Excuses

My pastor says "opinions are like armpits, everyone has them and most of the time they stink." Well I think the same goes for excuses. 

I had a lot of excuses to not get healthier. The first was my injuries. I have a number of issues with my neck and shoulders that get aggravated when I work out. It's very frustrating and can really derail my motivation big time. In fact as I type this, I'm waiting in the doctors office to be seen about my 3 day headache. I'm probably going to have to take it easy for a little bit but I know that I went 8 weeks working out hard without any major issues so I don't have an injury excuse. I'll be back to "Turbo Liz" in no time. I know I'm not the only one here with injuries. Some of you have some major hurdles in this area. Know that you CAN overcome them. But you have to be smart and choose the right kind of exercise that's going to be effective but not aggravate your injuries. I pushed too hard and sometimes that happens and we learn our limits. Don't let little setbacks steal your motivation. This little bump in the road could set me back weeks if I focus on the negative. I'd be in the chocolate in no time if I started dwelling on the pain and frustration of it. I have to make a choice not to go there. If you find you have injury/pain issues, speak up. Let us help find exercises that work for you. Let us pray for you. We are in this together. 

Another excuse to not exercise is lack of time. I think just like money (in our affluent culture) we all really do have enough time. It's just a matter of how we prioritize it. I had to learn that prioritizing my workout was key. I have to schedule it and have a plan and really stick to it. Functionally, I really have to work out in the early morning. Otherwise there are constant interruptions or I take time away from my family in the evening. So I sacrifice my desire to sleep in and to be a night owl and I've disciplined myself to get up at 5:30 and be working out by 6 most days. This did not work like a switch. If you are a night owl who has ever tried to become an early bird you know it is a long, arduous process. I think the 21 days thing does not apply here. More like 21 months to make this a habit. I still fight myself some days to get up. It's been two years on and off that I've been waging the battle for my mornings but I'm really making some headway now. Maybe your best time is after the kids are in bed or naptime or outside with the jogging stroller and a friend. Find what works and then commit to it. Soon it will become part of your routine and you'll miss it when you don't/can't work out. 

Excuses aren't just about exercise either. I don't like to cook. And generally speaking, I don't like to eat. I'm a picky eater by nature. It's in my genes. My father was picky. My son is picky. That's one of the reasons I really didn't have to work hard at being "skinny" when I was younger. I just didn't eat much. Now that everything I eat goes straight to my hips I have to be more careful. I've had to branch out and eat more natural, less processed, less sugar filled foods. That was a big fight for me. To go from cooking boxed dinners to fresh fish was a leap for sure. I would say to myself (or anyone willing I listen) "I don't like cooking, I need fast and easy, I don't wanna buy it if I probably won't like it". I had to learn to branch out, try new things. It's amazing how much better EVERYTHING tastes when your not over loading your taste buds with sugar ALL.THE.TIME. When I cut back the sweets I found that even things like lettuce have a sweetness to them. 

There are plenty of things we can come up with to keep us from changing. Change is hard. It takes persistence, discipline, often pain. But it gets easier and easier as the weeks go on. Today I wasn't hungry. I didn't care one iota about food (coffee...well that's a different matter). I'm still kinda shocked that I can go to Dunkins and NOT even WANT a donut. I used to have to resist the urge. Now my body craves vitamins and minerals and water, not sugar. And in all honesty 9 weeks really isn't that long. It feels like we just celebrated the new year. 3 months later and I've changed my life. 

All I'm saying is if I can put all those excuses to bed and just do it, so can you.