Excuses Excuses No More

A friend of mine posted a status on Facebook about a patient of hers who had a long list of reasons they could not exercise.

Here's my thought on that: 

If we all looked for reasons to NOT do things, anything (clean the house, call our parents or siblings, get out of bed in the morning...you get the idea), nothing would ever get done. 

Often we have to have a compelling enough reason to push us to do something. Do I want to go to work every day? No, I certainly do not. BUT, I realize and accept that if I don't, I won't be able to keep the apartment I love, eat the food I want, etc etc. So, I go to work.

Do I want to go running when it's time? Not always. And trust me I am a pro at finding reasons NOT to exercise. It's a skill I fine tuned over the course of the last 18 years (age 20-38.) But eventually, the reality of the alternative became to resemble the reality of what my life would be like if I didn't go to work.

My heart and arteries would cease to function properly.
My blood pressure would cause me to have a stroke.
My body would cease to respond to insulin, causing me to develop diabetes.
I would eventually lose my limbs from that disease, assuming I had not already had a stroke or heart attack.
Overall, health wise, things were looking grim.

I had not done a good job at taking care of my number one asset: my body. And I had every reason/excuse in the world not to exercise (bad back, bad knees, exercise gave me migraines, my hips hurt like crazy and the list goes on and on.) I decided to do it anyway.

And here's the thing...

My parents are in their 60's. My Dad recently ruptured a disc in his back. My Mom has Parkinson's. Talk about two people who have every reason to throw in the proverbial towel. Instead, my Dad ran a half marathon on Saturday and my Mom does CrossFit five days a week. Trust me, your excuses, and mine, are invalid.

Instead of looking for every reason NOT to exercise or eat healthy, try, just for thirty days, to find every reason why you CAN, and WILL exercise and eat healthy. Just 30 days. It will make a huge difference in your attitude about SO SO SO many things. You will surprise yourself at how much you are capable of doing. You may find that you are, overall, happier. Excuses for other things in your life will start to fade as well. Just 30 days of no excuses. After that, you can do whatever you want. But I have a sneaky suspicion that you will be pleased with the outcome.