finding the time

Trish1c

I was doing OK in July & August . . . getting to the gym 3-4 days per week & getting in a walk on the days I didn't go.

But since September rolled around my days are packed. I leave the house around 6:45 to head to work. Most times I have night meetings so I'm not getting home until 10: p.m at least 3 nights per week. I eat in my car while driving. (I have invested in an insulated lunch bag so I have at least stopped eating fast food). I work Saturday mornings & on Sunday I have to do life stuff -- food shopping, laundry etc.

I had previously been able to squeeze in 1.5 hours around lunch time to go to the gym but that luxury has evaporated as my business has gotten busier. It is a 10 minute drive to the gym, 10 minutes to get in, check in, get changed etc. Do a 1/2 hour work out, which takes about 40 minutes. Take a shower & get dressed (15 minutes), then back to work (10 minutes).

Help. Where do I fit in the gym / exercise? I'm already sleep deprived so getting up earlier isn't a solution.

How do you all fit it in?

rybo

You have to make time. In this case it may be difficult as you are going to have to cut work hours and without knowing what you do, that's hard to recommend, but from the information giving, that's where you need to start.

LazSommer

Saturday afternoon/Sunday. Fitness is "life stuff." Any day you don't get home at 10pm.

girlinahat

Fitness doesn't have to mean going to the gym. I don't know what business you do, but could you have 'standing meetings'? They tend to be more efficient anyway as people get fed up of standing.

what do you do on the evenings when you don't get home late? Can you incorporate something then? Or Saturday afternoons? What about doing the 'life stuff' in an evening to leave the whole of Sunday free to go for a hike or something?

Machka9

Can you fit in a quick 5 or 10 flights of stairs in the middle of the day?

Go for a really brisk 30 minute walk at lunch rather than the whole thing with the gym?

On the nights you don't work until 10 pm, go for a brisk 30 min bicycle ride or walk?

Go for a hike up a mountain on Saturday afternoons?

jemhh

What, exactly, do you do at the gym? Is it something you can do at home or can you cut it down to two days a week?

peleroja

My solution is to alternate when I work out. On Monday and Wednesdays, I get up early and go before work, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I go at lunch. Then I take Fridays off and use the weekend for a long run and sometimes a short recovery run as well if I did my long run on Saturday.

It helps a lot because I'm only getting up earlier twice a week and only taking my full hour for lunch twice a week. I recommend it because I find it's a lot easier to make time in my workday twice a week than it is every day and it's easier for me to be at the gym at 5:30 AM if I know I can sleep later the next morning.

not_my_first_rodeo

I am going to be in the same vote once it starts to snow because I get in my exercise by walking and I live in a place where when it snows, it really snows. But I far park. I take the stairs whenever possible and honestly sometimes when it's out of my way. I go to a big box store and just walk the aisles. There are ways...

SylviazSpirit

I just read a similar article in a magazine the other day. It was an interview with a really busy business woman and how she got in a workout and then freshened up before she went back at it. She had a pretty awesome little "get back to work" routine. Some cream to take redness out of her face, clean up cloths etc. Anyway, I say fit it in where you can... park further away from the door, take the stairs.... get an app on your phone to do some calisthenics/strength/cardio when you have a few extra minutes... Do HIIT or Tabata which you can complete a hard workout in as little as 5-7 minutes.... Work the workout, don't let it work you! You can do it, get creative. You don't need a gym, just a little time and motivation. Some is always better than none.

JBApplebee

For me, it's before work. I work 2 jobs & if I don't do it before work, it takes a lot more effort just for me to get to the gym later in the day.

Dano74

"There's nothing going on before your alarm goes off..."

I know you mentioned being sleep deprived so I don't want to be insensitive because sleep is RAD. It's the sentiment-- there's always time, it's just what prioritizes that time. There's been days I've gone to the gym at 11pm and run off 4 hours of sleep. It's making the decision that workout time won't slip and you'll get it in. Where days are in constant flux, being flexible doesn't have to be going to the gym at 11pm or 3 am but if it's a priority, you have to be willing to do it. It's not easy or skips through the park every time... but it always feels good when you do.

Honestly, Maybe an at-home program is right for you right now? Sounds like it'll save you a half hour?