Lifestyle Excuses

Remember as a kid thinking about using the excuse “the dog ate my homework” when you forgot to do it? While you may have been one of those kids who absolutely loved homework and studying, I would venture to guess that the thought at least crossed your mind more than once throughout your school days. In fact, you probably even thought about pretending to be sick just to get out of a test. It seems this mentality continues as we age. Excuses we make to get out of exercising, to rationalize being lazy or overweight. Why do we allow this mentality of excuses to permeate our culture? Why do we choose one lifestyle over another?

Many times, unless we are faced with a life-threatening illness, we do not change our ways. But why should it take a situation like that to create a lifestyle change? Why can we not take control of our lives and live healthy? Is contentment more preferable than wellness? Is it because we cannot see the havoc our poor choices are having on our body that we seem to think we are okay? It is easy to say that if given an ultimatum we will choose the option that helps us. But if it’s not an ultimatum we tend to gravitate towards what we want, what makes us feel good, what is easiest.

If you look around yourself throughout the day, chances are you will see people who look incredibly healthy and those who have made excuses and don’t look healthy. Which would you rather be? Choosing a lifestyle of health and wellness means no more excuses. It means not waiting for that ultimatum, or life-threatening illness, to force you to change your ways. It means taking control of your life. Yes, looking good and feeling good requires discipline. It requires awareness and better choices. But you are also rewarded with countless benefits:

• better sleep
• more energy
• improved moods
• weight loss
• lower stress
• increased muscle mass

The next time you feel the need to make an excuse to remain sedentary, eat unhealthy, or make other poor choices, stop yourself. Ask yourself this question, “Do I want to tempt fate and wait for that ultimatum to make a change, or do I want to take that first step today because I value myself and my quality of life?”