No excuses! exercise (part 2)

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Whether you joined us in part one or not—welcome to part two.

For those of you playing along at home last week we created tees bearing all the various & sundry excuses we have for not working out.

Next week (May 4th. please to mark yer calendar) we’re talking excuses in general.

Why we all tend toward making em & how we might do this less.  And yeah. It will probably be a little TMI about my tee pictured above—but you’ll have that.

Today I wanted to share with you The top 5 reasons I have seized for not working out and the ways Ive found to refute these excuses.

Excuse number 1. I don’t have time to exercise.

I heard this excuse a great deal when I was a trainer & I said it pretty damn frequently myself back in the day.  My answer to this excuse is a simple one: book an appointment with yourself to exercise.  Make it a non-negotiable.  When given this excuse by friends & family members I merely ask them when they need to leave the house in the morning/get their day started.  I then suggest they back out thirty minutes from that time, get up, and exercise.  Something. ANYTHING.  Just move.  It is 100% my experience that I am not appreciably more tired when I lose 30 minutes of sleep *and* the energy I reap from my movement/the stress reduction I notice is amazing.

Excuse number 2. I have no energy & am barely making it through my day as it is.

Yep.  This is always the response I receive to my early-rising suggestion above (Hello Ren Man! Yes I’m calling your ButLookAfterListeningToMeYouAre60PoudsLighterAsAResult arse out!). Exercise has been shown to increase energy levels.  Exercise has been shown to leave us feeling far more positive about ourselves & our lives overall.  That said, Im all about setting ourselves up for success.  Are you feeling wiped out the majority of the time?  Think you are too tired to add in any kind of movement even in the morning *before* you start your day?  I still challenge you to begin TODAY.  Start small.  Add in five minutes of exercise (anything. be creative!) each day this week.  Next week? Up the intensity to TEN MINUTES.  You wont feel more tired & I dare say you will notice the difference immediately.  If not in your physique then in your mindset.

Excuse number 3. I have absolutely no clue where to start.

First, I m compelled to add here that one should always start by visiting the doctor & getting a physical. Next? Just START!  (yes as much as it pains me to send you elsewhere fer my muzings that post is ENTIRELY what I believe all gathered together in the proverbial nutshell). Begin by simply WALKING.  When you are beginning it’s all about doing more today than you did yesterday.  That action, oh amazing readers, is an N(on) S(cale) V(ictory) in & of itself.

Excuse number 4. There is no gym close to my house

To know me in any capacity…to have read this blog even for the merest of moments…you are already aware this is not an excuse I will accept.  Im also a firm believer in the notion that joining a gym which is more than a 20 minute drive from your home/work is NOT a good idea.  In my opinion, newbie exerciser or veteran, it gives you too much opportunity/time to decide to turn around and go home. (And yes. by YOU I mean ME.  Ive done this more than a few times…) There are many creative ways to exercise from home that, should it really not be convenient for you, gyms can easily be rendered unnecessary.  Need ideas?  I have many…

Excuse number 5. My partner/spouse/roommate doesnt workout. It’s hard to do this alone.

I have to say that Im one who likes to workout alone. If Im not lifting with Ren Man then Im quite happy to exercise solo.   That said, I have a bigbig group of accountability partners upon whom I lean pretty damn heavily.  Some of these people I see in person (so they can nag me) others Ive never even met (Hello Twitter!) & still others I dont get to see as much as Id like so we check in by email or text.   Sure, I’m always in favor of hiring a trainer for a session or 20— but I still suggest you *make* the time to identify the cheerleaders in your life & harness their energy to propel you toward your goals.  You may be EXERCISING solo–but Id venture to say youre not alone.

Now it’s your turn, People.

In two ways.

The above list was created from my own experience with a smattering of your emails, tweets, & comments.

Do you have an excuse I missed you wanna toss out to the group for help in refuting?

Do you have a better way to debunk an excuse I listed above?

Please to hit us all up in the comments.

As always I shall join you there…

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Comments

  1. I especially like your disection of excuse #3. You really hit the nail on the head with that one.

    For me, one of my biggest excuses is “meh”. How to counter that monosyllabic grunt, eh? I guess the best way to challenge such an uncaring attitude is simply to be fully aware of the reasons why what we are doing is important. It’s much more difficult to ‘meh’ away whatever is being avoided when there are valid explanations for WHY we want to accomplish our goals at the forefront of our minds.

  2. Sorry to some the sexy black women (like me) out there, but I gotta say it:

    “I don’t wanna mess up my hair” is a lame excuse to NOT exercise.

    A kick-azz hair-do will NOT maintain a healthy weight, reduce stress, reverse certain health conditions, etc etc.

    FRACK the hair-do. Get out and exercise, dammit!!!

  5. I tend toward the NO TIME! excuse.
    I have 4 children and work and am not certain I wont feel wholly exhausted if I get up 30 minutes earlier.
    5am?!

    I will try it for you Mizzy.

