Excuses - what are your excuses for not working out or doing exercise?

Excuses, excuses, excuses.  I hear them all the time from people. Agreed, we do live in a fast, post-modern lifestyle where everything is immediate and we are all so, so busy, but I still think that we can manage our lives better.

This is why I have written this blog article to tackle and counteract the most common excuses I hear.

So here goes...

1) I can’t lose weight on my own.

Motivation is an important part of keeping fit. Try and make yourself accountable to someone by getting someone – a family member or close friend – involved with your fitness.  This way, you can report to someone, discuss difficulties and what you like, talk over your lack of motivation, or you could start a diary or a blog and make yourself accountable to yourself or to the internet and therefore the whole world!

2) “I don’t like exercise”

Sometimes, as adults, we have a bad taste in our mouth surrounding exercise because we did not enjoy school PE or sport lessons, and we take this negative view of exercise into our adulthood.  Try and lift yourself out of this negative mindset regarding exercise, and realise that actually, it can be fun, whether it is hiking, going on a bike ride, playing Frisbee, aqua aerobics, pliates – there is so much variety you need to try and find something that you like.  I promise you, there must be something out there!

Also, take a look at my fitspirational quote video:

3) "I’m too tired"

This is a hard one as if you’ve been out all day or have a full time job, tiredness can be a real demotivator. Remember that exercise can actually invigorate you and release more energy. Exercise can also suppress the appetite so that’s a double whammy!

4) "I do not have a gym membership/gym nearby"

People say to me, well it’s easy enough for you, you have your own mini gym at home and it’s so easy. Yes, fair enough, but there are so many other ways to exercise as well. 

You can be inventive – if you need to post a letter, run to the letterbox.

You have the internet – there are plenty of free exercise videos on youtube, including a few of my own.

If you have stairs in your house, do one step exercises – for 5 minutes with your favourite music, go up and down on the bottom stair. You can take it slowly or do it quickly. Be inventive…the list is endless.

5) "I don’t have enough time"

You need to make time, and time manage your weekly schedule better.  Give yourself a bird’s eye view of how your weeks pan out, and make changes of where you could fit in a 10 or 20 minute work out. Set goals and challenges for yourself.

6) “I’ve missed a session. I’ll never get back on track”

It happens to everybody, no one sails through life without ever missing a session. It's normal, the thing is not to let that mean a return to a sedentary lifestyle. Just start again and bear in mind you’re not starting back at the same place as before. You may have to redo some of what you’ve already done, but you’ll get back to where you were, faster. The body adapts quickly – especially if it’s doing something it's familiar with.

7) “It’s hard work”

Learn to love it. Find the sport you like, whether with other people like friends of a family member, and start to enjoy it.  Soon it’ll not feel like hard work.  Saying it’s hard work is a good excuse to give up.  Visit my ‘exercise’ page on my website and try out the different workouts.  They start slowly and build up gradually.  For example, you can't start running 5K without having to gradually build up, and that’s why there is the progression element of my exercise page, starting at the top. You will gradually improve your stamina.

Just remember that you can handle this and you are able to conquer any barrier.  When that little voice in your head tells you you cannot, tell it, “I CAN do this” and re-say this to yourself ten times; you need the mental strength to stay committed to the new lifestyle.  Where your head is right now will determine your success rate on the way to losing weight and having a healthy body and mind.

The key to achieving anything in life; not just weight loss; is with your mind. 

Feel free to see my vlog on this article too: