Tips for the super busy

1princesswarrior

I am also super busy. I am single, live alone, have 4 active dogs, 2 horses (one very sick with a neurological problem), a full-time job, a part-time job, a house, laundry, etc. My horses are in self care board so this is what my typical day looks like:

Get up, get ready for work, go bring in the horses, go to work, hopefully only work 7-8 hours (my days of overtime are thankfully now rare but I understand self-employment, my dad was self-employed for years when I was a kid), come home to let the dogs out and feed them, go to the barn and work my shift there, take care of my two horses, ride several days a week, clean stalls, turn them out, check hay and grain, go home play with dogs to get rid of their energy and for me to wind down. Take a shower and go to bed.

Here are a couple of little tricks I do to save time:

I start laundry when I get home from work, and dry it over night. Then it takes 20 minutes on the wrinkle free cycle.
Dishes pile up until I have none clean and then I will usually wash only what I need (no dishwasher and advantage to being single)
I try to spend 5-10 minutes a day picking up around the house, for example vacuum one room or dust one room, yes I work on it daily but it gets done and I have a very small house.

As far as workouts I'm very, very fortunate at work they give us 3 hrs a week for physical fitness so I use it religiously. My dinner will often get skipped or eaten very late because I use that time to workout as well. I do make sleep a priority for health reasons and because I work on a computer all day.

My key is planning. Right now protein shakes are my saving grace because I have no food in the house and no money to go shopping until Friday. I have no social life unless you count talking to my dogs. Saturday nights are typically "me time" and I spend that working on other laundry like towels and sheets, or the dreaded ceiling high pile of dishes. I don't watch TV during the week. In the winter I live next to my crockpot and by casseroles.

estherlion

I too have a similar super busy lifestyle. I know what you mean that you are lucky if you can take a bathroom break with the high intensity of a demanding job. I am married with kids so lots of running around. For me it is 90% diet. This means prepare prepare prepare. On Saturday I make a grocery list of what I will need for the week. I plan breakfast lunch and dinners for the week and come up with a high protein, lots of veggies list. I clean my house on Saturday, then wake early for Sunday church then grocery shopping. I come home and prepare what I can for the week. I make sure I go to bed early and get 8 to 9 hours of sleep every night, my rest is a big priority for me as I don't function well with little sleep. I rarely talk to my friends because of my demanding schedule and do go through guilt trips about this. I try to move, but don't formally work out at a gym. I take the stairs, park far, when home from work, do errands around the house, up and down the stairs, etc. I play fun salsa music while doing chores and dance a little as I clean. Just try not to be so sedentary. When I do (rarely happens) get a lunch break I have a change of gym clothes and sneakers in my office and go for a long up hill walk. I don't sweat too much so those clothes can be worn at least 3 times before I need to bring in more clothes. On my spare time I like to read through this forum than watch TV. It keeps me focused on my weightloss goals. I always bring lunch and eat while I work throughout the day. I rarely go out to lunch because my job is too busy. Another thing, TAKE A VACATION! This is an absolute must for me at least once or twice a year and fully disconnect from email/cell phone and rest. It's amazing how you return with a different mindset and you are able to reset your priorities. Also, learn how to say NO and put YOU and your health as a priority. I've had to work on this priority list: #1 God, #2 Family (husband and kids), #3 My Health, #4 My Job. Not everyday is the job #4 though, but this is the goal for me.

minizebu

If you haven't already, invest in an inexpensive pocket pedometer and wear it religiously. (I use an Omron HJ-112, only around $23USD.)

Monitor your step count on a typical day and then make an effort to make the step count rise every day. Even in the absence of a formal walk or run, the pedometer serves as a proxy for NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis).

Your pedometer is the next best thing to "microsensor-embedded undergarments"! http://www.mayoclinic.org/mcitems/mc5000-mc5999/mc5810-0307.pdf

Stand when you would otherwise sit. Move when you would otherwise stand. Move faster when you would otherwise move slowly.

It all adds up.

MyChocolateDiet

Gosh, I just read all the replies and I feel like I might be the only one that really "gets" the OP. And I guess that could be untrue, but here is my scenario -

Get up at 6 AM, drop kids off at daycare. Drive to office or to work in the field. If I'm lucky, I get lunch. Sometimes it's a Luna bar.

Work until 3:30. Or 8. Depending on situation. Yesterday, for example, I was at the office until 5:30. Then it is an hour drive home. Yesterday I was EXCEPTIONALLY lucky that my husband got home a little earlier than me (which never happens) and threw together a fabulous quick dinner. Arrived home 6:10, had to be out the door at 6:35 to take my kids to swimming lessons.