  6. One of the things that prevented me from running was fear of comments “about the fat lady running”. On Saturday I completed my fifth week of the c25k training and got my first attempt at heckling by a teenage boy. He loudly asked me my name as I was running, (ahem, by running I mean slowly jogging), by he and his friend. I knew better to tell him my name because I could read what his response would be. Kat, Fat Kat…. Instead, I asked him his name while swiftly jogging past, he told me he didn’t know his name. I told him that seemed like an issue he should take care of. I laughed on the inside all the way home and realized that I am not the same adolescent fat girl who was tortured by testosterone filled teenage boys. It was kind of liberating…. I wanted to do the t-shirt, but haven’t yet. Work has been insane. I am good with the exercise, every day for a good long time, but need to work on the food. Maybe I will write my excuses for why I veer off my optimal food plan…

  7. I laughed on the inside all the way home and realized that I am not the same adolescent fat girl who was tortured by testosterone filled teenage boys. It was kind of liberating
    ———–
    TREMENDOUSLY LIBERATING Kat!

    and you totally brought back to me a story Id entirely forgotten.
    repressed?
    tomato tomaaaaahto

    I was in college and decided it was time to shed my freshwoman 40 and that running was the way to do it.

    I layered up (OHIO. winter. nuff said).
    I went out and ran.
    I hated it but I was proud of myself.

    I went out that night and met a guy (woo hoo :)) and he said: I think I saw you today when I was out driving. are you a runner?

    You KNOW I proudly responded: yes! I actually ran this afternoon.

    I couldnt believe he’d remembered that he’d seen me.
    I was walking on air.

    UNTIL he finished his drunken sentence and said:

    Yeah, we all said: look at that fat girl running off the pizza.

    and CRACKED UP.

    I think more of an AH HA moment for me (right now. precoffee preclarity) is the fact that I DIDNT let his impression of me mar my own pride for the fact Id gotten out there and made myself move.

    If there’s one thing I could pass on to my daughter it would be the not giving a….care what others think.

    If theres one thing I could pass out to all of us it would be not giving a DAMN what others think.

    ok.

    see?
    thats why I rarely comment precoffee.

    off for java.

    Miz.

  8. My comment was the fact that I wish I had a workout partner because I really need someone to drag me to the gym.

    I might try the text thing.

    After reading your remark Miz I now want to say:

    you were overweight?!

    I need to search your archives I guess.

  10. What’s the line?
    It’s funny because it’s true?

    I laughed at the I’M TOO TIRED excuse.
    That was all over my tee.

  12. You had so many of my own answers to that “I don’t have enough time” crap. Yes, big one I tell people too… schedule it in like anything else! If you are watching your fav TV show, plenty of time to do something while you are watching or in commercial breaks!

    Like a cartoon I put on my blog, the doc said to the patient, do you want to workout out 1 hour per day or be dead 24 hours per day. Invest in yourself!

    Great post!

  13. I have been known to employ weather-related excuses. Being from New England, where the weather changes every 10 minutes, it’s easy to do:

    “It’s too cold/snowy/rainy/hot/humid/windy,” and etc.

    And of course, the generic whine, “I don’t *feel* like it.”

  14. You said it, Miz! My yoga challenge has TOTALLY fallen by the wayside in the midst of my move. Have I been busy? Hell yes. Could I have still made time to make yoga a priority? Hell yes. Did I? Hell no.

    Sighs.

    I think we have to figure out WHY we make excuses before we can really change our ways. With the yoga, for example, I realized that although I ENJOY it, it’s not something I want to do everyday. It’s not quite my “thing” (the way that walking is, for example). It’s enjoyable, but it’s only enjoyable if I do it on occassion when I WANT to rather than thinking “I NEED to do this”.

    Making exercise a game, or making it enjoyable or a part of your lifestyle (such as walking to work and not even CONSIDERING taking the car/bus etc) is what really helps me to STOP making the excuses. And THAT is when I am in the best shape, and the happiest!

  15. yesyesyes Sagan. My why (next week) was so enlightening.
    It may not be everyones *why* but I hope it will start you all thinking about yours….

  16. Since becoming a mother, I have discovered it is very tempting to use the baby as an excuse to exercise. “I do not want to leave her”, “My gym does not have child care”….and similar thoughts of danced thru my head. On those days, I strap my daughter into her stroller and we head out together.

  17. My excuses are awesome:
    I’d rather spend time with my kids.
    I’d rather go to bed.
    I’d rather watch TV
    I’ve had a horrible day.
    I’d rather go out to eat.
    It’s too late now…

    and so on and so on.

    Pathetic, huh? I mean, really ludicrous. Irony? After I skip a workout for one of my awesome reasons, I always beat myself up over it. One day, I will learn. I’m 35 now, but I will learn!

  19. Great post! Wow was I ever the Queen of excuses. My biggest excuse I used was my children. What I have discovered though is that we ALWAYS make time for those things we find important to us. If exercise is important to you, then you will find a way to make it happen. It seriously is that simple. For me that means most of the time getting up before the rest of the house and taking that hour for me.

