Empty excuses

I was so busy this week I didn't have time to work out. I just couldn't muster up the energy to get those crunches done. I was on the go all the time and so the only food I had time for was fast food, that's why I haven't lost any weight. My dog ate my resistance bands.

Yeah, I hate excuses. If you didn't work out, fine, whatever. But don't tell me that somewhere in the back of your head you didn't make the choice to not work out, to not decided to walk some extra steps around the house while doing chore, to not order something healthier or smaller at the drive through. And for goodness sake, keep those bands away from that dog!

As much as I hate excuses, why did I find myself using them so much this week?

I painted the kitchen and I'm having a Pampered Chef party this weekend and so I have to clean the whole house and I've been so tired so I really didn't have time. Sound like the excuses above? That's right, they are. Every "reason" is really just an empty excuse.

Empty excuses are like empty calories. They add up quickly but they really don't do anything meaningful for you. Every time I make an excuse for myself I just set myself up for more failure. I can mess up, I can make mistakes, but an excuse doesn't do anything. It just let's me, in my own little world in my head, have a good "reason" why I didn't do something to better my health.

I'm tired. Why do you think I'm tired? Probably because I'm not getting that energy kick workouts normally give me.

I didn't have time. Yeah, but I definitely had time to watch my hour-long favorite show. Who's to say I couldn't have picked up my dumbbells or sit on my ball and get some work done on some muscles, even if it was just during the commercials. Those commercials really add up.

I couldn't make healthy meals. There are healthier choices wherever you go for fast food or sit-down dining. Almost any place you goes has grilled chicken or salads, or both. Skip the mayonnaise and you have some tasty treats anywhere you can drive through or drive to.

Working out and being healthy. We each get to decide where this activity, where this life goal fits in our lives and in our schedules. There are things that may get in the way sometimes, but if I decide that working out is high on my priority list, it will get done. If I decide that eating to be healthy is important enough to be ahead of a lot of other things on my priority list then it will get done. When I decide that "I'm too tired" or "I have too much cleaning to do" I am choosing where I fit, when it comes to my health, on my list of priorities. When I choose to place myself lower on that list then I need to own up to it. Not make an excuse about why something didn't get done.

I hate empty excuses. Hopefully I can place me high enough again that I start to get healthier because I also know that to go back one month to where I was before I started this journey is not going to happen. I know I'll falter in this goal at some point in time just like most others. We fail, then we get back up and try again, maybe even harder this time.