["I made a deal with myself to work out more to get leaner. I've been so down on myself about it lately.", 'Making moves to do better is all you can do.  How has it been going?', "At first it was really tough and I almost gave up on it a few times, but I turned it around and I've been feeling great."]
That is great!  The longer you do it the easier it will get.  Keep up the good work!
I've been trying to build my muscle mass lately and get leaner. I'm not used to working out as much as I am now but I'm making a lot of progress and I've been believing in myself.