10 Excuses Why People Don't Exercise

“Excuses are tools of the incompetent. They build monuments of nothingness & bridges to nowhere. Those who use them seldom accomplish anything”

In Pursuit of Tight Bodiness, we all make excuses here or there. Here is my list of the top 10 reasons people don’t exercise

Can’t afford membership – The prices and payment options of gym memberships are much more flexible than they used to be. For some gyms, you could be paying as little as $20 a month. If that if still not an option, try to free workout options, like using your lunch break to walk the stairs at your job. If you work in a busy area of town, walk a quick mile- four blocks going and four blocks back. Easy! You can also check your local YMCA or community center and see if they offer free, or really cheap, aerobic classes. They might even offer swimming or tennis as alternate forms of exercise.

No Time- This is the lamest excuse ever. If you have 1 whole hour to sit and watch For the Love of Ray J (or some other reality show that is equally lame), you have time. Another example, if you can sit in the beauty shop for 3 hours (at least..longer if you're getting braids), you can hit the gym for an hour. Period.

Too Tired- When I lack motivation for working out and feel too tired, I tell myself JUST GO! Once you get there you’ll be fine. And that mantra has never failed me yet. I know you’ve heard a million times on every health report that working out give you energy- it’s true. Seriously. It’s something about getting up and moving that gives you that extra push. There have been days where all I wanted to do was crawl in bed after work but I’d talk myself into going (JUST GO!) and by the time I finished my workout and got home, I had enough energy to still get some housework done.

No Gym near my house – There may not be a gym near your house, but there is definitely a park within walking or driving distance. I’m sure of it. Grab some 5 pounders, lace up those tennis shoe and get to steppin’. Walking outside is great for your whole body. The fresh air, beautiful scenery, and a good brisk walk or jog will turn any frown upside down. For folks like me living in Chicago, running (or doing anything) outside is not always a good look. Check your neighborhood or local college for free or cheap classes to that booty in motion.

I’ll get too bulky – A lot of women fear that lifting weights will make them too bulky or look like a female (or male…) body builder. Girl please! You and I both know you will not be lifting THAT much weight. I mean you have to go hard as hell to get remotely cut, let alone look buffed. Don’t be afraid to lift weights. My advice would be to lift slightly lighter weights with more reps to tone. To really burn fat, lift slightly heavier weights with less reps. *Disclaimer* I am not a trained physical anything. I just know what works for me.

It’s Boring – Life is what you make it. Same goes for working out. Your workouts can be fun or dreadfully boring. I like to set a goal for myself. If I run 4 minutes on Monday, I challenge myself to run 5 minutes on Tuesday. Can I do it? Will I pass out? I dunno know, let me try and see. This is the mental game I play. By the end of the week, I’m running 6 or 7 minutes straight. Get your iPod, or a friend to join. Sometimes the buddy system really works. Push yourself beyond your normal workout. You’d be surprised how strong your body is.

Don’t need to – Yes, you do need to! Sometimes as African American women, we tend to think that if we work out we will lose our curves, get too thin and ultimately become undesirable by African American men. Girl bye! Get your but off that couch and go workout. So often we live to try to impress or please other people that we jeopardize our own health and well being. Take at least 45 minutes out of your day and do something that will benefit you. Something that helps your heart, clears your mind from the daily grind and tightens that body up! There is such a great sense of accomplishment when you’ve completed a good, sweaty workout. Besides, we all wanna look good in our jeans right? I mean, who wants to have that muffin top hanging over our belt? No me.

Don’t know what to do – If you already have a gym membership and are unsure of where to start, ask someone. Don’t be afraid to ask the trainers questions. They don’t charge you for pointers. However, I can see where there would be apprehension to ask. Some of those personal trainers are thirsty and will do or say anything to get you to sign up for zillion dollar training sessions. This could also be a good time to ask a “gym cutie” for some tips. Put yourself out there. You might find love and a free trainer!

If you do not have a gym membership, start by working out at home. Walk around your neighborhood, find Exercise TV on your local cable listings and give one of their workouts a shot. I highly recommend anything Jillian Michaels. I have such a love/hate relationship with that woman. If I were to ever meet her, I don’t know if I’d slap her or dap her. Her workouts are intense BUT when you’re done you feel like it was really worth it. And if all else fails, take it back to the old school PE classes. Jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, lunges, squats- the basics. Any activity is better than none.


Don’t like it/Hurts – It wasn’t until I was an adult until I really learned what NO PAIN, NO GAIN means. If you don’t work for it, you don’t get it. Period. Your 1st few days of working out will leave you feeling like you got jumped. That’s simply your muscles waking up. They’ve been forced to do something other than walk to the fridge, Xerox machine, or train station. I encourage you to keep going, even when it hurts. Your body, booty and boo will thank you!


I don’t like sweating – I hate to go there with you, but you have no problems letting your man sweat it out. Beat him to the punch and get that ass on that elliptical.

Enjoy your workout!!

