Excuses

How many times in a single day do we come up with an excuse for one thing or another? I was going to write about my excuses for not exercising, for not eating right, for being fat … But as I sit here contemplating the whys of all of this I find that some of my excuses are more like half truths. I also find that my excuses and half truths all intertwine with each other making it that much more complicated to explain. Lastly, I find that some of my excuses and half truths are just blatant lies I tell myself. (And I thought this was going to be easy!)

Excuse/Half Truth #1: I don’t exercise because it hurts.
That’s a valid excuse, right? For self preservation we want to avoid pain. So it is a truth, right? The only answer I can come up with is yes and no. So I have to dig deeper into my motivation, or lack there of, of avoiding exercise. Point—it hurts! But why does it hurt? Because according to the plethora of weight and BMI (body mass index) scales my current weight of 223 pounds puts me 73-109 pounds over weight and my BMI of 37.1 should be 18.5-24.9. It hurts, physically and emotionally. Every minute of every day I am carrying around what amounts to two 50 pound bags of dry dog food or an average sized 13 year old kid! So yeah, it’s gonna hurt to do much more that get through a normal day, doing the bear minimum of what I need to do—go to the bathroom, let the dogs outs, tread down the stairs to do laundry, stand and do dishes or cook. That stuff is hard enough—then add exercise to it! Ummmm….ouch!

Excuse/Half Truth #2: I just don’t have the time!
Ummm…for me, right now, that’s an out and out LIE! I’m at home, on medical leave, but cleared to do whatever I want except lift anything over 10 pounds. I fill my days with watching TV, playing stupid computer games and surfing the net—basically sitting on my ass. In between that, I nap. Yet I tell myself everyday that I don’t have time. And when life was normal—when I was working, I’d tell myself the same thing. But, what did I do that took all my time on a daily basis? Got up 15 minutes before leaving for work, work, come home and, ummm…watch TV, play stupid computer games and surf the net and oh, let’s not forget the nap before dinner.  Lie!

Excuse/Half Truth #3: I don’t eat right because it’s too expensive.
This is very much a twisted mess. It IS expensive to buy healthy food. Fresh fruits and veggies cost a lot. A 2 liter bottle of soda costs a third of what half gallon of orange juice does, and hey, kool aid is even cheaper than the soda. But, if I (or my husband, as he does the shopping—long story, but I freak out in the grocery store!) would forgo buying chips and sugary cereal, meat….I could afford to eat healthier. Ugh!

Excuse/Half Truth #4: I don’t have time to cook healthy.
Well, we pretty much covered that already.

Excuse/Half Truth #5: I’m a picky eater!
This is a mixed bag of worms! Truly I am a picky eater. I’m not much for vegetables. Sort of a plain Jane type of gal. I like green beans and peas, lettuce, cucumber, radish and carrots and cabbage (both raw!) That’s about it for the green stuff. I am a beef girl (more ways than one—LOL). Chicken, I can sometimes tolerate. As far as fish and pork go (well, except bacon and ham) ah… no thank you, I’d rather go hungry. I do like beans and nuts. Fruits…another plain Jane on those—apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, plums, peaches, cantaloupe…strawberries and raspberries I can do. But that’s about it. Oh, regular type potatoes, onion and raw turnip. Yep that sums it all up. God forbid, you mix any of that stuff, except for the salad fixings those can touch each other. I do quite well, thank you with divided plates!

Excuse/Half Truth #6: I am fat because of Excuse/Half Truth’s 1-5
Now this is a very loaded statement! It has a lot of truth behind it! I AM fat (ugh, that word again) because I don’t exercise, I eat poorly and I don’t make the time to do what’s the right thing to do. However, this statement is also ONE BIG EXCUSE! It is an excuse because I chose to behave in the manor that I do. I chose to sit in front of the computer. I chose not to try new foods. I chose prepackaged or processed foods over fresh. I chose to ignore what I see in the mirror. I chose not to do what I KNOW must do!!!

So, now what? I guess it’s time to truly start fighting the demons, confront the Lady in the Mirror and make us both face reality and force ourselves to make those hard decisions.