  20. For me, time is definitely an issue. I tend to do better when I can git ‘er done first thing in the a.m. and then go on with the day. Not having access to the gym the past year has made that tough. If I get up before everyone else and use the treadmill, I run the risk of waking them up. So I try to do it as soon as I get back from driving/walking kids to school. The best thing for me is to just have everything ready: water bottle filled, sweat towel, hair band, mp3, everything ready & waiting for me so I can just come in the house and hop on. Otherwise, I’ll check my email, the phone will ring, I’ll start a load of laundry, whatever. But what I forget is this: It can all wait until I’m done. So … guess where I’m headed RIGHT NOW? 🙂

  21. The fat lady in my head likes to say “it’s too hard, you can’t do it”
    My old self would agree and just do nothing. My new self wants to prove that fat lady wrong.

  22. The “TIME” issue used to be my biggest excuse. I’ve unwillingly found myself as a single mom raising a 4 year old – so finding the time to take care of the job, the house, the four year old AND me is sometimes REALLY DAUNTING. On a good night, I sleep 5 hours. For real. But, i’ve found that making the time to exercise, whether it’s at 4am or 11pm really DOES make me feel better. Much, much, much better. And, also helps me in the patience department, the attitude department, and a few others as well. Who knew exercise could make you feel this good?! Surely not me – but I’m finding that it does and I’m liking it. 😉 As always, thanks Miz. Great post!

  23. This post was exactly what I needed to read today – I am sitting here w/o my running buddy and yet I need to force myself to go for a run by myself. I’m doing it now. Be back later…

  26. Time was a big excuse as well as the having no energy.

    I found that I can make time by doing less unnecessary things (like watching five hours of tv after work).

    The not having energy is totally my bad. I find I have more energy when I’m hydrated, haven’t eating too much, and haven’t eaten junk.

    I do workout with my husband which is nice. However if would be awesome to have a online gym buddy to help motivate me.

  27. My excuse…WEATHER…rain, gale force wind…rain and wind combined, frost, snow!

    Another good(bad) one…No gym…lack of motivation to come up with my own home program thingy.

    Excuses really are universal!

  28. I’ll see your #3 (and possibly #1), and raise you: “I’ll look silly.” That’s the one that kept me out of the gym for about 20 years. Now I don’t think anything of trying new things at the gym, even though I might end up doing a face plant (see: push-ups on the swiss ball) I figure I’ll either give us all a laugh…or maybe even succeed at doing it.

  29. here’s my latest excuse: I’m so out of shape it just hurts.

    (I used to be in awesome shape and now i’m not, so my thinking is to just give up?!)

    Fortunately YOU do not let me keep that line of thinking. **cue the sound of a text message on my phone**

  30. Having my Hubs write what he has heard me say was good, but I also self reflected and am writing my own in head whys…excuses. One of my big ones is fear. yes fear of succeeding.

    This is totally crazy and have known it for sometime…getting over the knowing and action to it is the big hurdle for me.

    Then I have this tape that plays over and over in my head that I will not succeed(a thing said frequently to me growing up). I am ever working on erasing that tape and re-recording it, but the fear of success stops me.

    I have hung my shirt up…in plain site so I see it and am reminded I do not want excuses anymore.

  31. So tru Yum Yucky!

    Here’s the excuse I used to myself last week: I don’t feel well, I’ll do it tomorrow, or I was attacked by a dog (seriously) and am slightly traumatized.

    Yeah…none of them really made much sense but did derail me last week and I paid for it dearly on Monday when I pushed myself to get back in the game.

    I need to make a shirt.

    yes yes you do 🙂 then send me a photo. more than that, however, take care of YOU. that dog attack thing is scary.

  32. I do agree that you can make time for exercise if you really want to, though I don’t think first thing in the morning is necessarily the answer for everyone. I tried it for 6 months. I am totally not a morning person. My mother was completely shocked when I told her that I was getting up early to exercise. I did give it 6 months. I hated it. It made me cranky. Note: I am not saying tired; I am saying cranky (from the hate).

    So I make time after work. Point being – if you really want to do it, you will find a way to make it work.

  34. I feel like I just got busted and will begin tomorrow morning with incorporating the wake up earlier method of not being a slack ass.

    Thanks for this!

  35. I’m sure Zliten would like me to make a t-shirt of excuses I make *to* exercise. If I, supreme lazy azz, can get here, anyone can (honestly, I’ve asked someone to bring my water to me from the coffee table because I couldn’t reach it without leaning forward….yeah).

    Suggestion: find something you love, or a way to do it that you love. I am motivated by setting challenging goals and training to achieve them. Just putting in 30 mins a day without any higher goal bores me. Just putting in 30 mins a day for health and weight loss doesn’t get me riled up either. Scheduling a 5k run where I have a specific goal time? I’m so there.

    I need to make the healthy eating excuses shirt. That’s where I get in trouble…

  36. I think taking the time to workout and take care of ourselves is important and everyone can find it! How many of us say we just have no time, but can rattle off what happened in their favorite shows last week? Park the bike in front of the TV. It’s all choices. We just have to get creative and make the good choices.

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