Exercise is the first thing to go when I get busy and/or stressed out. And I’m both busy and stressed out until school gets out in 10 days.

I decided this week that I need to Excuse Proof my exercise routine.

Excuse #1. “I don’t have time.”
I cut the time from 40 minutes to 20 minutes. I figure it is better to exercise 20 mins a day, 5 days a week - rather than 40 mins once a week. I did this last Spring and it worked out really well. Worked well today.

Excuse #2. “The house is cold and I don’t want to change into my exercise clothes. I’ll sit and have a cup of tea first (and procrastinate…)”
Usually, I get up and get dressed in street clothes to take my son to school.
To excuse proof my workout, I put my exercise clothes (and HR monitor) on the scale so that I remember to put on my exercise clothes first thing. (I always remember to weigh myself every AM.) I can drive to school wearing a HR monitor and exercise clothes.

What is the first healthy habit that you ditch?
What steps can you take to excuse proof your health?

I'll take one of each:

Dh has gotten into buying bags of mini-candy - for a long time I just ignored it, but now I'm grabbing one or five. I DO like a sweet at bedtime.

I've been forgetting the water - fill the darn bottle and put it next to me - then I'll drink it.

Being out of the house for meals - is really a treat because I can have what I really want - usually a salad, but then comes the rolls and the drink and...

This has been a rough week for exercise - need to get back to that.

Linda

The first healthy habit I ditch is journaling my food--which leads to calorie creep. I tell myself that I'm just too busy to be bothered, but I think the real truth is that I'm a stress eater, and not tracking my increased intake allows me to stress eat without having to confront it.

The second thing to go, and linked directly to the first, is eating at home. The amount of take-out and eat-out increases as I become too tired to cook. To get through this month I have stocked the kitchen with simple backups that DH can make if I'm pooped out, like pasta and jarred sauce or sandwiches and fruit. Not my usual Aunt Martha glamour meals, but better than pizza or chinese.

alli

I leave my workout clothing, weights, and DVDs in plain sight in our family room. That way I have to choose to ignore them, and then I don't have any excuses. If I can find time to sit in my favorite chair, I have the time to exercise first. (But I do put them away for company.)

My dog doesn't accept any excuses for not walking, either.

Laura

A timer! Of course! Thanks, Cathy!

D

"D" You don't sound like a freak, you and I do the same thing. Stress turns off my eating need.
I can go for days with little or nothing. Not a good thing for a diabetic, but, I am not hungry infact, food actually repulses me when the stress is great. I had given up eating lunch, and now, set a timer at work or at home to remind me to eat something for lunch even if it's just yogurt and some fruit. We all handle stress in a different way, we just have to make it a healthy way.

I excuse proof my exercise routine by:

Having a "home gym", a treadmill, dumbbell weights, and a flat/incline bench. Excuses like "the gym isn't open", "I don't have time to drive to/from the gym", and "there's too much ice/snow on the roads to drive to the gym" don't work.

Every Sunday I create, print, and post, my weekly exercise plan spreadsheet. The printed page "taunts me" to fulfill my obligations.

BTW, my Shetland Sheepdog accepts no excuses for sleeping in. If I try to hit the snooze alarm, I hear pathetic little doggie crys.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sheltieguy,

I have a bottle of water next to me all the time. But I don't always drink it. When I get really busy/stressed at work, the bottle can sit there for a good while without being touched and I'm not even aware of it. It won't be until lunch or the end of the day sometimes that I'll look at the half or nearly full bottle and think "WHOA!" I've not been drinking nearly enough at work lately so I've been trying to get back to my goal of 24 oz. before lunch and 24 oz. after lunch (plus more when I get home).

Gotta go...will come back and finish later.

Eating at home and cooking. We have been doing so much running around, and I have been eating out way too much.

The problem is, it isn't even a matter of planning and "cooking at home, or even eating a salad or sandwich at home is better than the drive-thru". I seem to not be anywhere near home during meal time.

