Make a List of Your Excuses

I get this question often: How do you fit in time to exercise? Especially with your busy schedule?

My answer? Just do it!

Yes, as much as we cringe at it, that Nike commercial rings true! It IS indeed simply a matter of "just do it." Exercise is my non-negotiable. It's NOT an option to miss it (unless of course some major catastrophe has occurred in my life or I'm running a fever of 103F!). Truly. That's why there are nights like last night - I was on my elliptical machine until after 11:00 p.m.! My day was so crazy that I literally couldn't fit it in until then, and since I don't allow myself the option to miss a session, I hopped on that big, black, metal beast late at night.

Trust me, I spent years performing sporadic exercise...thinking I was really working hard because I fit in three big walks during a week, or two runs another week. But I had really good reasons why I couldn't exercise on the other days (and some really good "not-so-good" reasons). The good ones? I was up all night with a baby and exhausted, or I had a busy schedule with the kids, or I had to work late to meet a deadline or company was visiting from out of town. The not-so-good excuses? My hang nail hurts, or it might rain, or I've had a hard day so I deserve to just sit on my tush on the couch tonight or my favorite show is on in ten minutes.

The cold, hard facts are your body will suffer in the long run (and probably the short run, too) if every other thing in your life takes precedence over exercise and health.

Make a list today of the good (and not-so-good) excuses why your exercise routine is either non-existent or sporadic. Be very specific. Think through a typical day and write down those secret thoughts that convince you not to exercise. Then make another list - the "why I can and should exercise" list. Put it in your purse, post it on your refrigerator or tape it to your computer monitor so the next time that dark voice tries to convince you with excuses to watch TV instead of exercise, you'll have a physical reminder of why you shouldn't.

My young friend who was determined to lose weight began walking...EVERY DAY. Not just strolling mind you - but power walking. She committed to an hour daily and within only weeks, she dropped 7 pounds. It took clearing her schedule and making consistency with exercise a priority.

I know it may not seem like it now, but trust me, once you get in the groove of making exercise an integral part of your daily life, you'll actually crave it. Really!