Six Excuses That Are Not Really About Time, Food or Money

TLDR: Most excuses are real feelings attached to the wrong problem. "No time" is a design problem, "I need variety" is usually boredom, "Monday" is avoiding discomfort, and willpower is a battery, not a character trait. Each one has a small fix you can start today.

I hear the same handful of excuses from almost everyone who comes to me. None of them are lies. They are just aimed at the wrong target, and once you point them at the right one, they get a lot easier to deal with. Here are six, in the order they usually show up.

1. "I don't have time"

"I don't have time" is a design problem, not a fact. You already block time for the things that matter. Training can get the same treatment.

Most people do not lack time. They lack a decision about where it goes. Three moves:

• Shrink it before you schedule it. A realistic 20 minute session beats an ideal 60 minute one you will skip.
• Audit your week. The average American logs more than 7 hours a day of screen time, and over 2 hours a day on social apps alone (DataReportal and DemandSage, Q4 2024 data). You have more flexibility than you think.
• Attach training to something you already do. The average commute runs about 55 minutes round trip (Zippia). Change clothes before you leave work and walk, do bodyweight squats in a park on the way home, or pick a gym on a route you already drive.

2. "I can't eat the same foods, I need variety"

Sometimes it is just a bowl of oatmeal.

Needing every meal to be exciting and needing variety to be healthy are two different problems. Only one of them is real.

• Repetition kills decision fatigue. Pre-measure once, hit your macros, and tomorrow is already decided.
• Lock in breakfast first. Most people blow the day before 9am with a muffin or a kids' cereal. That is not breakfast. That is cake with extra steps.

If chicken and vegetables cannot be fine, that is not a diet problem. That is a life problem. Go find the joy somewhere else, in a hobby, in people, in a reason to look forward to your day, so a meal can just be a meal again.

3. "I'll start Monday"

Monday is not a start date. It is an excuse with a calendar attached. Every "I'll start Monday" is really just today, deferred.

This usually is not laziness. It is avoidance. You are avoiding the discomfort of change, and waiting for Monday is a more socially acceptable way to keep avoiding it.

So skip the overhaul. Change one thing about your very next meal. That is it. You have started. Tomorrow, change two things. The day after, add a short walk. Gradual and iterative beats all or nothing, and it stacks into a different lifestyle.

That is how I did it. When I was over 400 pounds, I did not start with a program. I started with a five minute walk around the block after work. Then I did it again the next day, and every day for a week. The week after, I did not cut out fried food. I allowed it at one meal a day, and not at the others. Then I applied the same rule to cheese. Small, boring changes, stacked. About ten pounds came off, and none of it started on a Monday.

You also do not need a clean start. You do not need an empty fridge, a fresh planner or a full night of sleep. You need one decision you actually keep.

52 Mondays a year is not a plan. It is a snooze button.

4. "I'm too old"

My father had a triple bypass in his 50s. He kept walking, lifting and managing his weight until about 78. Then he stopped. He died at 83. My mother decided at 60 that she was done.

I am not judging either choice. I am pointing out that at 50, 60 or even 70, you may have 30 more years to use whatever you build now. The real question is what those years look like. Starting late still counts.

5. "I just need more willpower"

If you rely on willpower, you are fucked.

Willpower is a battery. It runs down by the end of the day, and everyone's does. So stop asking it to do the job. Change what is in your house, what you buy, and what the default option is. I covered the store side of this in The Grocery Store Is Keeping You Fat, which is also on this blog.

6. "Eating healthy is too expensive"

It does not have to be. I shop at Costco, Aldi and Walmart, and that saved me about 40 percent on groceries. The expensive part of eating well is usually the store you chose, not the food.

Pick the one you say out loud

You probably recognize one of these as the line you actually use. Start there. Do one small thing about it today, not Monday.