Stressful Job ... How do you all stick to exercise routine??

JustMissTracy

busyPK wrote: »

For me, exercise is a form of "unwinding". I work a full time corporate job, have 3 kids and am divorced so I either get up at 5am and jump on my teadmill for 30 minutes before my kids wake up, or workout at 9pm after my kids are in bed. I enjoy my exercise (mostly the after exercise feeling) so I make it a priority.

You look SO familiar! Are you in Ontario by any chance?

Nuke_64

First question I would ask: Do you like your job? Is it worth 60 hrs a week of your time indefinitely? You don't need to answer me, but you should answer for yourself.

I have job+kids and have been successful in incorporating my commute with my work out somehow. I have cycle commuted both ways, I have taken the bus into work and then rode my bike home, now I make a stop during my commute to ride a trail on the way home. This last one makes my commute "shorter" because miss the peak of rush hour traffic.

Point being, I had 1-1.5 hrs of my day wasted on my commute. I was able to use some of that time to work out.

If its important to you, you will make it a priority.

edean331

A simple thing I used to do was sit ups and push ups on the bathroom floor before my shower.
And during your wind down time, sit on the floor and stretch. If you're watching tv, do some lunges, crunches and push ups between commercials.
I think I'll take my own advice!

mccraee

If you need motivation, read up on the effects of stress. Especially over a long period of time. That should scare the carp out of you. The best thing for stress relief for me is exercise. I get up at 5:20 every single day to make this happen. I work 10+ hours/5 days a week and I have kids so I'm in a similar place. You just have to do it. And, mornings work best for me.

I do find that getting up every day, even on my rest days, helps. I go to crossfit 4x/week. I might sleep in once on the weekend. But, otherwise, I'm up at the same time very day. The days that I don't workout are a little bonus for myself!

It is worth trying to figure out how to get to bed earlier. I have no TV during the week. Zero. I read, I knit, I listen to a book on tape but no TV. This time of year I might build a fire in the fireplace and enjoy that. A good relaxing hot bath helps, and is my reward for a good workout. It really helps transition me to bed since I'm going to try to be asleep at 9:00! Make figuring out how to get to sleep earlier a priority. And, honestly, plowing thru being tired for a few days will make going to bed earlier!

Also, I have a sunrise simulation alarm clock. Its a bright panel of very intense light that gradually comes on 15 minutes before I'm supposed to wake. Really helps, especially in the winter. I pack my stuff the night before and get the workout in on the way to the office. Also, there is a drive thru coffee place where I stop for a plain black coffee on the way to my workout. I literally wake, dress, brush my teeth, drive to the coffee shop and workout in less than 1/2 hour.

If you don't care of you, who is going to?

yusaku02

sabillin1 wrote: »

My issue is sticking to an exercise routine. I am not a morning person, but I know I need to work out in the morning. I get to work between 9:30-10am, and work until anywhere from 8-10pm. Working out at night is technically possible, but who wants to work out at 10pm?

I do. I have a hard time waking up in the morning and I feel weak and sluggish in the gym. Night time is the way to go. 10pm-midnight is great

noclady1995

If I can do it, anyone can! I get up at 5:15 daily and I have a full time job and 1.5 hr roundtrip commute and am currently taking 3 classes to qualify to sit for the CPA exam. On Wed. I don't get home until 11 pm. And I have 2 kids (14 & 4!). So I'm spent every day. But my workouts are my "me" time. I am able to get by on 6 hrs sleep. Trust me if you plan to have kids, 8 hrs sleep will be tricky to get consistently. For me, it's impossible except on Saturdays. So maybe try to see if you can do 7 hrs sleep?

cwl1

I was you for 7 years while working at a large law firm in a big city out of law school (then I left big firm life). I generally got into the office at 9:30 and worked until 8 and often till past midnight. I was working 60-80 hour weeks - once in a while less and sometimes more. For the first two years working out was nonexistent and I gained about 25 pounds from eating pizza, etc. late at night in conference rooms. Then I ended up joining a gym that was in the building across from my office that had a shower and had laundry service to wash my workout clothes (and I kept a locker there with shoes and supplies). Because I had no control over my schedule I couldn't plan on working out at a set time (if I got home at 4am I wasn't going to go for a run at 6am) - so I would just do the best I could 3-4 days a week. I never got 8 hours of sleep though and there was no winding down time!!

I basically ended up doing something like this:

Saturday while in office - sneak out for a 45 min workout
Two days a week - sneak out at some point during the day - usually either 4 pm or 6:30 pm for 45 min workout then head back to office
One day a week - do a yoga video at home - usually around 9 or 10 pm

Sometimes I'd walk to work - I was about 2.5 miles away.

Then instead of eating pizza I'd order whatever was healthy and if there wasn't a healthy option on the firm dinner menu I'd head over to subway for a 6 inch veggie sub sandwich.

It took about 6-7 months and I'd lost much of the weight.

Good luck - it's not easy making it work. At my firm there was zero control over my hours - so I just had to be flexible and squeeze it in.

DYELB

Folks in finance manage to work 110+ hour weeks for years and still make it to the gym daily.






The answer is pharmaceuticals.

shd1976

Prioritise and plan. Food planning is your bigger key to weight loss. I plan lunches and evening meals a couple of weeks in advance. Work days most of our evening meals come out of the slow cooker and are pre-prepped (by me) frozen dump bags in calorie controlled portions. Workout wise we have our routine as we also have to fit childcare in, so we alternate our gym nights, both try to fit a lunchtime walk in. I'm not a morning person and nothing is getting me up earlier to workout.

sabillin1

Thanks for all of the great motivational tips everyone!! Happy to report that I have been back on the workout train...and eating is in check. I am going at night after work. I need my 8hrs of sleep to be fully functional, so waking up at 5 am is not realistic for me at this time. If and when I have kids, clearly my priorities will have to switch....but until then, I am keeping my 8hrs of sleep, lol. I am 2 years out of law school in a big firm, so I need to work a min. of 60 hours a week, and I like my job. My goal for this year is to be more efficient and productive so that I can hopefully leave earlier each night, but I do not dictate the work flow, and the work needs to get done. I don't know how you finance people work 110+ hrs a week!

sanfromny

I will say this, you find time when you have to. I used to say I couldn't function without x amount of hours of sleep. Try having a baby. You'd be lucky if you have a broken 4hours, but you do it because you have to. If you treat exercise as something you HAVE to do, trust me,you'll find a way to get it done!

Me:
full time mom
full time wife
full time student
full time employee

VickiLogan11

This thread motivated me to lay my kit out last night & hit the road this morning.
Been skipping cardio since my new job & just lifting every other day. I feel great because I got the job done
Thanks to all.

sabillin1

sanfromny wrote: »

I will say this, you find time when you have to. I used to say I couldn't function without x amount of hours of sleep. Try having a baby. You'd be lucky if you have a broken 4hours, but you do it because you have to. If you treat exercise as something you HAVE to do, trust me,you'll find a way to get it done!

Me:
full time mom
full time wife
full time student
full time employee

Keep up the good work...people like you amaze me!! I do not know how you do it all. And because I KNOW I will have no sleep when I have kids, I refuse to give it up now, lol. I have actually been utilizing the support you receive from MFP, and I am sticking to it and making exercise a priority!.