I was talking to my mother on the phone last night, bragging about how I ran the whole bridge (more on that soon). She said, "Run some for me. Dakota's foot hurts so we can't go walking."
Dakota is her dog, and while that seemed like a perfectly good excuse for why DAKOTA couldn't go walking I did point out that it wasn't a good excuse for my mom to skip her walk. In all fairness she lives "in the country" and feels safer out walking with a large dog, but it got me thinking about the excuses we use to not work out.
I'm sure Jack has done a humorous post on this, but for the life of me I couldn't find it. (Jack, if you have a list of excuses shoot me the link-I'd love to post it up here.)
Prior to losing weight my "excuses" for not working out were vast. When you have a baby it's easy to use them as the reason you're not working out. Every new mom is tired, exhausted really. But I milked (no breastfeeding pun intended there) that excuse through my sons whole first year. Instead of working out while he napped, I napped while he napped. Why? Everyone knows new mothers "should get rest whenever they can". But really, how long does that apply?
As my son got older and more active my excuse was, "I'm so worn out from chasing after him all day." YOU THINK?!? Why didn't someone say, "You're worn out because you're out of shape." In retrospect I probably would have hit the person that delivered that statement, but I definitely wish my wake up call had come earlier.
As I began my "get healthy" journey I vowed to myself to cut the excuses. I wanted to work out every single day for at least 21 days straight. I had heard it takes 21 days to make a habit. So I got a huge calender and put a big red "X" on each day that I had worked out. I managed 3 and a half months straight before I took a day off.
Now I have found myself letting excuses slip back in. And what are they? "It's raining, I can't go running" Well... .I have a treadmill, elliptical and stair climber. In my garage. Where it doesn't rain.
"I worked out yesterday." What kind of excuse it that? Ok yes, our bodies do need rest sometimes, but they also need movement. It's important to listen to our bodies when they need a break, but I have to decipher whether it's my body saying no or my brain.
I have even occasionally used my success as an EXCUSE not to work out (or eat right). That's a pretty sad thing to confess, but I am guilty. "I have worked so hard for the past 10 months, I deserve a break/piece of pie/whatever". Someone shake me if they ever hear that. I have conquered obesity BECAUSE I work out and BECAUSE I eat well. Sorry excuses Tricia.
So today I make a commitment to you my friends. Next time I don't want to work out I will come on here and read this post and your comments. Hopefully that will help me push aside any excuses I may have come up with.
Are you making excuses for not working out? What are they?