Top 10 Reasons to Avoid a Fit and Healthy Lifestyle

Preaching at the unfit can be a losing battle! 

   When I took the certification course for what is now the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, we learned about the Trans-Theoretical Model of Change. Originally designed for smoking cessation programs, this model states that behavioral change progresses in stages. The 5 stages of change are:

• Pre-Contemplation. The individual is not ready to change their lifestyle.
• Contemplation. The person is seriously considering making changes.
• Preparation. Someone is actively planning action with a set starting time.
• Action. The person is actually doing something that is a positive lifestyle change.
• Maintenance. The individual is actively engaged in the new behavior and continuing to perform it.

    According to the 2013 edition of the CSEP training manual 'Pre-contemplative clients are unlikely to react well to being told that they should exercise.'  Their reaction will be similar if someone suggests changes in diet or abstinence from unhealthy vices. Preaching at them will not work.
It will however, result in some classic excuses for maintaining their present lifestyles. 
  
For those in the Pre-contemplation Stage the logic is often irrefutable in favor of avoiding healthy changes. These are the 10 best arguments against the fit lifestyle that I have heard.

1. Cardio can cause cardiac arrest. People drop dead running for the bus - not waiting for it.
2. Walking and running is supposed to be hard on the joints.
3. An apple is healthier than a slice of pizza? Right - look where that got Adam and Eve.
4. Lifting weights makes you muscle bound. 
5. If you stop working out the muscle just turns to fat.
6. I get all the exercise that I need by playing 'World of Warcraft'.
7. My uncle smoked and drank, ate whatever he wanted, never exercised and lived to be 99 years old. 
8. There will be a cure for all these things soon.
9. I believe in a balanced diet - a beer in one hand and a doughnut in the other 
10. You have to listen to your body. Mine says stay on the couch and pass the Doritos..

(Check out the picture caption for bonus reason number 11.)

 Preaching won't cut it. Pre-contemplation individuals may make positive changes, but only
when they decide to. It is far better to listen and encourage. Putting them on the defensive won't speed up their change to the next stage. Trying to debate them will likely be an exercise in futility.

Bonus argument no. 11
"So I give up smoking to live longer.
I could get killed by a car crossing the street the next day."
There is no rebuttal to such logic !
  

 Meanwhile enjoy some of the priceless gems of logic that you will hear.                                                                                 
                                                      Until Next Time.....

Keep Fit

Little Bobby Strong








Links

AudienceBuilder.ca

www.fitnwell.com

www.rabbitview.com