Stop Rationalizing And Making Excuses

I recently finished reading Rachel Cosgroves new book  The Female Body Breakthrough and thought it was excellent, not just for females but for males as well. I really enjoyed reading a females perspective on helping other females with their bodies.  I got great insight into how we can better help and serve the females that come to us for coaching.

Rachel does a great job of outlining some of the most common excuses we hear all the time from both male and female clients that keep putting off action to becoming healthy and fit.

” Rationalizations are generally convenient evasions of reality and are used as excuses for dishonest behavior, mistakes, and/or laziness.”  - Dave Kekich

“I don’t have enough time!”

This is the most common excuse and it drives me crazy! here’s a little secret: You don’t find time you make it!  You’ll never suddenly have all this extra time to exercise and prepare your meals, and the good news is it probably doesn’t take as much time as you think. But you have to decide you want this. You only get one shot at life, and as time goes by, days go by, and years go by, you don’t get them back. That’s it one opportunity to make the best out of your given time. Are you setting time aside for yourself, or are you wasting it doing something else? Like maybe coming up with excuses? Isn’t it amazing how much time we have to rationalize and create excuses for ourselves?

You should think of time as being equal to life. Replace the word time with the word life from now on. When you don’t have enough time, you don’t have enough life to get in shape and reach your potential physically and mentally. Time = Life. What do you want in your life? If it is to be a fit, confident and empowered, then make the time.

“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”

“I am destined to be fat it’s in my genes”

Some people are skinny without trying,  no matter what. Good for them. That doesn’t mean you should just give in to your genetics and be fat and unsatisfied, never reaching your full potential in life. It will take some work, but you can look and feel amazing no matter what your genetics are.

“I am on my period and I have cramps.”

You will actually feel better if you exercise. One of the reasons you feel down in the dumps at this time of the month is that your level of the brain chemical serotonin is low. Exercise boosts serotonin naturally and will make you feel better. Plus, it will keep you from sitting around and having a pity party because you’re bloated and on your period, and I know what goes along with a pity party, chocolate. Get to the gym! Also, as your body is changing, your hormones should stabilize and reduce or eliminate menstrual cramps.

“Work is hectic. I have too much to do at work.”

You have to make time. Work will always be there. Life is passing you by while you are busy working. You should take time for yourself every single day. Exercising will give you more energy at work, clear your head, and make you more productive. Work is not an acceptable excuse. Take one hour a day for yourself, no exceptions. If it means waking up and hour earlier , do it!

“Eating the same foods is so boring. I’m sick of chicken and vegetables.”

Sounds like whining, Eating does not, and should not equal entertainment. Get creative! You need to enjot fueling your body and how the healthy food makes you feel. Tune in to how great you feel when you’re eating those “boring” foods. The feeling you get by being in shape should outweigh how boring the food is.

“I’m too tired”

Have a strategy that you will always go to the gym and start your workout. Do 1 set of everything and see how you feel. If you’re still exhausted and not into it, go home and get some R&R. You can still feel good that you did 1 set and come back and hit it hard in a day or two. But usually once you get started , the endorphins increase, the tiredness begins to fade, and you start feeling better.

“I walk. I sn’t that enough?”

No. It is not enough. What happened to our society that walking is now considered exercise? Walking is part of living an active lifestyle. You should walk when you can, but it is not the challenge that will transform your body. You have to put a challenge on your body that it’s not use to in order to get it to change. Go for a walk as part of your relaxation.

“I’m too stressed!”

When you are under a lot of stress, you actually need exercise even more. The right amount of exercise can be the drain in your tub to help you manage stress. relieve some of the tension, and boost your endorphins to make you feel good.

“My kids come first.”

If you don’t take care of yourself, you are actually being selfish. Don’t you owe it to your kids and family to be the best you can be, feeling full of energy, feeling good about yourself, and being a healthy role model for your children to look up to? If you that everyone depends on, break down, then what? You have to take care of yourself first so you can take care of everyone else. This is not an excuse, but all the more reason why you have to make exercise and eating right a priority.

“I fit in my clothes and don’t need to exercise. I feel good enough”

Is life about getting by, settling for “good enough” No, it’s about living life to the fullest, feeling and looking your absolute best, and having fulfilling relationships and experiences that are all part of being the best you can be, not just “good enough” Life is not about just getting by. Don’t settle for “good enough”

“When you make an excuse , you are only telling a lie to yourself”

“Do, or do not. There is no try.”