Yes, swimming lessons are voluntary. However, it's 10 days out of my life in 2013. I think I can make that sacrifice and make it a higher priority than me working out.

Get home from swimming around 8:15. Bedtime - showers, pj's, goodnights. It is now 8:45. Put kids to bed. Tidy up a bit. 9 PM, house is a disaster and I haven't "worked out".... but I slept for literally one hour the night before. So I opted to go to bed.

Now, this was actually a GOOD day, because I managed to sneak a lunch break with my husband for an hour to Applebee's for a 550 calorie lunch, plus he was home in time to make dinner. Many other days it's literally coffee for me until I break down and eat a granola bar, then maybe dinner somewhere..... then home, bed around 11-12 on average.

I do not "get" lunch breaks. I'm self-employed. I work constantly. And sure, people say that it's my choice, or I'm being too hard on myself, but many other self-employed people get it - you are the worst boss you've ever had in your entire life. And my family getting ANY dinner depends on me, as I am the primary income. There is no such thing as vacations, and if you ignore your phone part of the day, the world implodes and people hate you, you lose business, end of story.

So MY tips? Sneak something in whenever possible. Like right now, with swimming lessons, I'm volunteering to the parent in the water with my little one. It's not much, but it's something - I try to sneak in some actual "work" in the water when I can.

Take advantage of downtime. I had a quiet Sunday, so I went for a two hour bike ride. Last summer I was doing 3-4 hour rides every week. I haven't had that option yet this year with our schedules, and I miss it.... but you can burn an awful lot if you work hard for two hours!

And if you can, sneak in Jillian. I did a few rounds of 30DS and Ripped last spring, and it was amazing considering it was only 25 minutes. Now, when I sleep an average of 4 hours a night, I usually can't convince myself to short myself another half an hour - but if the opportunity is there, take it.

And for the record, I was getting up around 5 to go run, but when the days got longer my work day did, too, and that's fallen by the wayside.

My priority is to sleep before working out. Because, as I mentioned, there are nights where I'm literally up until 3 AM working - I don't think it's fair to expect my body to function well if I then get up at 5. It doesn't function well when I get up at 6!

(Please no lectures. I know my situation, my life position and business position quite well right now. Right now is a bust-butt-so-you-can-expand period, and I'm working on doing just that. Then if I expand, I will again have more time for me. There are phases of more time for myself and less time, and I'm currently in a less-time-for-me phase. It, like all things, will pass.)

Hey OP- feel free to add me as a friend. If my life sounds like yours, please understand that I totally get it. I'm not perfect at logging, because honestly, I get too busy for that, too.... but I try!

Ohai

MyChocolateDiet

I work in a demanding role for a Fortune 10 company, have 2 kids 3 and under and a wife that works full time...very busy, very little "free time."
Priorities:

Diet first - even if you can't work out, you can eat good food that is fuel and will drive your health

Sleep is vital - for me, the magic number is 7. I can get by on 5-6 hrs per night, but that catches up on me by the end of the week.

Force a workout into your schedule - even if it's 30DS at 5 AM - it is totally worth it and will give you the energy to deal with the rest of your schedule. I have a gym here on campus, so I've started hard-scheduling workouts in place of my lunch to maximize time. Also, with my parking lot, I choose a very far away space, then walk all the way to the building and choose the stairs over the elevator to get to my 4th floor office. I've found an UP by Jawbone really helpful to ensure I'm moving enough even if I'm not getting my workout in. One time, on a business trip, I had a longer layover in the ATL airport and a conference call to do. I called in, put the phone on mute and walked laps in the terminal for about 90 minutes while on the call - burned a bunch of calories rather than sitting on my bum! Find ways to amp up normal activities - when I'm doing laundry while wife is at work, I make sure I carry each pile upstairs separately, rather than in the basket. This means 4-6 more trips up and down the stairs - like a free workout!

Drink water all the time! It will keep you sharp and all the extra trips to the bathroom burn more calories!

Just move!

Not me, I work in a Fortune 1 company.

tfpdunn

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Not me, I work in a Fortune 1 company.
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Wal-Mart, congrats

Healingnutritionsolutions

Great tips! Thanks for all the great advice - I am so inspired right now. I have got to get this under control and figured out now before clinicals start back in August... only a few weeks away. That is when I'm afraid things will all fall apart. I am actually taking notes on this and using many of these suggestions as a part of a written battle plan. My homework for tonight.

I am an RN, RPSGT and right now I work mostly in a small sleep lab, sedentary and score out the sleep study reports for the physicians - usually 10 hour days - few breaks, sitting all day. I have started tonight with my goal of 15 minutes for me... I went for a short quick walk... with a doggy . I will try to make myself take just 15 minutes every single day until it becomes a habit. When I can, I'll make it more, but when I can't I'll get my minimum of 15. Good place to start.

