FITNESS MYTHS and EXCUSES YOU CAN'T STAND!!!

I don't have time... That's crap. Make time.

Knee injuries can certainly keep a person from some types of exercises. My husband injured his knee years ago, and while he can ride a bike 12+ hours a day (for work), he can't do lunges. It's not an excuse. It's reality.

I too could not do lunges for a long time (heck I couldn't BW squat at first), lunges were the worst. It was the last of the basic movements I was able to do and also the part that unlocked the final piece of the puzzle for me (I fixed all the aspects of the squat first and could do them pain free much earlier)

You see, I didn't know how to lunge. I was only when I learned to flex the abs and tilt the hips back that it turned on my front posterior chain and engaged my rear flexor in a strong stretch....poof the pain disappeared.

I don't know if this fits the topic, but i dont really get what toning means. "i want to get toned", is it same as gaining muscle basically?

Gaining muscle does not imply getting toned. When someone tells me they what to tone, I am assuming they mean they want more definition which to me means lowering there body fat. You can get tons of muscle but still have a bunch of body fat.

When people eat processed sugary junk and their excuse is "I need the sugar", ipjewfdalojwlfjlwjhlwdclwdjciq NO.

Wow, this is the most judgemental posting zone I've seen here in a long time! Did this turn into MyFitnessTroll?

Perhaps it would be a little more helpful to those who are starting/struggling/not quite got their shxt together on the fitness bandwagon if people would share the myths and excuses THEY PERSONALLY relied on and HOW THEY OVERCAME THEM!

Complaining because someone else says they "don't have the time" only makes those of us who are currently struggling feel more on the outside --- like theres a river between us and I can't find the bridge.

I haven't always been obese. I spent the first 40 years of my struggling because I was Under-Weight. I wasn't a gym rat but I was athletic and heathy. I put on a few "happiness pounds" in my early forties and then surgical menopause trashed my body in 18 mos.

I am 60 pounds overweight despite eating at or slightly below my target calorie goal for months (I have not neither gained nor lost more than 5 pounds in the last 2 years). I am not a junk-food junkie --- most of my meals are homecooked from fresh ingredients. I choose to drink water at meals so that my calories are saved for nutrition. My major indulgence is a large diet soda with breakfast. I choose to eat healthy whether I'm at home or traveling for work. I'm not a big veggie eater but I try to hide veggies in my food as often as I can.

As for exercize......it's a two-edged sword......I would feel better if I exercized more AND I would exercize more if I could feel better.

I wake at 5:30am every morning to get ready for work --- 30 minute commute and at work at 7:00am. I put in a full day (unfortunately mostly at a desk), eating soup or healthy leftovers for lunch. I am out of the office between 4:00pm and 5:00pm and drive to the grocery store to plan dinner for my family. Dinner is usually on the table around 6:30pm and I sit with my family and we eat for about 45min. (I have teenagers.....they need the time). After dinner, I clear the table, clean up the cooking mess, and then it's off to bed.
I am so exhausted by normal activity that I go to bed by 8:00pm. There is no "watching tv, playing on the internet, or talking on the phone." Weekends are a repeat of the above except when I'm not at a school function or volunteer activity, I'm trying to clean my house. Carrying all this extra weight has made the normal activities of life miserable and overwhelming.

I have tried going to the gym at 5:30am (when the gym opens) ---- I feel like crap the rest of the day and my boss complains.
I have tried going to the gym at 5:30pm (right after work) --- we end up eating dinner out and my husband complains.
I don't have a "lunch hour" in which I can go workout --- I eat at my desk and they don't care if I complain.

Fourteen months ago I did the gym 5 days a week (including two zumba classes); an unexplained change in health status took that away from me ---- I can barely do 30 minutes of light walking on the treadmill now. I've been to the doctors who just say, "you're fine, you just need to eat less and move more". I don't want a diet pill. I don't want surgery. I don't expect a quick fix. What I'm trying to find is a way to get things moving in the right direction so that I can lose enough weight that I can work out alittle and lose more weight so I can work out a little more ad infinitum. This isn't a joke or a vanity thing for me --- I spent Halloween week in the hospital with angina and shortness of breath. They can't find anything wrong with me except that I weigh 200 f'ing pounds.

So I take the old tact that "It's not just what you're eating, it's what's eating you" and log into the message boards to see what experience, strength, and hope I can find to help me move forward just a baby step today.

And what do I find --- hostility and judgementalism. This is supposed to be a community where we pull together and pull for each other. Would it kill one person out there to talk about how they overcame their own excuses and barriers? That's what is really going to help other people.

I'm still trying to figure out why teenagers require 45 minutes to eat dinner. Otherwise, plan your weekly meal plan on Sunday afternoon while you are waiting for the weeks worth of laundry to dry, make a list, give it to the teenagers, let them do the shopping. Heck, let them cook dinner while they're at it. Now you have time to exercise. Added bonus, your kids will know how to shop for themselves, cook and clean up after themselves when they finally leave the nest.
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Also what's with the husband complaining, why can't he cook dinner?

I don't understand why you're doing everything, shopping, cooking, laundry, cleaning.

In my house we all do things, my kids are still young but still help out, they need to learn responsibilities and how to be independent.

We all get tired, sometimes I feel my eyes closing when I'm sat on the sofa, but I still make myself do a workout and I feel so much better for it.

I completely agree. Why can't your husband or kids cook? Get them involved.I have when people say they don't have time- you have time you aren't using time correctly.

Totally agree. When we were teenagers we were expected to clean up after dinner, take out garbage, do our own laundry and help around the house over the weekend so my mom could get downtime. Kids who are not taught these things at home don't fare very well living on their own.

Worst excuse I've ever heard was "I am a mother". News flash having children should be a reason to be fit, not an excuse to be unhealthy! This person proceeded to tell me once I was a mother I would understand and it will be all down hill from there. Come on.

I agree. People tell me when I have kids, I won't work our so much because I won't have time. I see kids at my CrossFit gym all the time. They sit and do their homework, play video games or, watch their parents live the example of a healthy life. When I have kids, the same will happen. I need to be here for them for as long as I can, which mean I need to be as healthy as I can possibly be.

I can't stand "muscle weighs more than fat" Drives me nuts. 1 pound = 1 pound regardless of what it is made of. Muscle is denser than fat so 1 pound of muscle takes up less space than 1 pound of fat!

Biggest pet peeve in excuses? "I'm scared" WTF is there to be scared of? Being fit, being thin, living longer?

agree with the muscle/fat debocle. It's about the density. aaack, lol.

not having time..... a workout is 4% of your day. Copout!

Ok the thing that drives me nuts..."Well who wants to live to be 90, and be in a nursing home? I would rather eat what I want, do what I want, and die young!" IT'S NOT ABOUT YOUR 90 YEAR OLD SELF. IT'S ABOUT YOU, TODAY! DON'T YOU WANT TO FEEL BETTER, LOOK BETTER, LOVE LIFE, TODAY?!?! I sure do!!!!!

Worst excuse I've ever heard was "I am a mother". News flash having children should be a reason to be fit, not an excuse to be unhealthy! This person proceeded to tell me once I was a mother I would understand and it will be all down hill from there. Come on.

I agree. People tell me when I have kids, I won't work our so much because I won't have time. I see kids at my CrossFit gym all the time. They sit and do their homework, play video games or, watch their parents live the example of a healthy life. When I have kids, the same will happen. I need to be here for them for as long as I can, which mean I need to be as healthy as I can possibly be.

Im making a frowning face. I cut back gym time when I became a mom. Dumping your kids in the play area for excessive amounts of time isnt being a mother. Note that I say excessive. "To be as healthy as I can possibly be" meaning tons of gym time isnt a reality of mothering. It involves spending time with your kids as well. I do work out, but I dont work out to my max potential. I dont want to be an absent mom. My kids dont do homework, and the last thing they need is to learn to sit in front of a tv. You make do with other activities, like chasing them around the playground or throwing them in the air.

I can see that. I'm not a mother, and I can't imagine how my life will change once I have a child. Nonetheless, I will find a way to stay healthy and get some fitness in, even it it's just a half hour jog in the morning. The point is, I've seen way too many of my friends affected by the death of a parent. I've see children scared to death when their parents have to have surgery for something that may not have happened living a healthy life style. I don't want to be that parent.