Fat Chance You Can Get Me to Do That – Why People Don’t Exercise
October 16th, 2008
Fat chance you can get me to do that – that’s the constant refrain I hear each time I give my spouse the spiel about the need to exercise and get fit. Yeah, I know my chances to get him to turn over a new leaf are slim (you can see from the metaphors we use that he prefers the word fat while I go for the term slim), so I tried applying pressure on his friends and family instead. But all in vain; I should have known that there was no way that indirect pressure would work when the direct version failed. But this got me thinking; why do overweight people firmly deny the fact that they need to exercise if they want to stay healthy throughout their lives? Some reasons that I found common to my better (and much bigger) half and most others include:
- I need new equipment in order to exercise: At first it was a question of playing racquet ball where he needed new shoes and a new racquet. My spares just wouldn’t do. And when he finally splurged on the whole kit and caboodle, he played for all of a week, after which it was back to his first love – the PlayStation and the new flat, big screen television.
I’ve heard this excuse from several others – the gym is either too expensive or too far away to suit their needs, they don’t have the right gear in order to exercise the way they want to, or they haven’t found the right partners or teammates to play with. - I’ll put on more weight once I stop exercising: My response to this excuse – why on earth do you think of stopping even before you’ve started? Besides, you’re going to put on weight even if you don’t exercise because your lifestyle is sedentary. You need motivation to stick to your exercise routine, so take one day at a time instead of leaping into the unseen future. Once your journey to fitness has begun, use the fear of putting on weight if you stop to prevent you from giving up. Let that be your motivation if you have no other.
- It’s going to take ages before I start seeing results: No, that’s not exactly true. Most people need just a month or two to start showing the positive effects of exercise. Besides, you may not look slimmer anytime soon, but you’ll definitely feel much better, more energetic, and find yourself with more stamina. You won’t find yourself wheezing like an asthmatic after climbing just one flight of stairs or huffing and puffing keeping up when you’re asked to babysit your active 4-year-old nephew.
- I don’t have the time: Oh yeah, you do! How about all those minutes you spend glued to your gaming console and the idiot box? If you need those activities to relax, then wake up an hour earlier or get home sooner than you do from work.
- I’m not sure I can stand the strain of exertion: No one’s asking you to go all out and run 5 miles on your first day. Start slow, maybe by walking for 20 minutes a day. As you get comfortable with this routine, increase your pace and the distance walked. In a few months, you can begin to jog, for a minute or two at first, then slow down to a brisk walk. Alternate between jogging and walking – this interval training is extremely beneficial in reducing your weight, and the best part is that it does not tax you too much.
All said and none, no excuse is good enough to cut it when it comes to a question of good health.
This article is contributed by Sarah Scrafford, who regularly writes on the topic of xray tech salary. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: sarah.scrafford25@gmail.com.
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