Editor's Note: The following column was originally published in 2007.

The first day of any health regimen is always the hardest for me, because by the second day I've given up.

The problem isn't me, it's my body. I set the alarm for an hour earlier than usual, figuring that the easiest thing to do is to start exercising before I wake up. My brain is the first to react.

Brain: The alarm's broken. We need to shut it off and call in sick.

Me: No, let's get out of bed!

Eyes: It's still dark outside. The sun must be broken, too.

Brain: If the world is ending, I'd prefer to sleep through it.

Me: Let's get up, eat a healthy breakfast of oatmeal and fruit, and then go exercise!

Brain: I'm not doing that.

Mouth: I'm not chewing or swallowing any oatmeal. I would be OK with something with bacon. Like, bacon and apple pie with ice cream.

Me: Look, you heard what the doctor said. We have to start eating healthy foods.

Brain: I don't believe she even is a doctor. I think she's some nut in a white coat who wants all the bacon for herself.

Mouth: Oatmeal can't be healthy — it tastes like plastic.

Stomach: We've got lots of room down here for bacon, but we cannot take any more oatmeal at this time.

Me: We haven't had any oatmeal since January!

Stomach: Yep, and it's still here. You know how long it takes to digest that stuff?

Brain: Maybe that's why you're soft around the middle — you've got oatmeal down there. Let's go to sleep for a couple of hours, skip work and then go out for this healthy bacon-and-ice-cream breakfast. I'll buy.

Mouth: I'm in.

Me: There's no "in" to be in. Come on, guys, we need to pull together, here, we're all on the same team!

Brain: I quit the team.

Stomach: I quit the team.

Me: Let's get out of bed and get to it! We're going to take a jog around the block after our oatmeal.

Eyes: Sorry, we're closed. We don't open for a couple of hours.

Knees: Wait, did you say "jog" or "job"?

Brain: Both concepts are loathsome.

Knees: We're not jogging anywhere. We still hurt from yesterday.

Me: All we did yesterday was sit around!

Brain: Now that was a great day.

Me: Come on, guys, don't we want to live longer?

Mouth: Not if we have to eat oatmeal every morning.

Brain: There are lots of other things we could do to be healthy besides this insane idea of jogging around an entire city block.

Knees: Which we're not doing. We'll jog to the refrigerator, but that's it.

Me: So what are these other things we could do?

Brain: Like, get plenty of bed rest.

Eyes: I'm in.

Stomach: I'm in.

Me: Sure, but we've had plenty of bed rest already.

Brain: And we could give up smoking.

Mouth: I'd be OK with that.

Me: We don't smoke! We've never smoked!

Brain: Then our work is done.

Mouth: Let's go back to bed!

Stomach: I'm in.

Me: Stop it. We're getting up now. I think we should start with some push-ups.

Arms: What? Leave us out of this. You want to wreck your knees, that's your business.

Brain: Nobody does push-ups anymore — that's why we have machines.

Stomach: I think I'm coming down with the flu.

Knees: Yeah, same here.

Brain: We'd better stay in bed! Tell the boss we're taking a sick week.

Stomach: I'd better be fed only mild stuff, like ice cream, apple pie, things like that.

Mouth: Bacon can be pretty mild.

Stomach: I'm in.

Exhausted from all the bodily protest, I can't be blamed for deciding to close my eyes and sleep a bit more. Then, when I finally wake up, I'm running late and have time only for coffee (maybe I'll catch a doughnut on the way in to work). Tomorrow, though, I'll get up even earlier, make sure I eat my fruit and oatmeal, and I'll be jogging by sunrise. I know I'll be able to do it: When it comes to a health regimen, the second day is always easier!

To write Bruce Cameron, visit his Website at www.wbrucecameron.com. To find out more about Bruce Cameron and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.