No Excuses!!

In the past two weeks, I have missed 5 workouts. Since I'm shooting for 11 workouts per week right now, that number isn't horrible, but it's not great either. In the three weeks prior, I didn't skip a single workout, for any reason.

This change has led me to ponder excuses. I am the Queen of Excuses. I don't say this with pride...just honest self-awareness. It's really very easy for me to come up with an excuse to do or not do whatever I want.

When I look back over the workouts I've missed recently, at least one excuse was perfectly legitimate. I forgot to set my alarm so I overslept and literally did not have time to go to the pool in the morning. Once the moment of forgetfulness had happened, there was not much I could do to rectify the situation when I had somewhere to be.

One of my excuses was completely lame. My bathing suit was really worn out (and possibly see-through in the back) and I skipped a swim until I could buy a new one. I really should have gone to the pool that morning anyway, and I'm disappointed in myself for wimping out.

The other three missed workouts fall into a gray area...not feeling well. Twice it was a cough/cold and the other time was a stomachache. If I were not the Queen of Excuses, I would trust my own judgement and not worry about my choices here. But knowing myself, I'm afraid of slipping into old habits of constantly making excuses to be lazy. I haven't lost interest in my goals, but as I settle into a routine and my progress remains slow, it's hard to keep that passionate, driven feeling every single day.

So I'm trying to figure out how to handle the excuses. Which ones are legitimate, and which ones are not? Where do I draw the line? How do I recognize a lame excuse in time to stop myself from making it? When it comes to not feeling well, how sick is sick enough not to work out? No one can really answer these questions for me...I have to figure it out for myself. At the same time, I would love to hear feedback from anyone who has also struggled with excuses! I'll post an update myself if I develop any new insights. Maybe I can go from being the Queen of Excuses to being the Queen of Self-Discipline instead! Hey - anything is possible, right? :)