How does one balance two jobs, children, and fitness (working out)?

jsreddblaze

I work two jobs, and attend to my two sons. I'm exhausted daily. I am conscious of my dietary lifestyle, but working out is inconsistent. Time and energy is imperative. Anyone care to chime in? Advice, Ideas? Discuss the struggle?

RodaRose

Prioritizing sleep is the most important thing you can do for yourself and your family.

Sued0nim

Well what are your goals?

If it's weight loss then it's about your food intake

Also what kinds of jobs? Are you on your feet? Active? Do you walk to work? Can you take walking breaks ? Maybe your activity rate gives you a decent TDEE

You don't need to do a specific workout ...

If you want to do a specific workout for a specific objective then you simply have to find a way to prioritise it ...say 3 times a week

But no it's not easy

Karen_can_do_this

Yep what those two said. It's hard work but if you put your mind to it and follow through with your plans then anything is possible

Unknown

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47Jacqueline

One determines what one's priorities are

gardnercranston

I work full time and have three young kids, the only way I get my workout in is going to the gym at 5am. I may not get to everything on my to-do list every day, but at least I make working out a priority and get it done first thing. Find out works for you.

choppie70

When it becomes a priority it happens!

I work full time, but I teach so I take quite a bit of work home with me each night. I have a daughter and my husband works nights. I am also currently working toward my National Boards. There are some days when I am gone from 6am - 6pm(about 2x per week). Then I have to make dinner, help daughter with homework, spend time with husband before he goes to work, get ready for the next day, then work on making sure all papers are corrected and entered into my gradebook. There are days when I literally do not sit down except when I am eating dinner!

I try to do two workouts a day. One in the morning and one when dinner is in the oven, or while my daughter is doing homework (she sits at the desk and I do my treadmill thing).

mwmix

I struggle with a crazy busy schedule, too, and right now, going to the gym is just not a possibility for me.

That having been said, you don't need a gym or an extensive routine to get your daily exercise in. Find a short and managable routine that works for you that you can squeeze in in the morning or after the kids go to bed. This could be a 15 minute yoga/Pilates routine or a circuit of body weight exercises like this: .

pstegman888

Can you incorporate playtime with your sons and exercise? Getting the whole family out running around in an informal game of kickball can help boost your energy & burn off their excess energy. If they are still quite young, then pushing them in a stroller or doing a baby workout using them as weights might be fun.

scolaris

I work two jobs currently (special ed sub, weekend caregiver), own a small business (rental cabin at lake), have two kids but only one at home, and a husband who commutes, travels, & works crazy long hours plus for the last four months has been living all the way across the country in DC leaving me a single mum for all practical intents and purposes.
Yes, the struggle is real.
Here's what helps me:
1) walking is the keystone of my fitness routines. I already walk all day at my sub jobs. I carry good hikers with me in my car & often stop for an extra walk or hike to increase my mileage near whatever campus I've worked at that day. Walking works best for me orthopedically; if you like running all you would need is a change of clothes along with the shoes. I need simple, portable fitness options that go wherever I'm being sent on assignment throughout the entire county.
2) to raise my heart rate even more at least a few times a week, I do Zumba & UrbanKick at my Y. Both teachers incorporate HIIT into their routines. I really can't schedule more than two classes. Still, putting a couple of dates on the calendar just for me helps a lot. It's just two hours but the mental & physical benefit of the choreography and the music lifts my spirits.
3) my strength training is just body weight stuff. Again, no special equipment or costume changes needed. I do a fair portion of it in pajamas, early in the morning and after dinner. Just 10-20 minutes at a time.
4) my meals are SIMPLE... here's where having a husband away on assignment and a daughter away at college helps more than hurts. I don't cater to cooking for a big family any more!! I love it!! My 13 year old & I are happy eating seared meat or fish with a big salad or some steamed veggies most nights. She's a growing girl, so if she's craving starch she makes herself mac & cheese or bakes a potato as an after school snack. Once or twice a week I plan a crock pot meal or cook homemade beans to have with tacos & enchiladas. About once a month I make one of my MIL's traditional northern Italian sauces for pasta. We carry out pizza. We open a box of soup. We each prep our own breakfast & sack lunch. Grocery shopping is a snap because we buy the same healthy staples over and over and over again. I can practically shop with my eyes closed. I keep a running grocery list on my iPhone because I never know where I'll be working and need to be ready to shop wherever I am. Let's just say I am intimately familiar with the floor plans of about a dozen stores all over Sonoma county! Anyway, this streamlining helps a lot. Every now & then one of those FB memories unearths an old picture of breads I baked or desserts I made and I just have to laugh and say 'I don't do that anymore.' Because I don't and I won't. I prefer being fit.
5) I like to pre log my days. It's sort of like laying out your work clothes the night before. Sure, things might change... But I like to start each day with a plan. I plan how I'll get my protein. I'll plan how my micronutrient goals should look, like my calcium etc. I plan if there needs to be wriggle room for alcohol at the end of the day. (Special ed subbing? By all means plan some alcohol! Please!)
Even with all that I still screw up. Classes get missed. Body weight work gets edged out by a homework emergency. Unplanned alcohol sneaks in on the heels of preplanned. We turn up at In n Out's drive thru window at dinner time. It's okay. Even 75% compliance gets me results, slowly but steadily.

FGTisme

If you are new to exercise, try doing 10 burpees, 10 push ups, and 10 sit-ups. (Or as many as you can). Work your way up to as many as you can do of each in 5 minutes. 15 minutes a day, decent workout. Find 15 minutes twice a day, even better.

But, like others said, losing weight is all about the calories. Weigh/measure and be as accurate as possible when counting your calories. Eat at your calorie target and you will lose weight. Exercise is for fitness; reducing calories is for weight loss.

Psychgrrl

Patience and planning. And to give myself the grace of not beating myself up when the best laid plans don't work out. Because life.

There's tons of workouts on youtube (fitness blender), and doing things in short spurts can help you get over the pain of scheduling an hour-long workout.

Getting a cheap pedometer and tracking steps could help too.

Queenmunchy

One of the biggest time savers for me is cooking on weekends primarily or prepping things ahead of time. We usually can have a homemade meal on the table in 10 minutes with almost zero cleanup because of batch cooking/freezing.