5 Excuses That Could Be Holding You Back & How to Overcome Them

Content by: Guy Lawrence

no more excuses

ex-cuseTo explain in the hope of being forgiven or understood…

After seeing many goals and commitments flop from working in the health and fitness industry, I thought I would add my two cents worth to help make habits stick (tongue firmly in cheek of course!).

Big thanks to everyone who shared their ‘best excuses they’ve heard when it comes to poor food choices & not exercising’ on our Facebook page.

You can see the full list of ‘best excuses’ on our Facebook page here.

Top 5 Diet & Exercise Excuses

1. I do eat healthy

Says they who eat gluten free cupcakes and chocolate. Get real! Write everything down that goes in your mouth for a week, present it to the healthiest person you know and then talk about it.

2. Eating healthy & a gym membership is too expensive

Expensive compared to what? Your health? The very one thing you can’t live without. Maybe it’s time to reassess where those values lie.

3. I don’t like the taste of healthy food

Are you serious! Healthy food tastes amazing. Maybe you should kick your sugar addiction that’s drastically got your taste buds off kilter. Eradicate all sugar and sweet stuff from your life for a month then we talk some more.

4. I don’t have time

This one is a classic! The most precious commodity in the world that we all have equal amounts of, yet it can be magically warped into an unfair amount for those who can’t miss that TV show. Or is it simply that they don’t want it bad enough? Mmmm…

5. I don’t know what to eat

Really? With the zillions of blogs, recipes and books and instant access to Google you’re telling me you don’t know what to eat? This one shouldn’t even be in your vocabulary.

Time To Crush It

1. How bad do you want it?

There’s a big difference between talking it up and actually doing it. Don’t be one of those people that build a life raft out of excuses and just bob around in it committed with out the commitment. It’s like buying organic chocolate instead of a Mars Bar. As Nike say, just do it! Don’t wait for the planets to align with an outside temperature between 18-22°. Just start, no matter how small just start. The rewards can be massive and far outweigh any feeling you get from succumbing to that sugar fix!

2. Is your WHY big enough?

Go the WHY Power! There’s a massive motivating difference between being told you have high blood pressure and you are three steps away from having a heart attack to say, sitting in your office chair all day munching on your 3pm chocolate cookie with a nice middle age spread thinking, ah yes one day soon I’ll move this big butt into action. See the difference? You’ve got to dig deep and get real, because if your WHY ain’t big enough, the only thing that’s going to be looking slim are your chances!

3. Are you truly being honest with yourself?

This one helps with the Why Power. If being brutally honest with yourself makes you feel seriously uncomfortable then GOOD! If you are still bobbing around on that life raft of excuses on the ocean of comfort, then maybe it’s time you got a little uncomfortable and took a new approach. Try these for size; Get the tape measure out and find out your true girth measurements. Take a photograph of you in your swimmers front and back and take a look at yourself from a third persons perspective… like what you see? Get a full health check up or get your body fat measured. Anything, just be brutally honest! Trust me, you will look back in time and be thankful that you did. Remember, we move away from pain much quicker than we do by simply just trying to head to what we actually want, which in most cases is nowhere! Just don’t stay in denial, as it feels like punishment for crimes you didn’t commit and you’ll come to a screaming halt and start complaining ‘why me?’.

4. Are you living in the moment?

When Sir Edmund Hillary was asked how the hell did you climb Mount Everest, his response was ‘one step at a time’. So what is your Everest? Have a clear defined goal and know what you want, but always pull it back to the moment. When you are about to cave into that sugar fix or that self-sabotaging talk, this is that one step. But it also presents the perfect opportunity to take the step in the right direction. So when you want to cave, think of Edmund and ask yourself are you living in the moment.

5. Are you hanging out with the right people?

This one may seem a little harsh, but if your mate is wafting a chocolate cookie under your nose whilst you are on sugar free mission, you have got to wonder right? True friends will support you and not try to ram unhealthy choices down your throat to justify their own actions. Changing habits is tough enough as it is, so if you want to make it happen, hang out with people who actually walk their talk when it comes to health and exercise. Don’t be intimidated by this, most people that live and breath health are only to happy to help others who are genially trying to change. Just don’t be one of those people at the party saying ‘I really do want to eat better’ as you chow down on your third sausage roll followed by the chocolate cheese cake.

I’m sure this could have been a top 500 post, but you get the idea. Jokes aside, I honestly believe if we can put our hand on heart (yes do it now) and say I’m totally happy with where I’m at, then who is anyone to say differently? But if you do catch yourself making excuses to justify the actions that go against what makes you truly happy, then maybe it is time to dig deep and go for it! Seriously, what have you got to lose?

Do you have any great excuses you’ve heard or awesome ways to crush them? Or are you struggling to start? We would love to hear, as your comments below help other too. Awesome, Guy

 

Guy Lawrence

This article is brought to you by Guy Lawrence. Guy is a qualified fitness trainer with over 10 years of experience in the health industry. Guy worked at the UTS Fitness Centre in Sydney Australia where he specialised in exercise nutrition and obtained his Certificate in Exercise Nutrition and Certified... Read More
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