Spring cleaning: A time to throw out the excuses
Other than New Year’s, there is probably no other time during the year that motivates us to make a fresh start like springtime does. When the warm breezes start blowing, we want to throw open the windows and let the rebirth all around us revitalize our homes and our spirits.
Because it seems natural to clean out the old during this time of year, it’s a great time to come face to face with our excuses for not getting healthy. Excuses pile up just like the clutter that we accumulate in our houses, but it’s time to come clean.
I don’t have the time to exercise: This is likely one of the most common excuses. You are busy. You have to work all day (or all night), you have to get the kids to school, you have to cook dinner, go to the grocery store, mow the lawn, change the oil in the car, care for your aging parents — there is simply no time for exercise. Really?
Consider this. If you do not exercise, you will almost certainly begin experiencing the illness and disease that comes from an inactive lifestyle. When you begin experiencing symptoms, you will have to make an appointment with the doctor, drive to your appointment, wait to be seen, schedule additional tests at the hospital and wait for your prescriptions to be filled at the pharmacy. And with chronic illness, this scenario will be played out month after month after month. And it takes a lot of time.
Will you find the time in your busy life to see to your medical issues? Yes, of course you will. You will make sure that you adjust your schedule and your life to accommodate your illness. So why not adjust your schedule now to accommodate the prevention of illness through exercise? You do have the time; you just have to decide to use it. The truth is that if you do not make the time for exercise, you will have to make time for illness. And exercise takes a lot less time out of your life than disease.
I don’t like to exercise: Again, a pretty common excuse. But it won’t let you off the hook. Lots of people do not like to exercise, but they make themselves do it anyway. Do you like feeling tired? Do you like being overweight? Do you like having to undergo medical tests? Without exercise, you will feel tired, be overweight and become sick, so it comes down to choosing your ‘dislike.’
I don’t have the energy to exercise: If you are unfit, you likely have low energy. And when you don’t have much energy, the last thing you can imagine is exercising. But until you become more active, you will not have the energy you so long for. As you begin exercising, you will start having more energy. You won’t start feeling better until you start moving.
It’s just not the right time for me to start working out. “I’ll start working out when…I get some decent exercise clothes; summer vacation starts; the kids go back to school; I get my house organized; work lets up; I have more time; life calms down; the kids get older; the weather warms up a little; the weather cools down a little; someday, just not today.”
It will never be the perfect time to start a new health routine. You just have to start.
Decide to stop hiding behind your excuses. Make a clean sweep and toss those excuses out. Everybody has excuses for not exercising. The fit and healthy people around you choose to give up the excuses and just do it. That doesn’t mean it is easy for them. It just means that they love feeling energetic, strong, healthy, and empowered enough to push in and get it done. You can be that way too.
Liz Whalen is a personal trainer and health fitness specialist who lives and works in Libby. She also blogs at lizwhalenhfs.com