure and serene — on a slippery stone floor. My Paws, and my new appreciation of grilled calamari, have changed my life.

For more information, contact Yoga-Paws.com, or call 1-888-964-2790. (Disclosure: No Yoga-Paws lobbyist has influenced this article. I paid full freight. Opa!)

ENERGY EXPRESS-O! THIS IS ON THE FINAL EXAM

"If you make exercise part of your day, it soon becomes part of your life, and you look for times to schedule it instead of finding excuses to avoid it. " — Marilynn Preston, perpetual student

Marilynn Preston — fitness expert, personal trainer and speaker on healthy lifestyle issues — is the creator of Energy Express, the longest-running syndicated fitness column in the country. She welcomes reader questions, which can be sent to MyEnergyExpress@aol.com. To find out more about Preston and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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