Guys, we make excuses when we don’t do all that we know we should be doing. There is a lot going on in our personal worlds. It is easy to get caught up in it. That is why the Bible encourages us to avoid conforming to the world and instead be transformed by the renewing of our minds. That renewal happens on a daily basis as you read the Bible, pray and make a personal commitment to put God first in your life.
You no doubt can give some very good reasons why you don’t exercise or exercise as much as you should. To get past those reasons and achieve growth let me provide a little comfort right now with some shocking but true facts and ideas to consider:
- “I don’t get enough sleep.” Don’t worry about it. I know really fit people who sleep a lot and some who barely sleep at all. The body is amazingly adaptable and you can make it work if you really want it.
- “My diet is awful.” Forget about it for 6 months and just focus on adding more movement in your life. Could you get healthy by eating better? Of course, but that will not have the same impact on you and your child as finding time to do healthy and creative activities. Don’t stress over food at this point.
- “Aren’t you supposed to track your workouts and write everything down to see if you are improving?” Nope. You will know if you are improving by how you feel, sleep, and move.
- “I don’t have the right clothes.” Really? You sound like your wife (just kidding in case there are some ladies reading this!) If your kids are under 9 years old, they don’t care if you still wear cutoff “jorts” and the softball intramural championship shirt from college. I will admit older kids are a different story. Do yourself a favor. Pick up a pair of basketball shorts, a dry fit shirt (no tank tops), and ditch the tube socks. Go with low cut or no show socks with a comfortable cross training shoe.
- “I have never been an early riser.” You may have to learn to become one. You may need to get up early to work or do chores so that your evenings are free to be with your child. If you have an older child, challenge them to join you for an early session…ok, it sounded good on paper. I know kids want to sleep, but you should at least ask them. Again I will point out that you have the same 24 hours as everyone, so you may need to start utilizing a couple of the early ones to make this work.
Please understand that your diet and sleep habits are important long term, but trying to change too much or not doing everything perfectly from the start, bogs down a lot of dads with good intentions. Don’t sweat the details. Focus on changing one aspect of your life…being more active with your child. You might be surprised about how making this change will automatically positively affect all of those other details without you consciously trying to address them.
If you’re truly tired then take a nap – you need it. But come on then, quit making excuses. You’ve heard the saying, “You snooze – you lose”. That isn’t about literally sleeping. It is about waking up from your excuses someday and realizing that you missed a lot of opportunities with a child, your wife and the ones you love. The rest of the Busy Man’s Guide To Fitness is dedicated to giving you specific activity and exercise ideas with all ages of kids. There might be some other issue (EXCUSE) I didn’t address above that is specific to you. If so, you can post it here by clicking the ADD NEW COMMENT link below. You can also send me an email if your mental stumbling block was not mentioned.
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