Excuses and Self-care

I started this blog because when people see me and are shocked by the change they see in me, they want to know how I did it.  I usually am flattered, but sometimes I hear and see my old self when they respond.

I have heard  just about every reason whey people want to lose weight, but can't.  It almost always has to do with being too busy, which really makes me laugh.  I work full time, have two kids and am in college.  Until I went back to school, I was actively involved in service at my church.  Yet, somehow I found the time to make my health a priority.

I used to make excuses too.  I didn't go to the gym because it was too cold, because I didn't have anyone to go with, because I was too tired, too fat, I didn't have time, I didn't feel like it, I didn't have the energy.  You name it, I had the excuse.  When people ask me how I lost weight and respond with these kinds of answers, I totally get it.  I do.

This made me laugh!!!!  

This is how I used to think when I made excuses for not exercising or for eating garbage.  I didn't really have a legitimate excuse.  I simply was not ready to commit.

When you are ready to make the change in your life, you have to be honest with yourself, you have to make yourself a priority, you have to stop making excuses and you have to say, "Enough is enough."  Once that happens, you can move forward.

Self-care is important to the big picture.  When you take care of yourself physically, you are able to take care of yourself mentally and spiritually, as well.  Taking time out of your day to exercise and to plan nutritious meals is worth the overall benefit.

You can't adequately take care of other people if you don't take care of yourself.

In fact, the Bible agrees with this!  There are at least 8 different Scriptures that include the following:

"Love your neighbor as yourself."

Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, and James 2:8
When the Bible says this over and over, it must be important!

Think about this.  If you are stressed, your family feels it.  If you aren't sleeping enough, you can't cope with everything life throws at you.  If you are not centered physically, mentally and spiritually, your relationships and your family suffer.  Job performance is not optimal if you are stressed.  Seek balance.

You must consider both exercise and nutrition.  Plan exercise into your routine every day.  If you make it a priority, you know you can count on at least six out of seven days each week, which is optimal.  I wake up in the morning asking myself, "When am I going to the gym today?"  If I have a busy or full day ahead, I work in at least a 30 minute workout in between the craziness.  I always have a packed gym bag in my car.  Think about this, one hour at the gym each day is only 4% of your day.  You are worth that!

Meal planning has helped me tremendously with sticking to my nutritional goals.  It takes some getting used to, but it helps me to stick to just about the same things for breakfast, mid-morning snack and lunch every day.  It can be boring, but it's easy and doesn't require much thought.  Dinner is the real challenge.  I try to grocery shop on the weekends with meals for the week in mind.  I stock up on lots of fruits and vegetables, chicken breasts, ground turkey and/or chicken, lean cuts of pork and / or beef (steak).  Things don't always go as planned, and sometimes my planned menu for dinner is changed.  When I fail to plan, my macros get all wacko and I over-do it either with calories, carbohydrates and / or fat every time.  At this point, it doesn't hurt me too much because I ride my bike so much that I can afford the calories.  I have to be cautious, as the bike season will end and I need to stick to my guidelines or I will gain weight.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
I Corinthians 10:31

The bottom line is this.  If you want to lose weight, if you want to improve your overall fitness levels, you have to stop making excuses and start thinking of yourself as being just as important as everyone and everything else.

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