You think I made a typo with that title, don't you? Oh, she means NO EXCUSES, right? She must have been in a mad rush and typed it wrong. Nope- I meant what I typed and that is to KNOW your excuses and recognize them for what they are...excuses. Most people fall victim to the scourge of invalid excuses. There are a few valid reasons to skip a workout, prevent you from starting a workout program or from eating sensibly. Death, paralysis, a terminal illness- and I'd even argue the point on the latter two as it doesn't prevent many folks who are paralyzed or facing terminal illness from being active and working up a sweat.
The most popular excuse is time, or more accurately the lack thereof. I don't have time to workout. I don't have time to prepare meals. I don't have time to journal what I eat. To that I say it is time for a reality check...
Look, I get that time is valuable. I understand that most folks are working eight, ten, maybe even twelve hour days. Even though I'm a stay-at-home Mom, I spend a good chunk of my time shuttling my children around - to and from school, activities, playdates, keeping the house in the best order I can, making sure we have groceries & household items on hand when we need them, fixing meals and basically wearing over a dozen job "hats" in my daily life...chauffeur, personal assistant/shopper/chef to 5 people, janitor, nurse etc.
Take a good long look at your calendar. Actually, do better than that. Have a pad on hand with you at all times throughout one given day and journal your activities throughout the day. Chronicle how you are spending the sixteen or so waking hours in your day. See how many minutes you spend surfing the net or watching television- anything other than getting yourself dressed, commuting to work, actually working and all the other essential uses of your time. I'm willing to bet you can find at least 30 free minutes you can devote to exercising- even more if you're willing to split up the time throughout the day.
For the legitimately time-crunched who find they can't squeeze in more than 10 minute segments of exercise at a time, there are still ways you can get a workout in. Click here for a 25 Fast and Easy Ways to Fit in 10 Minutes of Exercise Per Day courtesy of Prevention Magazine. Beachbody also has a great 10 Minute Trainer program that targets every major muscle group in just ten minutes.
Once you determine you do in fact have the time to workout, schedule it! I use Google Calendar to keep tabs on our kids' busy schedules and I also use it to schedule my workouts. Make your designated workout time non-negotiable. Think of it as a very important appointment and treat it as such.
As far as the time needed for preparing healthy meals, it's not that difficult or time-consuming to do either. If you must, plan out your meals in advance over the weekend and prep everything on Sunday (or whichever day you happen to have off). I'd argue that you'd spend more time waiting in the drive-thru lane at fast food restaurants each weekday or driving to & waiting for your meals at a sit-down restaurant than you would have if you had simply prepped your meals at home. You can find a great list of quick, healthy meal cookbooks here or just find recipes that appeal most to your tastebuds by surfing the net. There are a number of foodies out there who have devoted a great deal of time and energy into crafting healthy recipes for common comfort foods and, thankfully, they usually love to share their recipes!
Know your excuses so you can defeat them with logic (and maybe a little sheer force of will). So take that excuse of "I don't have enough time" and kick it to the curb where it belongs once and for all.
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