The Top 5 Excuses for Maintaining an Unhealthy Lifestyle
#1 is, I don’t have time. #2 is, I don’t see results #3 is, I feel I am already too unfit. #4 is, I don’t have the motivation. And, #5 is, The gym is too far away. Do you fit in the Top 5 Excuse Category?
A healthy lifestyle includes exercising, eating nutritionally balanced meals, daily stress relief, quality sleep nightly, not smoking, alcohol moderation, and annual physicals. An unhealthy lifestyle can lead to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and more.
We know what we need to do. We know the risks associated with not doing those things. We have a list of excuses. What’s wrong with this? I believe we all want to live long, healthy lives. Yet, if we continue doing the wrong things every day, we increase our real risk of having someone change our diapers for the last five or ten years of our lives. No one wants to be a burden on others.
How do we break out of this comfort zone that can lead to higher medical bills, dependence on others, taking more pills, and figuring out who those people are who know your name and visit you daily? You won’t care who those people are because you won’t remember their visits two minutes after they left.
It is hard to find the time. I think everyone understands that excuse. We make time for what we want to do. Daily exercise is not something that we have written on our daily ‘to do’ list. Therefore, it doesn’t have a priority today. It is not written down, you won’t think about it, and it won’t happen. Very convenient!
We live in that ‘need to see results now’ age. If it doesn’t happen immediately, then it won’t happen. Yet, those extra fifty pounds didn’t happen overnight. They happened with the additional daily calories and no significant exercise. We live incrementally however expect results immediately. Why?
That extra fifty or more pounds might make us think that we are past the point of no return. No amount of diet and exercise will fix it, especially when you have tried everything in the past and failed. Giving up and maintaining an unfit lifestyle is the best that you can hope for. Especially considering your current health.
Motivation is a personal thing. What might motivate one person does not affect another. Pleasure versus pain is the decision process discussed by many from Freud to Anthony Robbins. Dr. Morris Massey talks about the Significant Emotional Event (SEE) in our lives. When we have a SEE, we make a decision immediately to change our behavior.
We see people change after recovering from a stroke or heart attack. 50% of people with severe heart disease never recover from their first stroke or heart attack. When given a new lease on life, they make changes, even if they don’t like what they have to do. We all value the many to few years left in our lives.
Do you need to go to the gym to exercise? Do you need to go to a different restaurant every night to eat? Do we become dependent on other people to live our daily lives? Choosing not to go to the gym is easy. It’s too hot. It’s too cold. There’s too much traffic this time of day. There are too many people in the gym. I don’t want other people to see me. Excuses abound. Pick one!
My wife and I walked the Camino de Santiago in 2016. We decided to do it. We bought walking shoes and socks and started walking. We walked daily for nearly a year to get ready for a 500-mile hike across Spain. It all starts with a decision to do something. It might take a small investment in clothes, equipment, or trainers to get you started on the right path. If it is crucial for you to do, then that decision is the first choice to be made.
You have choices once you make a ‘No Matter What Decision’ to improve your health. The starting line is in front of you. Cross it and get out of one section of your comfort zone.