What are your excuses and how have you overcome them?

"I've always been big"
"I'll lose my curves"
"Beer drinkers can't get thin"
"I'd rather eat delicious foods than be skinny"
"I blew my food plans, I'm not even going to bother going to the gym..."

.... I overcame all of these excuses by changing my mindset - instead of worrying about the size in my pants, I am concerned with taking care of my bones, organs, muscles, and skin. That requires making reasonable choices most of the time. Instead of taking one small setback and turning it in to several setbacks that require a "restart" day or the likes, I take each choice I make as a singular decision, and remind myself that one bad choice in itself isn't going to reverse all of my hard work, and that I just need to continue moving forward, one little choice at a time.

And I don't set time limits or super restrictive goals on myself. I don't know how that is relevant, but making that decision about my goals has changed everything for the better. Instead of trying to "lose five pounds this month" or "be a size 12 by Christmas" I just spend every day trying to be a better person than I was yesterday.

My excuse followed by what I eventually said to myself when I quit lying to myself:

"I can't afford to go to the gym." - That is no longer valid because your place of employment just opened up a free gym on campus.

"I don't have time." - Yes, you do. You get an hour for lunch. Do something with it. The gym is within walking distance of your desk, you moron!

"But I don't want to be all sweaty and gross at work." - Uhh...you can pack gym clothes, and they have a shower. You can go back to work as fresh as you first arrived.

"Yeah, well, I can't get but so small. Feel my rib cage [pokes ribs]. It's not like there's a lot of fat right there. I'm just big-boned." - Ha! Hahahaha! And what about your belly and your legs and your badonkadonk? Dontchya think those could get a bit smaller?

"I am not going to be one of those crazy people who walks in a big circle on their breaks at work. They're ridiculous." - Yeah, and they're doing something and lapping you and not caring one bit what you think about them.

"Well, my husband is a picky eater, and we have to eat out every night to accommodate him and so that we're together as a family." - Really? You're using that as an excuse? Your hubby can fend for himself. You are responsible for having and showing healthy habits to your children so they don't have the same struggles you're having right now. You do lots of other things together as a family. Not having dinner together isn't going to be the deciding factor in a happy marriage and family.

"I don't want to miss out on more time with my kids." - Working out on your lunch break solves that problem, and your husband is more than willing to hang out with them for a little while if you did want to go for a run in the evenings.

"I would rather eat lots of delicious food instead of eating like a bird." - Dude! You don't HAVE to eat like a bird! You can still eat a substantial amount of food within a deficit and enjoy all the things you love.

~Too busy
~work two jobs
~have an active son
~active with church activities
~go to my son's football games
~don't have time to eat healthy or go to the store to buy healthy foods, they cost more anyway, don't they?
~don't have time to go to the gym, feel self conscious about that anyway, I'm so big and don't want others looking at this big person in the gym when everyone there is probably in great shape
~have some home equipment to work out with but when I have a chance to use them I'm just too exhausted
~of course there is the medical issues: hypothyroidism, anemia, high blood pressure, tired all the time (turned out to need CPAP), anxiety/depression

How did I overcome them?

Divorce.

I began not eating due to extremely high anxiety. Began losing the weight at a good pace. Saw that was good but realized I needed to keep it up the healthy way so I added exercise so July 4, 2012 did a 5k with some friends in just over an hour I finished it. The next week I began going with work friends during lunch up and down 12 flights of stairs. From then on kept up the exercise on a consistent basis every week. Slowly, my eating habits improved, but that took longer to get a handle on, still have issues sometimes.

Ok, so I overcame my excuses in an unconventional manner, however, I overcame them and have lost 114 pounds in the process. I'm not at my goal weight yet, however, I WILL get there! I have learned that there are NO excuses!!! :drinker:

"No time to cook" - I found tons of healthy delicious recipes online for 30 minute meals
"No money for a gym" - I have a pair of sneakers and a road outside
"too dark" - flashlight and reflective vest - still cheaper than a gym

"I'm not technically overweight." --Wasn't back then and I'm still not, but I know my shape could be better.
"Girls aren't meant to do pushups." --Was an excuse while I was in the AF and not able to do more than 10 pushups in correct form.
"No time." --Always an excuse, and was one especially when I had my daughter.

How did I get over it? Basically I just got tired of hearing myself say/think them. I'm still working on the pushups and getting the shape I want, but I don't make excuses for it anymore!

I always used my kids as an excuse, not anymore!

I've caught myself doing that before. I try not to force my ridiculous eating on my kids, and at times I use that as an excuse to eat whatever/whenever.

I've also been known to say, "I burned 3000 cals yesterday racing, I don't need to log today." Nothing good ever came from that.

.

Umm... Where do I start??

"I am not that fat" - Then I see a picture of myself

"My husband still wants me... so it can't be too bad" - Sex will be so much better when I am healthy and thinner

"My whole family is overweight - they don't seem to care, or why do they get to eat all the good food while I eat salads" - I have to do this for ME no one else!

"I can't go to the gym because I am fat and everyone will stare at me" - I know so stupid

"Its my cheat day" - Then I over eat until I feel sick...lol SMH

"Big girl clothes are always on clearance" - Booo!


These are a few of mine. I will post more when I think of them...lol

Ugh, I got caught up in that stupid argument on fb...:ohwell:

My excuses used to be "I've always been weak and I always will be" and "It's too hard". BS

Cycling is how I learned that I'm tough as nails and I can do anything I put my mind to. That led to other things that tested my mental and physical strength. I try to not have any excuses anymore...except I've gotten in the habit of eating a lot more and not working out as hard. That's not really an excuse, it's a fact and I own it.

Hurts.
Tired.

That's fibromyalgia talking. It talks a lot of *kitten*. I just don't listen anymore. Hard to hear it, actually, over the sound of my heart pounding and my breath rushing.

Thank you for doing this

My biggest excuses are:

1) "You don't know how you''ll look at your goal weight - you've always been big. Maybe you won't be happy" Well I won't know unless I try. And if I'm not happier at that weight then I can always find a happy weight for me where I'm still healthy

2) "It's dark. I got to bed late. There's so much to do today. I can't get out of bed." The morning is usually my only time to work out. With a daughter, a full time job, and full time school if i put it off I typically don't get it done. I remember that. I remember that I need to do it. And my husband pushes me out of bed in the morning when I lie there

3) "I'll just eat less today." One - I love food so I likely won't eat less on a regular basis to match the calories I won't burn if I skip a workout. Two - I love working out. No reason to eat less. I can eat a happy about and burn calories.