Recognizing excuses is the first step

So there is a trend going on lately that I find quite alarming.  I hope to address it in a way that does not come off as a rant.  I do find this trend frustrating, but I can also relate.  I see this trend in Fat acceptance blogs, in real life, heck even in my life when I was 335 lbs and even now.  People keep making excuses to stay fat or to continue unhealthy habits.  Or rather, they're making excuses as to why they cannot be healthy.

I remember making every excuse in the book.  "I'll start tracking calories tomorrow, I feel terrible about ordering this pizza, but now it's here I'll eat it and tomorrow will be a new start."  Or, "I have been just running myself ragged, I'm stressed, I have NO time to figure out how to be healthy."  Or, "I have PCOS, it's hard for me to lose weight.  The doctor even said so." I have said to myself, "Nobody cares enough to help me."  or my favourite, "I can never see myself being thin, I have no willpower. Why start when I'm only going to fail?"

I've said these to myself a MILLION times.  But they are just excuses, plain and simple.  I knew they where excuses when I told them to myself.  So do me a favour, even if you don't decided to adopt a healthy lifestyle or to exercise. Recognize when you're making excuses and make plans to do things differently next time.  Set small goals.  If you find yourself saying you have "no time" to eat healthy and to prepare meals then plan to do things differently.  Take more time for yourself and work less.  Or re-arrange your schedule.  The important thing is to recognize it for what it is, an excuse.  Recognize it, learn from it, make a plan then move on.

Let me give you an example.  Remember last week when I recognized that I was eating out too much?  I was telling myself that it was "okay" because the places I was eating fit into my calorie limit I even told myself it was okay because the fast food sandwiches had veggies.  I was ignoring what was good for me because I didn't want to confront myself.  I didn't want to admit that it was bad for me.

Eating out occasionally is okay, but not every day.  Restaurants usually have high sodium, hidden calories and for me, are addicting.  If I can't make myself stop, and I make excuses to keep doing this behavior  then it's a problem.  So what did I do?  I admitted it to myself that I was making excuses to go.  I said my life was stressful and I had no time.  Yes, I did have less time to myself than normal but that is life.  I need to deal with it and move on.

So I said on my blog that I wanted to go the rest of the week without eating out.  And I did!  I set a small attainable goal, and I went out and did it. I went the rest of the week without any takeout or restaurant foods.  In fact, it was easy.  I just didn't want to admit to myself that making food at home was just as easy as eating out because I prefer eating out.  I prefer saltier foods, I prefer junk.  I cannot let myself go into that cycle and I needed to stop it in it's tracks.

Eating healthy, living healthy and exercising are not easy.  Sometimes they're uncomfortable, and heaven forbid they sometimes take up your time!  It's like washing dishes, nobody wants to do it, but you have to.

So tell me (or admit to yourself), what excuses do you make in order to support unhealthy habits?  What plans are you making to change that?  I have encountered probably every excuse you can think of, and I have beaten them all or have worked around them.  Weight loss might seem like a never ending battle, and it's not black and white.  But setting small goals and overcoming those mental barriers is the first step.  Nay, the first battle!  It's tough, but I promise it's worth it.

Recognizing excuses is the first step to turning around bad habits.