The Enzyme Factor Part III

Here are my final take home points from the great book The Enzyme Factor by Hiromi Shinya, MD

“Most people eat a lot of dead food that contains no enzymes”

The Enzyme Factor Diet and Lifestyle Considerations:

• Maintain a ratio of 85-90% plant-based foods and 10-15% animal-based foods.
• Grains should 50%, vegetables and fruits 35-40% and animal foods 10-15%of the whole
• Eat unrefined grains which on the whole constitute 50% of the diet.
• The animal foods portion should be from animals like fish with a lower body temperature than humans.
• Eat fresh an unrefined foods, if possible, in their natural form.
• Avoid margarine and refined foods
• Chew well (40-70 times each bite) and try to eat small meals.
• Avoid milk and dairy products as much as possible (people who are lactose intolerant, predisposed to allergies, or dislike milk and dairy products should completely avoid them).

There are many people who, when they become middle-aged or elderly, develop the same illness as their parents such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and cancer. When that happens, some people say, “It was inevitable I would get cancer because cancer runs in our family”. But that is not so. I will not say there are no genetic factors involved, but a big cause of hereditary disease is inheriting the habits that cause the disease.

“The worst lifestyle habits are alcohol and tobacco”

“If you eat right before going to sleep at night, large amounts of insulin get secreted. But whether you eat carbohydrates, or proteins, insulin changes everything to fat. Thus, it is much easier to gain weight if you eat late at night, even if you aren’t eating anything “fattening.” In other words , you do not develop  sleep apnea syndrome because you are obese, but rather, the habit of eating right before going to bed causes both sleep apnea syndrome and obesity.

“The cause of many people dying at daybreak from a heart attack or myocardial infarction is in fact acid reflux that occurs as a results of eating and drinking late at night, and leads in turn to the closing of the respiratory tract, irregular breathing, decrease in blood oxygen level and finally, oxygen shortage to the heart muscle.”

“When we consume fluids other than water, such as tea, coffee, carbonated drinks and beer, instead of supplementing the fluids in the body, these fluids actually cause dehydration. Sugar, caffeine, alcohol and additives contained in these drinks rob fluids from the body’s cells and blood, making the body’s blood thicker.”

“A healthy person’s normal body temperature is about 98.6 degrees F, but once this falls, the rate of metabolism declines by as much as 50%. Furthermore, the body temperature at which cancer cells can multiply more easily is around 95 degrees F. This is because the activity of enzymes becomes slower, decreasing the body’s immune functions. Enzymes work more actively in higher body temperature.”

” Consistently drinking a little over two cups of water three times a day increases the number of calories burned in the body by approximately 30%. Moreover, about 30 minutes after drinking water, the calorie burn rate reaches its peak.”

” In America, low-carb diets have gained popularity. With this diet, you eat few or no carbohydrates. But experimental results have shown that even if you have a low-carb, high protein diet, if you continue to eat late at night, you will gain weight just as if you ate carbs. This is because a person who eats just before going to bed secrets large amounts of insulin, storing all the food as far. In other words, unless you change your other eating habits, not only are low-carb diets ineffective, but your body will become acidic, increasing the possibility of getting osteoporosis and other diseases.”

” Fresh fruit abundant in enzymes digests well and by eating it before meals, it helps the functions of the gastrointestinal system and raises the blood sugar level, thus preventing you from overeating.”

” Regular 5-30 minute power naps allows the body to balance itself-homeostasis. Rest and sleep return the weakened functions of the entire body, such as blood flow,lymph flow, the nervous system, and internal secretions back to normal.”

“Too much exercise can actually damage your health, because the more you exercise, the more free radicals you produce in your body. This, I believe, is why we often see cases where a person dies suddenly from heart failure while jogging. Many women jog everyday, but young female runners in their twenties who run close to 10km (6 miles) a day become extremely skinny and have flat chests, and buttocks. In some cases their menstrual cycle stops. This is because their bodies are not producing enough female hormones.”

“Modern medicine is based on the idea of treating, or curing diseases, while true medicine should be based on the idea of maintaining one’s health.”

“All of us periodically overlook important relationships by focusing on only one thing. For instance , if we look only at each organ of the body individually, we overlook how the organs interact with and affect each other. Or, if we look at the body , we neglect the vital inseparability of the body,mind, and spirit” (same can be said for bones, joints, and muscles).”

“Poor diet produces large amounts of free radicals in the body, but so do negative feelings like hatred, resentment, and jealousy, which are equally as destructive to health as poor diet . You can stop drinking, stop smoking, and eat a perfect diet, but if your mental diet is one of anger, stress, and fear, you can still make yourself sick. In order to live a healthy life, it is very important to maintain a mentally harmonious and stable condition.”