Not to steal from the Biggest Loser theme this season, but any journey requires you to overcome excuses. "I'm too tired", "I don't have time", "I have to work", "I can't be away from my kids", and my least favorites to hear "I can't do it" or "It's too hard". I know I've used these in the past, and to be honest, I've probably used at least one of them in the last week to not workout or eat something when I wasn't truly hungry.
What is an excuse? To me an excuse is an attempt to forgive yourself for your decisions or actions. This can be making a food choice that is less healthy than others available, not going to the gym, giving into your urges to emotionally eat, not trying something new, etc. What you are seeking by throwing out an excuse is a free pass to behave in a way contrary to your desired objective.
I do not profess to overcome my excuses every single time, but I can tell you when I do I always feel much better than when I let the excuse win. Here are some ways to overcome the excuses listed earlier:
1. "I'm too tired" to exercise - Studies show that exercising increases ones energy instead of depleting it. I know, its contrary to what you think it would be. Just know that if you can get one foot in front of the other, there is no reason to let this excuse win. Once you exercise a few minutes your body systems will take over and re-energize you to complete your workout and beyond. You also need to evaluate why you are so tired...Are you going to bed too late? Did your kids wake you in the middle of the night (out of the norm)? Have you been saying yes to too many commitments? Figure out what you can change, and accept what you cannot, and rid yourself of this excuse.
2. "I don't have time" to track my food or meal plan - There are simply some steps to getting healthy that just require a commitment. Tracking and meal planning are important when it comes to eating healthy, not just for losing weight. If you are trying to eat clean, become a vegetarian, or to eat within a budget, these steps are very important. Meal planning not only can save you time when it comes to figuring out what to cook for dinner every night, it also saves you from running to the store multiple times through the week for ingredients you might not have on hand. Tracking food ensures you are getting the appropriate nutrition, and when you eat right it helps you overcome other excuses like number one above. By taking 10 minutes each day to track, and about the same once a week to meal plan, you will be closer to reaching your goals and save time in the long run.
3. "I have to work" or "I can't be away from my kids" to get to the gym or exercise - This is more "I don't want to get to the gym or exercise". When you want to go out with friends or you want to want your favorite television show, what do you do? You make the time. That is exactly what you have to do to make sure you get your exercise. Most gyms are open early morning and well into the evening, and most even have awesome childcare. The outdoors is open 24 hours a day 365 days a year! And if you have young children I bet you own a stroller. If getting in exercise is a priority to you, you will find the time and make it happen on a regular basis. For me, it takes penciling in on the calendar what I plan to do for activity every day. This shows me, my family, and my work colleagues, what is important to me and we all appreciate that I am much happier (and thus we are all happier) after I've had my daily workout. Once you've made exercise or gym time a priority for two weeks, everyone will appreciate the new schedule.
4. "I can't do it" - I absolutely hate that word - can't. If I could reprogram myself I would remove that word. Truth is, there are very few things I "can't" do. But there are many things I'm afraid that I will fail at if I try them. Why are we so afraid of failure?! Failing is what helps us learn and become successful at new behaviors. Think back to when you learned to walk, you had to fall many times before you could race across a room. Same thing when you learned to potty, you probably had a few accidents before you learned when you needed to get to the toilet in time to get ready to go. These were not presented to you as failing, because whatever baby step you made you were applauded. Failure is just as much a part of succeeding. What we have to change is how we talk to ourselves and once we accept that trying to change is better than staying where we are, whether we fail or not, you will begin to say "I can" to new challenges.
5. "It's too hard" - Well, of course it is hard! If it were easy eveyrone would be a healthy weight, would workout regularly and would be free of disease. But, let's be honest. Isn't being overweight or out of shape hard? Isn't having trouble climbing a flight of stairs because of how out of breath you get hard? Isn't pulling muscles doing simple activities hard? Isn't taking medications for this condition and that hard?? Becoming healthy through diet and fitness is just a different kind of hard and you have to choose your hard. When you've chosen wellness you will no longer use this excuse to keep you from getting what you want!