Lifetime Goal

Some people have goals of becoming famous, rich, or successful. My lifetime goal is to wear a catsuit. Don’t judge me. This would be epic for me! It would mean that all these years of hard work, sacrifices and ugh..dieting have paid off! I would finally be able to wear a sexy onesie without holding my breath, sucking in my stomach and poking out my booty all at the same time. Try doing that ish for 10 minutes straight. I’ll wait…..
Ain’t easy is it?

I was almost at my ultimate life goal about 3 years ago. I was roughly 165lbs (5’10”) but of course I felt like I needed to “lose that last 5”. As I look back on it now, I try to think about what I was doing differently in my workouts and eating habits. I guess the biggest difference is my consistency. I was working out at least 4 days a week doing 1 hour of cardio and 20 minutes of strength training EVERYDAY!

Shiiiiiittttt…Now, I can barely find 20 minutes to take a dump. Especially after work. Sometimes taking care of a 31 year old baby husband can be time consuming. Of course, I can’t put it all on him. Sometimes, I’d just rather sit on my couch and watch the Bad Girls Club until I’m thoroughly disgusted with Natalie’s chin and can’t watch anymore.

As far as eating habits, I pretty much eat the same things as I used to. I’m not big on chips, cookies and candy, so that’s not hard to eliminate from my diet. During the week, I cook (I’m aware that I’m probably one of the few married women, without kids, that cooks almost daily) light meals like baked chicken breast, brown rice and veggies. But those darn weekends get me. I admit that I’m a little laxed on the weekend meals. I won’t even begin to name some of the things I “get a taste for”. But lately, I’ve been really cutting back on going overboard. Sometimes I can hear my mom’s next door neighbor saying “A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips” and I decide to order salad instead…

Another factor that I refuse to succumb to is age...flatline. Ok, I’m almost 30 and I swear my body doesn’t snap back like it used to. I used to be able to go out partying all night on a Friday, drink from 9pm – 3am, leave the party and eat junk food [hello Taco Burrito King] and be good the next morning. Pop a Tylenol or 2 but that was about it. Now, please. My a** would go out Friday, be on bed rest all day Saturday, have to drink Ginger Ale and eat saltine crackers all day Sunday and STILL might have to call off Monday. If this is how my body is gonna treat me after all these years of love, I guess by the time I’m 50 my diet will consist of a cheese cube and lemon water. *kanye shrug*

Recipe of the Day

For the past week and a half I've been having an all fruit smoothie before dinner. Something to help fill me up and give me my fruit intake for the day. I HATE bananas and can only tolerate them in smoothies. My at home recipe varies a bit but I'm sure this one is delish!

Ingredients:
• 2 frozen, ripe bananas
• 1 mango, peeled and sliced
• 10 ounces calcium fortified orange juice
• 1 cup low fat or fat free vanilla or mandarin orange yogurt
Preparation:
Cut banana into chunks. In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. If the smoothie is too thick, thin with a little more orange juice. Pour into 4 glasses.

Per Serving: Calories 150, Calories from Fat 8, Total Fat 0.8g (sat 0.4g), Cholesterol 2mg, Sodium 29mg, Carbohydrate 32g, Fiber 1.9g, Protein 3.4g


ENJOY!

Date Night

Spending one whole hour on cardio equipment is not my idea of a date.

Yesterday afternoon my husband and I were texting and making plans for the night.

Him: “You goin to the gym?”
Me: “Yep…You?
Him: “Yep..It’s a date!”

In the Pursuit of Tight Bodiness, I’ve been working on changing my ideas of quality time with my honey. It used to be dinners downtown, taste testing every sorbet in Cold Stone Creamery before we order what we really went in there for, and savoring a cheeseburger and cheese fries from the local Portillo’s. But now, we bond on the bike, swap sweat on the treadmill and end up in a nice horizontal position…on the seated squat machine. We are both pretty athletic and competitive(him more than me) so him challenging me gives me that extra push. I can’t complain because anytime we’re working together is a good time (even without the company of French fries).

To an extent, I guess my connection with food does stem back to my childhood. Life events, big and small, were celebrated over food. My parents, brothers and sister are naturally thin and never really gained much weight during my formative years. Just me.I guess by me being the youngest for so long, they basically gave me whatever I wanted. They probably got a kick out of seeing me chew! I can hear them now, saying “Wow! Look at her go”Lol.. I dunno.


Whatever the case may be, I have a standing “date night” with hubby and L.A. Fitness!

Thoughts from 2007..contd

... Another great memory, that severed my relationship with doctors, was formed during those routine physicals for school. I’ll never forget sitting inside that cold, smelly little examining room and in walks the doctor. A square-built Indian woman, she took her cold stethoscope and put it on my chubby chest and listened. She had me do about twenty jumping jacks and reach for the sky, then touch my toes. Then she’d listen again. All good. At the end of the examination, she told me I needed to loose some weight. Why? So I wouldn’t be one of those fat girls going to prom. Yes, she did. I believe I was in third or fourth grade and already she was talking about prom. That same doctor suggested to my mom that I go on a diet. And so I did. I was drinking skim milk and eating lunchmeat, instead of fried chicken, and all that.

