To sum up the No Excuses Week here at Fearless Fat Loss, I have something very simple for you – a suggestion that you take the weekend and write down all of the excuses that you’ve been using to keep yourself from really going for it.
Take out a piece of paper and list every excuse that you can come up with, every excuse that you’ve been telling yourself for why NOW isn’t a good time to make some changes in your lifestyle so that you can lose weight and get fit.
Your list might include excuses like:
- I don’t have time.
- It’s too late, I’m already 25, 35, 45, 55, etc. years old.
- I’m afraid of failure.
- It’s too hard to lose weight, I’ve already tried.
- I’m afraid of success!
- My (husband, wife, kid(s) significant other, etc.) doesn’t care, why should I? (hey, this is one of the worst excuses and I didn’t write about it this week but it’s really important that you care for you for you instead of for someone else. 😉 )
- I can’t exercise, there’s no place for me to walk and sometimes it hurts when I walk.
However many excuses you can come up with just write them all down. It doesn’t matter if you have 100 or 30, just get them out on paper.
After you have your list of excuses then go ahead and get a fresh piece of paper and list everything that you want to change about your body, your health, and your fitness. Your list might look something like:
I want to:
- Increase my upper body strength.
- Have a flat belly and toned abs.
- Lose (insert #) pounds.
- Be able to run a mile with ease.
- Be able to walk a mile with ease (this comes before running, lol) 🙂
- Wear a smaller size and look awesome.
- Have loads of energy without pumping myself with caffeine.
- Love the food I eat.
- Learn how to cook.
- Get a healthy high from exercising.
Don’t stop with 10 but write down every little thing that you want to create and change in your body and health and while you’re doing this get excited about it! Imagine how you’ll feel looking the way you want to, feeling the way you want to, and acting how you want to.
Is It Worth It?
After you’ve gotten everything down on paper go back over both lists and see if you can add anything else to them and once you’re satisfied that you’ve “gotten it all out” it’s time to compare them. Read through your excuses and then focus on your list of wants asking yourself if your excuses are worth giving up what you want. Is it worth it to continue living in the land of excuses or is it better for you to move on to create the body and lifestyle that you listed?
This is a big decision and one that can be a powerful motivator for you to take action and begin creating the life and health that you truly want. The goal here is to focus on what you want and let those excuses go. You could fold up your excuses and put them away in case you need a reminder in the future (that they are just excuses) but take your list of wants and put them up where you’ll see them every day.
And remember, you don’t have to redesign your entire lifestyle today but if you take it one step at a time and week by week make one more healthy choice, then eventually you’ll be living a fully healthy lifestyle; and I bet you’ll even lose weight. 😉
Your Weekend Exercise
So that’s your exercise for the weekend to wrap up our No Excuses Week at Fearless Fat Loss. After you do it I’m interested to hear your results, whether or not you feel some motivation stirring and if you’ve started to take action – feel free to come on back and leave a comment to share your experience!
done.
I have a TON of excuses for not doing what I ostensible want to do—-now we see if I actually get off my arse 🙂
MizFits last blog post..Monday Facetime
Wonderful idea, thanks for sharing. This post spoke right through me. No more excuses indeed. Time to get fit, yoga tonight.
@M,
You’re a physical trainer though, (?) I bet you don’t have to get yourself to move. 😉
Keep up the great work!
@MA,
Oh good, I’m really glad that I could help you get going there….writing this post has helped me, too, I’m not immune to excuses, that’s for sure.
Have fun with your yoga! 🙂
GREAT blog! 🙂
Rebeccas last blog post..Rose-colored windows
Hi Rebecca, thanks!
Hope I answered all of your questions in my email, too. 🙂