5 Excuses About Why You Can't Live Healthy DEBUNKED
I know so many people who tell me "It's too hard/expensive/time-consuming/difficult to live healthy." Well if you think that way, of course it will be!
Here are 5 common excuses I hear all the time.
1. It's too expensive.
There is a saying "pay now, or pay later." For the small increase you may pay now for healthy, fresh food, you will save on discomfort, pain, medication and all the other expensive aspects of being sick from a lifestyle and preventable disease like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, hypertension, or cancer. In 2015, Consumer Reports did a study and found that organic food is on average 47% more expensive than conventional but that the range of prices in huge. In some cases, organic actually costs less than conventional. And as more and more consumers demand organic food, you can expect prices to continue to drop.
Same goes for your gym membership or yoga studio fees. In 2016, the NYTimes published an article showing that one year of exercise is worth $2,500 in saved medical fees. Only 30 minutes of walking a day is needed to accrue this incredible cost savings. What would you do with an extra $2,500 a year?
If you prepare food at home, you'll save time, gas, money and calories. Giving up your take-out habit is one of the most financially sound things you can do. Time is money, so instead of driving and waiting in line for the so-called convenience of eating mediocre processed food while you browse the net on your smartphone, invest your time in learning a skill that makes you that much more well-rounded (and sexy): being a good cook.
Don't have money for expensive gym memberships that cost hundreds of dollars a year? You don't need it. You can walk or run. You can hike. You can download YouTube videos. Or join a yoga website that offers unlimited content for less than the cost of one class in a studio. Or find a teacher that offers videos online with coaching for a reasonable fee (I'll be doing this soon!).
2. I don't have time.
Try HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). Not only can you find a plethora of videos on YouTube (some of my favorites are HASfit and Fitness Blender) for FREE (see #1), you can do these workouts in 30 minutes, torching upwards of 350 calories, but you don't need ANYTHING except some space and some sneakers to do them. If you have hand weights, you can add those or get creative and use a 16-ounce can or some heavy books or even rocks.
If you say you don't have time to drive to the organic market to get things, you can have those things shipped to you from companies like VitaCost (mostly organic and non-GMO products, including health and beauty products) or Amazon.
You will gain time in the way of increased lifespan and increased energy to do more of the things you want to do.
3. I don't know how to.
You weren't born knowing how to drive a car, or speak a foreign language, or do whatever it is that you do at your job now. You had to learn. Same thing goes for living a healthy lifestyle.
There are TONS of resources online for living healthy. Pick a topic and dive in. Want to go vegetarian or vegan? Search Google and start reading. Want to lose weight only working out 30 minutes a few times a week? Do HIIT workouts (see #2). Search the web and YouTube for free resources. Want to learn how to meditate? Download Insight Timer for free and use the free guided meditations to learn how.
Not knowing how is a common excuse with no merit. Putting yourself through your own education has the added merit of making you feel more in control of your life, boosting your confidence as you improve and change your life, and makes you a resource for others! So get cracking!
4. My family/friends don't care about living healthy.
Too bad for them. Maybe you should share points #1 and #2 with them. The reality is, people rarely change. A lazy person rarely becomes curious and self-motivated unless something happens. Usually the "something happens" is of the life-threatening variety, or so painful that change is the only option.
Most people who seek to improve their lives either were born with that drive to grow, learn, and break through limitations or the realities of life showed them that change was the only way forward. Either way, these are the kinds of people you need to be around.
Stop wasting energy trying to convert those who don't want or don't know how to support your efforts.
You must decide what you want. When you do good things for yourself, people who are stuck in life and haven't found the motivation for more will offer resistance. They may make fun of you, doubt that your efforts will lead anywhere, criticize your "weird" food choices, or just invite you to the usual Sunday football and beer party when you'd rather be hiking or running. Politely decline and run in the opposite direction.
Find new people to associate with.
Love your friends and family but know that when you take charge of your life, a LOT of people will not like it and will try to keep you down. Learn to create boundaries with these people and let your radiance, vitality and happiness speak for itself.
5. It won't make a difference.
This seems like a valid excuse until you actually try and experience what life can be like when you feel better, sleep better, have more energy, more confidence, lose weight, have more stamina, stop feeling depressed or anxious, stop drinking/drugging, etc. How can you know what the difference will be unless you've tried?
The latest research shows it takes about 66 days for something to become a habit. And it takes about 3 days for your body to stop craving something you don't want anymore (alcohol, pot, sugar, fast food, etc.). The things you want to stop doing, give yourself three days, JUST THREE DAYS!, to give your body a chance to feel what it is like without that thing. Then give yourself about two months, JUST TWO MONTHS, to experience what life is like WITH something: with 3x weekly workouts, with meditating 15 minutes a day a few times a week, with fresh and healthy food).
All change takes time and progresses in stages. To experience change you must begin somewhere.