Monday 15 December 2008

Excuses, Excuses

Winter is a great time for all those excuses not to exercise. I'm hearing stacks of them at the moment and they're not even original....."but I've got too much to do", "Work's manic", "the kids have so much on at school", "it's too cold", "it's too dark" etc. etc.

The big two = lack of time and lack of motivation!

Come on guys! For what may sound like the most shallow, but important reason to most,to exercise, is surely to look hot in your little black dress at all the Christmas parties you'll be going to over the next few weeks (men too, if you're that way inclined!).

On a more serious note, exercise, along with positive thinking (long live self help books) and a good healthy diet is THE WAY FORWARD.

How much do YOU value YOUR health?

As Gillian Mckeith says You ARE what you eat, but you ARE also how you think and you ARE also how much you move. If these three things are out of kilter your overall health will suffer.

Of course I'm not advocating that you don't let your hair down and have the odd glass of something alcoholic or eat the odd party nibble or mince pie with cream cause I definitely will be. But it's the old 80/20 rule again.

Back to exercise, movement is one of the secrets to life.The human body was designed to move in all sorts of functional ways, and to keep it flexible and mobile the government recommends we exercise for 30 minutes 5 x weekly - but hey guess what? millions of us are not doing it even twice a week let alone 5 times.

The thing about exercise is it shouldn't be a chore - if it is it stands to reason you won't stick to it, and that's where all the excuses come in.

It's all about finding what works for you, and once you find this you'll get a buzz from it, it will motivate you and so you'll want to go back and do more! Some of my clients moan when I present them with a programme they're not sure of, or they think will be too hard, but afterwards when they get the 'exercise high' they're thanking me for it.

You need to find a way to get your exercise high. Go on, there's something out there for everyone whether it's squash, cycling, weight training, brisk walking, sky diving,skiing,sex,dancing,running - why not make 2009 your year for trying something new, you never know you may just love it!

Once you've found it, schedule it into your diary as you would a work meeting, dentist appointment or parents evening at school - actually it's far more important than all of those things as your health depends upon it, and if you look at it that way it's a MUST.

Today's top tip : 5 minutes exercise a day is a great start - no excuses! and do it in the morning because as the day goes on it's easy to find excuses as to why you can't do it!

2 comments:

Ian Mayhew said...

Thanks for the motivation Ruth. I say this just as I go out for a christmas curry tonight - i will bike it off tomorrow though I promise!

Ruth said...

Let you off then!!
Rx