I know I need to be making wise choice when eating out and that is where I have been blowing it recently. I've done too much eating what I want, and not what I should eat, even while out.

Dawn

I know I might sound like a freak, but....

When I'm stressed, I don't eat. I'll forget breakfast, start to eat lunch and forget to finish, then be so grumpy & tired come dinner time that I don't WANT to eat, just sleep. That usually leads to eating too much of something high-fat/high-calorie on a whim the next day (like cookies....), which stresses me out more. . .

I need to start packing my lunch again when I pack the boyfriend's. I'm at home all day, but having lunch already made has worked in the past, and I expect it'll work again. I made a commitment to walk the dog every day, so I always get that exercise in. . .can't let the beagle down!

D

When I am stressed I don't exercise enough and I eat extras of foods that are not good for me.
Here is my plan:
Regarding exercise, I am starting a class 2 times per week with a friend. It is challenging step class. When I have some good exercise, I tend to keep it going at home as I feel good about myself.
Regarding food, I am posting here and on fitday EVERYDAY this month. I need to as I see myself slipping and easing up too much.

I also decided not to start subbing until after the holidays as I will not be able to work 3-4 days per week and have time or energy to really focus on my health goals. This will take concentration and hard work this month especially.

Denise,

Great timing as usual!! Man is this a hectic month!! We are hosting a Christmas party here this Saturday night (complete with live band I hope that everyone will have a great time.) Lets see....I'm trying to get the rest of my Christmas cards done right now to be mailed tomorrow, I've gotten most of my decorating done but still have some to go, DH will be out of town tonight & tomorrow night and will be staying with his mother the night after that and I'm still trying to get used to this medication.

I still have so many chores around here to get done. I haven't been able to post here as much lately and have realized just how much KD, this site and all of you help keep me on track.

I would have to say that the first area that I slack up on is my exercise. I will have to say that I have been doing a lot of running around & working around the house. It is something but not as structured as my exercise. In fact, my husband was feeling of my shoulders the other night & told me that it felt like I was loosing some muscle there... !!

The second area is my water intake. I need to get back into the habit of taking water with me where ever I go.

Steps to excuse proof:

1) I know that exercise and water both give me the energy that I need. I need to remind myself of this.

2) I don't want to loose muscle that I worked so hard to build. I know that muscle will help my body look more toned, burns more calories than fat and gives me the strength to complete all the tasks that I face during the day.

3) I know that "some" is better than "nothing". Whenever I get that little "pocket of time" these days I know that I could do some strength training or cardio. When the weather permits, I know that just walking and running outside for a few minutes gives the both a mental & physical boost. I REALLY NEED BOTH RIGHT NOW!!

I am with you, exercise will be the first thing to go. It is soooo cold, and I hate being cold. Normally I wear my suit to the pool and change right there....but, it's so cold. Instead of putting my sweats to take my son to school, I will put my suit on as usual, and then put on the sweats, warm up the car...should be done anyway, and make sure that I have a cup of tea after I swim. Somehow I have to convince a teenager that swimming is important to me....nice try....since he has a study hall first period, he is getting later and later, second excuse, I can't swim after 8:30....well, this is going to be a one stone, two problems down thing. If he's not ready by 7:55....I'll leave alone. A couple of AM's of figuring out how he is getting to school four miles away in this cold will cure the procrastination of not getting out of bed.

Sneaking extra bites off my daughter's plate or out of the candy jar (or going back for seconds of light ice cream) is the first thing that happens when I'm stressed.

I need to really monitor these extra bites on fitday so I'm accountable for those extra calories and fat grams.

Part of the problem is that I've been comfortably maintaining this past month with all the extra bites. I know that I SHOULD just start eating more healthy calories but instead I'm still having those extra bites of sweets.

This assignment will definitely help me hold myself accountable to not continue this pattern.