The real problem was that I ate too often. My grandmother babysat me and after I got out of school everyday she would have cooked beef tips, fried chicken, lima beans, cube steak, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, or cornbread (all from scratch, none of that box stuff). So of course she’d make me a plate and I would sit in the kitchen and eat, and eat. When I was done, I’d put up my plate and we would watch The People’s Court with Judge Wapner. She’d shake her head and call the judge, plaintiff and defendant stupid. I thought it was hilarious.

I was the baby of the family for 9 years before my great little brother was born, but for those first 9 years of my life things basically went my way. My dad was my number one target. I loved the days he picked me up from grandma’s house. One because he picked me up really early. As much as I loved grandma I was always glad to go home. The second reason was because we almost never went straight home. Sometimes we’d go to my brother and sisters high school to watch their basketball games, to Montgomery Wards, or to the baseball park. No matter where we went, there was a treat in it for me. If we went to the basketball games I knew afterwards I’d get a big, juicy gyro with French fries from our favorite greasy spoon restaurant. If we went to Montgomery Wards in Evergreen Plaza, I knew I would get the most delicious chocolate chip and pecan cookies I’d ever tasted and I’d wash it all down with a cherry ICEE. If we went to the baseball park, of course the ice cream truck was ALWAYS around, so I’d get my Bomb pop, Choco-Taco, or whatever ice cream had a bubble gum eye. Umm, even the memories taste good.

Whenever my dad’s team did well in the playoffs, the baseball league would reward them with a trip to Shakey’s buffet. And I was right there joining in on the celebration. I’d get my favorites, meatballs and mashed potatoes with gravy, sausage pizza, cheese fries, and chicken all on one plate. Even to this day when I go to buffets I have to at least get cheese fries. Of course, my dad didn’t say anything because I was a kid and kids have strange eating habits. They love something one day, and hate it when their big sister or a school friend says “ You eat that? You nasty”.

Thoughts from 2007...

This morning when I got up, I went to the bathroom and got on the scale. The same thing I do every morning. I guess I do this in hopes of loosing 10 pounds in my sleep. I’m not really fat, but I could stand to snore off a couple of lbs. I’ve been going to Bally off and on for about a year now and I’ve seen improvement. But what’s better is that everyone else has seen improvements. They say “Ohh girl, you look little”, “How much weigh DID you loose” or my favorite “You’re lookin’ a lil slenderized”. That one was from my line sister.

Before I get in the shower I check my body for any “changes”. A saggyer boob, an extra booty dimple or jiggly old lady arms. Same thing. Every morning. As I get ready for work I put on my clothes and once again, do a self-check. I check my butt in my jeans, do that breast hoist we do, and finally I smooth it out. Perfect!

I’ve never been thin in my life. I was always a little taller, chubbier, and darker than all my friends. But of course I developed my personality to compensate for everything else. I don’t know when this whole weight obsession began, but there were many memories that were branded into my mind. For example, I was in fourth grade and my very best friend was build like a thoroughbred stallion way back in 1990. She was thick before the rappers and video girls appreciated “thickness”. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t. I was the tall, high waisted, flat-bootyed one. One of my oh-so-mature classmates told me “Ain’t nobody looking at you, you don’t have no shape”. Shape? I was 9 years old.

There have been numerous times when my mom or sister would tell me the infamous “McDonalds” story. They’d say every day before my mom went to work she’d leave my lunch money. Keep in mind I was about 3 or 4 years old. She’d inform my sister or brother to take me to McDonalds for lunch. When we got to McDonalds, they would ask me what I wanted and my answer was always “Cheeseburger, French Fry, Pop”. Everytime. I believe that my generation was the first to be the “fast food kids”. McDonalds Happy Meals, Popeyes chicken, and Burger King were convenient for our busy, working mothers who just needed to give us something that would hold us over until dinner. And having a kid in the backseat scream for chicken nuggets every time you go past the golden arches doesn’t give a parent much of an option to disregard the annoying requests.

The Introduction...

It is with great apprehension that I start this blog. I have been talking myself into and out of getting started for two reasons:

1.) I previously had a short lived blog that I haven’t even looked at since 2007 (see http://urbangyrl.blogspot.com/)and

2.) This is a subject that, in so many ways, makes me who I am. Therefore, I don’t want to have another “Urban Gyrl” mishap. I want to share MY story with someone that may have felt or experienced the exact same things I did. This is the "talking myself into it" part.


The first few entries of this blog are from my personal ‘memoir’ that will one day be a major motion picture, or at the very least an amazingly produced and directed made for tv movie(think Queen).

There are no fancy banners, famous bloger endorsements(but shout out to theybf.com…loves it!), or personalized domain names – YET! I have to prove to myself that I can commit to this....much like a.... DIET! *sigh*

Enjoy!