Thursday, December 18, 2014

Excuses, Excuses


My friend posted this on Facebook as a funny…. halfway jokingly suggesting to her husband that he post this in his office (he works as a Family Nurse Practitioner). The reason why I say halfway joking… is I know this is a sentiment that she feels pretty strongly about. Her father (and by extension, her mother and the rest of her family) is suffering from complications due to diabetes. She has taken responsibility for her own health, eating properly, making sure she stays a healthy weight, and getting regular exercise as she is determined that she not have to deal with the same things later in her life.

It is also a sentiment I share. I have zero patience with excuses. ZERO! They frustrate me to no end! When people suggest that the reason they are overweight is due to genetics… I want to scream! That is nothing more than an excuse. It may be real. Their entire family may be overweight. They may have been raised eating unhealthy food. But when it comes down to brass tacks… the choice is still theirs. Nobody is shoveling food down your throat and forcing you to swallow. I also believe that there is an amazing liberating freedom that comes from accepting responsibility for your own actions. If obesity really did depend on genetics… then people like me are sore outta luck! But by recognizing that my own choices got me here… that also means that my own choices can get me out of here. If it wasn't my fault that I became obese… how can I hope to change it?

However… let me say this… while I have zero patience with excuses… I have a lot of patience (and respect) for honesty. Rather than making excuses (like your whole family is overweight), just be honest and say that losing weight is not something that is that important to you right now. And that's okay! It is your body and your choice on how to treat it. There will always be consequences for your choices… both positive and negative… but if you are willing to accept those consequences, the choice is absolutely yours to make. And I recognize that just because it's not important to you now… doesn't mean it won't become important to you. So I can be patient with that. There truly is a time and a season for everything… and just because this is my time and season… doesn't mean it's yours. I'm okay with that. Just be honest about it rather than making excuses for it.

Okay. Now I'm done with my little soapbox on excuses. Onto happier things…

I have had a 30 day plank challenge pinned on one of my boards on Pinterest for ages. It's always been something I've wanted to do. But the last time I tried a plank…I couldn't even get up into one…. much less hold it! So, I've been working on core strength doing other exercises. But earlier tonight, I decided it was time to try again. So got down on the floor and tried to push myself up into a plank. And I made it! I wasn't able to hold it for long… but I got up there. Later on that evening… after my workout… I checked out my plank challenge. Day one required holding it for 20 seconds. I decided to set my stopwatch on my phone and see how long I could force myself to hold a plank. I was really hoping I could make 20 seconds. And I made it for 20 seconds! It was rough. Darn near killed me. My body started to shake at about 18 seconds. But held on for 20 seconds.

And I'm pretty d@mn proud of that! For some reason I had in my mind the idea that planks belonged to the ranks of the elite in physical fitness. I think that's one reason why I wanted to be able to do it so badly. I also knew that planks were great for strengthening your core. And someday when I lose all this belly fat… I want to have abs under there! So being able to do a plank means a lot to me. I know I'm not in the ranks of the elite… but the fact that I can do a plank shows me what I'm capable of becoming. And that means a lot.

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