Overcoming Barriers to Optimum Health and Fitness Part 1: Lack of Time

Changing your body and getting in great shape is just as much mental as it is physical if not more so. Almost everyone is physically capable of exercising, eating right, changing their body and getting in better shape. It is the mental factors that hinder nearly everyone from accomplishing their health, fitness, and nutrition goals.
Before you even start your workout or embark on a new routine you may be trying to talk yourself out of it, often times you don’t even realize your doing it. Even though you may know the copious benefits associated with exercise and eating well, you may have factors in your life that make starting or maintaining a consistent health and fitness routine difficult. . You may find it very hard to change your lifestyle habits until you deal with the underlying reasons or rationalizations you give yourself for not staying active, and eating better.
Barriers to changing your behavior include valid reasons why you aren’t in the shape you want to be in and the excuses or irrational beliefs you create to avoid something you fear or dislike.
This is an excerpt from a ninety minute presentation I wrote . One of the first steps to changing behavior is increasing knowledge and awareness. Although there are many more barriers I dealt with in the presentation I will go over few of the main ones I hear or observe from clients all the time. I’m sure they’ll sound familiar to you as well. Here is one of the biggest ones included for Part 1

Barrier:

Lack of Time

As busy as you think you are there are plenty of others out there who’re just as busy if not busier than you who do work out regularly and eat well. If they can find time then so can you. This is a failure to prioritize and put yourself first. Putting yourself first doesn't necessarily equate to selfishness. You can take better care of others once your individual needs have been met. For example a mother who exercises feels better about herself and models positive behavior for her children. A father who keeps himself in shape will undoubtedly raise his productivity level at work and still have energy to play with his children when he gets home . A grandparent who improves their health will be around longer to play with and spend time with their grandkids as they grow up The truth is we always make time for the things we really want or need to do. Be honest with yourself about when, where, and how you can train.

Solution:

*If you genuinely do have a hectic lifestyle plan exercise into your schedule, rather than planning to get around to it if you have time. When you take a closer look, you’ll realize that you don’t need that much time, in addition you’ll get a great return on the time you do invest. Exercise has been shown to increase productivity level, makes your normal daily activities easier, reduces stress so you can think more clearly, and improves your quality of sleep
*Make an appointment with yourself when you’re most likely to keep it. For example, if you’re not a morning person or usually stay up later at night, then forcing yourself to get up and workout at the crack of dawn is probably not the best time for you to schedule your workout. Instead sleep in, and plan to train for a half hour on your lunch break. You’ll be much more productive throughout the entire day and getting some exercise on your lunch break will invigorate you for the afternoon. Even a half hour 4-5 times per week will go a long way.
*If you exercise smarter you’ll realize you can get by with even less. Small activities such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking instead of driving , or parking farther away from your destination can easily add up to a recommended 30 minutes of cardio per day allowing you to focus on resistance training at other times. If you live in the New York City area like myself and, or visit various clients throughout the day this is very easily accomplished
*If you're really having an exceptionally busy day and you don’t have time to do an hour or even a half hour workout, break it up into two twenty minute sessions or three ten minute mini sessions. Even if you do only one fifteen minute bout on a given day it's still better than skipping it all together and doing nothing at all.