Excuses, excuses, excuses!! 5 + 5 ways to LEAP over your fitness excuses!
What’s your exercise excuse?
We’ve all had them from time to time, but if your excuses outweigh the actual exercise, it’s time to make a change!
Here are the top 5 exercise excuses I hear from clients and my professional advice + solutions on how to beat them.
1. “I don’t have time.”
We all need more hours in the day; society has us on fast forward! But, if you can’t make time for exercise, eventually you WILL have to make time for health problems. Now, do you really want to spend hours at the doctor’s office and money on medications? I didn’t think so!
* LO’s SOLUTION:
Schedule it in, just like you do your kids soccer games and dentist appointments. You can’t miss it, you can’t schedule over it. Of course, look hard at your schedule for outside commitments and make it realistic. Come up with specifics: time, activity, length, etc. It that’s not enough then set dates to meet a friend or a Personal Trainer so someone else is counting on you to show up.
There are even GREAT 22-30 minute DVDs I use and recommend. Check them out here: www.teambeachbody.com/LOSolutions. I personally use and love the 21 day fix, Hammer and Chisel, CIZE, and Hard Corp 22. 22-30 minute workouts....No more excuses!
2. “I’m too tired!”
If you’re too tired, you probably need to exercise. Exercise will invigorate you and keep you going. It might be hard at first, but it will give you more energy throughout the day and often lead to deeper sleep at night: Win Win!
*LO’s SOLUTION:
Start small. You can monitor your walking with a pedometer/accelerometer. Shoot for 30 minutes each day and then incorporate other forms of exercise to become more balanced: Pilates, Yoga, weight training, biking, etc.
NOTE: Here’s the stepper I love and wear (been wearing a pedometer since 2002!)
3. “I get enough exercise keeping up with the kids!”
Sure, it was “exercise” when you first started. If you’ve been doing it for longer than 3 months (and chances are you have), then your body is used to this activity and it’s time for more!
*LO’s SOLUTION:
If you don’t already, do activities with your kids, so you can spend time with them while becoming more active. For example: walk, hike, bike, swim, etc. All perfect activities with summer weather in full swing. If you have an active job, you must do more, too! Dangit, I know…Head to the gym after work, or get more activity in during the day. Take walk breaks if you can and schedule them in. Get a pedometer to see how active you actually are and then become more active. See my blog post on how and why to wear a stepper! Read more here.
4. “I hate exercise.”
Why do you hate it? First, figure that out by talking to someone or journaling. Go deep. This is the first step to overcoming this barrier. Seek professional help or hire a personal trainer to help you find the activity you DO Love!
LO’s SOLUTION:
Exercise often creates a negative picture of having to workout. So, take the word exercise out of your vocabulary. Call it physical activity and make it fun! Do something you enjoy: dance, walk with friends, bike, play and laugh more. If you hate gyms, find something you can do at home, or find a gym that makes you feel comfortable. In both cases, chances are that you’ll be back for more if you like it! If you just don’t know what to do, hire a good personal trainer to get you started and keep you motivated.
5. “I already feel GREAT!”
Well that's awesome, but what does “feel great” mean? Does this mean you feel great while you sit at work all day or watch TV? Does this mean that you “think” you feel “fine”?....If so, imagine how great you’ll feel once you start moving more! I often hear that people have energy and feel fine, but when they start eating better, they feel even BETTER, can you imagine?! This is the same for exercise. If you could feel even better, wouldn’t you want to?
*LO’s SOLUTION:
Give it a go!! You'll never know if you can feel better until you try. Chances are, if you stay sedentary, you won’t feel great the older and stiffer you get (it happens to all of us). Start now, so you’ll feel great into your 90's!!
Still not convinced?!
BONUS: Here are 10 benefits from being more physically active:
① Sluggish? Increases energy, endurance and clear thinking.
② Hungry all the time? Decreases appetite. *Do eat before + after a workout.
③ Make poor eating choices? Improves eating habits by increasing your awareness of what you put into your body; helps facilitate Mindful and Conscious Eating.
④ Confused, can’t make decisions? Helps you think straight, restore your mind, resolve problems and decrease confusion by increasing blood to your brain. Also, while you exercise, you have time to think and figure out your problems.
⑤ Self-neglect, low self-esteem? Improves self-esteem and body image. This is your time, enjoy it!
⑥ Dull or boring sex life? Improves sex life by improving self-esteem and increasing blood flow.
⑦ Stiff, tired? Relieves aches and pains which are often brought on by being too sedentary. Can make you feel more alive.
⑧ Mildly depressed? Stabilizes hormones and increases serotonin and dopamine, which improves mood.
⑨ Wound up, anxious, can’t fall asleep? Helps ease your mind and body to facilitate rest and relaxation. Don’t exercise within 3 hours of going to bed.
⑩ Get every cold? Improves the immune system and resistance to colds.
As you can see, I’m a big fan of fitness! There are SO many reasons to LOVE it.
I also LOVE providing fitness consultations and personal training to clients. They feel better and often find their love of exercise, again! Read more here about my Personal Training/Yoga/Pilates services here.
Here's to your health NO MORE excuses!
Provided by Lila Ojeda, MS, RDN, CSCS, RYT, CLT Registered Dietitian Nutritionist * Personal Trainer * Yoga/Pilates Contact: 503.789.9707 * www.LO-Solutions.com LO Solutions: Improving Lives Since 2000!
