What’s Your Excuse?

I’ve been in this industry a long time and I’ve heard almost every excuse in the book when it comes to fitness and weight loss.  The truth is, that no matter how bad you have it, there’s probably someone out there who has it worse off than you and they’re still not making any excuses.

You think you’ve got it bad?

Colt Wynn has it bad.

At the tender age of 15 Colt Wynn was shot and paralyzed from the waist down in a hunting accident.  To suggest that there is pain associated with such an injury would be an understatement.  The pain of an injury like this is incredible.  Unfortunately, this probably wasn’t the worst part of it for Colt.

Imagine the emotional devastation of having suddenly lost the use of your legs at 15 years old.  You’re in the prime of your life and your legs are literally cut out from under you.  Every part of your life is about to change and there’s nothing you can do about it.

One major problem with many spinal cord patients like Colt is chronic pain.  It doesn’t go away.  They are also at severe risk for obesity because it is exceptionally difficult to burn calories when you can only exercise with one half of your body.  Most people in this position just end up perpetually gaining weight and becoming increasingly more unhealthy.  Many become Type II diabetics and are plagued with all of the associated complications of this disease as well as being paraplegic.

As I said, there is always someone who has it worse than you.  Colt is one of those people.  While keeping Colt’s problem in mind for a little perspective, let’s address some of the most common excuses I hear when it comes to fitness and nutrition.

“I have no time to exercise.”

Nonsense.

Before people even start training at our facility we have them fill out a lifestyle questionnaire as part of our introductory survey.  On almost every single one I’ve seen, people have reported watching between 1 and 4 hours of television per day.  Do you really mean to tell me that you can’t find 2 or 3 hours per week to get active?

Think about it this way, if you were to give up one hour per night that you’d typically spend watching television it would amount to more than 9 forty hour work weeks at the end of one year.  Imagine what you could accomplish. 

Maybe you’re just not ready to give up your TV time.  No problem.  Just don’t tell me that you don’t have any because that’s a load of BS.

“But I can’t afford a personal trainer.”

Nonsense.

If you’re not fit the reason probably isn’t because you don’t have a personal trainer.  You don’t really need someone to tell you that eating hamburgers is bad and that walking from the couch to the fridge does not constitute exercise.

A knowledgeable personal trainer can get you to your goals a lot faster.  I certainly won’t deny that.  But there are some obvious things you can do that will improve your health and you know what they are.   If you just do those simple things you’ll be amazed at the results you can get.  Sometimes the best advice we can give someone is very common sense.  It’s just something that they knew they should’ve been doing, but weren’t.

If you do get stuck, there are excellent personal trainers out there who have consulting programs designed to get you excellent results and provide accountability at an affordable rate.  *Insert shameless plug here*

“I can’t afford a gym membership.  And healthy food is expensive.”

Nonsense.

This one burns me up.  Almost everyone I’ve talked to that says that they can’t afford a gym membership or healthy food has satellite television, a big screen TV, and owns at least one video game system.  There are also a few who tell me that they go out for fast food, smoke, or drink regularly.

Hey look…I found you some extra money.

Granted there are those who genuinely don’t have the money for a gym membership.  If this is you…you’re still not off the hook.  You have legs.  Go walk.  When that gets easy, go run.  When it gets cold outside, walk inside.  Try the mall.  Memberships for swimming at local recreation centers usually cost less than $100 per year.  That’s less than $10 per month!

With regards to food, I’ll wholeheartedly agree that chicken breasts cost more than Kraft dinner.  But then again, you can’t eat your Xbox so consider where you spend your money and what is really important to you.

“I can’t lose weight because of my age.”

Nonsense.

It might be difficult to get in shape at your age, but it isn’t impossible.  Regardless of how old you are, getting in shape takes effort.  Nobody ever got in shape by watching television.  It’s going to take consistent hard work to get the job done.  Maybe in your case it’ll take a little extra.

If you’re not willing to put in the effort that’s fine.  Just don’t use age as an excuse.

“I can’t lose weight because I’m a woman.”

Nonsense.

Women have different biological systems than men, but they’re generally governed by the same physiological rules. 

Forgive me for stereotyping here, but in most cases I’ve seen it isn’t that men lose weight easier.  More often, it’s that guys tend to develop significantly worse eating habits than the women.  When we pull out the daily Big Mac combos and soft drinks they’ll lose weight like crazy.  Most women just don’t usually eat like this and it makes it seem that much harder for them.

In fact, the majority of the women we deal with have been on so many crash diets that they’ve essentially destroyed their metabolisms.  Sometimes we even have to go through an exhaustive 2 month protocol just to restore their metabolism before they have any hope of losing another pound.  It isn’t usually being a woman that makes the weight loss seem slow, but the damage to their metabolism caused by the way they typically eat.

I hate to say this, but it might just be better if women started eating more like men instead of starving themselves.  That way, when they actually decide to make a real, permanent change in their life they don’t have to undo all that damage.

Madonna.  Obviously a woman.  Obviously in great shape.

“But there physiological conditions that make it incredibly difficult to lose weight.”

You’re absolutely right.

There ARE conditions that make it hard to lose weight and they probably affect 1% of the population.  Chances are that the one percent does not include you.

Regardless, I’ve seen people with thyroid disorders lose weight.  I’ve seen people with incredibly slow metabolisms get very lean.  I’ve even seen skinny guys get buff and put on loads of muscle to look great on the beach.

It all comes down to desire and dedication.  You might have to work hard.  You might even have to work harder than everyone else, but the obstacles can be overcome.

Speaking of obstacles, what ever happened to Colt?

When Colt lost the ability to walk he had a decision to make.  He could easily make excuses for why he couldn’t remain fit and healthy throughout the rest of his life.  God knows, there were plenty at his disposal.  Instead, Colt chose a different path.  In light of all the obstacles Colt chose to be different than the vast majority of people.  Colt starting weight training while he was still in the hospital with a broken back!!!

Despite that fact that Colt would never walk again and that he would face several obstacles that would stop most people in their tracks, he made a decision to be active and healthy and didn’t make any excuses along the way.

He put in hours of rehab, got his diet in order, and trained his ass off in the gym to get in the best shape of his life.  This type of effort is more than most normal are willing to put in, but there was Colt, training in his wheelchair.  Now, Colt is a wheelchair bodybuilding champion several times over and continues to overcome every obstacle in his path. 

The next time you think you’ve got it bad and that everything in life is preventing you from becoming lean, fit, strong, and healthy think of Colt.

You have no more excuses.  It only comes down to one decision. 

Are you willing to work for it?

 

Posted: November 7th, 2007 at 04:21pm By: mark