So many great suggestions... my list is getting long and the motivation is high. Thanks again everyone!

sharpdagger

Yes...you need 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Sleeping 4 hours alone will increase your weight.

Healingnutritionsolutions

What do you do for work? Do you get a lunch break? I used to go for walks/runs around the parking lot a few years ago on my lunch break when I was super busy. Also, get in the habit of "exercising" anytime you are sitting still. IE: squats/lunges when you're in the kitchen making dinner. If you work at a desk, do searches online of "desk workouts". If you can get 5 min in 5x/day that's 25min of exercise

Usually eat at the desk while working, but when I'm downloading or moving data, I will try this... great idea... I can do squats, lunges, etc... I have a stretch band I'll take to work... etc... :flowerforyou:

Healingnutritionsolutions

Yes...you need 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Sleeping 4 hours alone will increase your weight.

LOL, yes this I definitely know, working in sleep medicine :blushing:

Healingnutritionsolutions

It is easier to get a calorie deficit from diet so focus on that first. Take an hour out of your Sunday to prep.. I cut veggies to grab as snacks, make a couple salads for the week, cut up watermelon, hard boil eggs and prep veggies for my meals. Makes it easier to grab and go. I always pack my lunch for work the night before so I just need to grab it out of the fridge in the morning.

Make exercise a routine and part of your schedule. Once you do that, it helps a lot. Schedule it for your favorite TV show that way you know you can watch your show. i have to do it after my kids go to bed because that is the easiest for me.

Don't watch TV - no time - but I really like the prep idea - I usually mentally plan, then actually prep in the morning... but setting up a whole week ahead will be helpful! Definitely after kids in bed... I work a lot of weekends and rotate shifts sometimes working nights, sometimes days, sometimes evenings - so I'll just need to be a little creative with prepping ahead... exercise will be a challenge, but if I get the habit started now, then in August when things get really bad I will at least have formed the habit... Tracking daily was a tough habit to get into, but now have been over a month! I can do this...

Healingnutritionsolutions

It is easier to get a calorie deficit from diet so focus on that first. Take an hour out of your Sunday to prep.. I cut veggies to grab as snacks, make a couple salads for the week, cut up watermelon, hard boil eggs and prep veggies for my meals. Makes it easier to grab and go. I always pack my lunch for work the night before so I just need to grab it out of the fridge in the morning.

Make exercise a routine and part of your schedule. Once you do that, it helps a lot. Schedule it for your favorite TV show that way you know you can watch your show. i have to do it after my kids go to bed because that is the easiest for me.

This. Planning is everything! I have a daily commute of 2.5 hours round trip, typically work 50 hours per week, and have a husband and 4 children. We plan and schedule everything! I pack lunches every evening, my husband gets up early and works out in the AM, I work out in the PM, etc. That's the only way this works for me as I can justify just about anything!

And it seems to be working well for ya. Okay - I'm enlisting his help and my kiddos too. I'm going to tell them how important this is to me, and we all need to pitch in...

faceoff4

I just treat exercise like its a daily routine like sleeping, eating, etc. I always plan my schedule out and make time for it. Even if its just 30 mins sneaking away for a quick run. But the key is making it a priority and a daily routine to me and I always seem to find a hole in my schedule for it.

Healingnutritionsolutions

If you watch TV during the day, do it while you're on a stationary bike. I typically do this after work while the kids are practicing piano or doing homework.

Also, I buy microwave lean cuisine meals on Sunday/Monday for the entire week and keep them in the work fridge. I keep nuts at my desk and a several packs of gum for when I feel like chewing on something. I also try to keep my desk stocked with flavored seltzer water in case I feel the urge to drink something carbonated.

(sigh) good luck.

I actually need to play the piano myself, lol, it's exercise - don't watch much TV myself... I like the pre-planning you mention, and the seltzer water idea I could add 2 oz of juice in place of flavors!

missdelajay

It all comes down to planning. Planning out meals, workouts, when you'll cook, go out (we all need that from time to time). But if the planning happens, the rest of the week should be easy ????
Also, you will get busy and want to give up. Don't. There will be bad days even bad weeks! Just get back on track when you can.

anemoneprose

The Jillian MIchaels idea is a good one. There are intense no-equipment (bodyweight) workouts that are even shorter (10-30 mins), e.g. Zuzka Light (see youtube channel). Maybe sprinkle some of those in through the week where you can fit them in at home, and dedicate 1-2 sessions of heavy lifting a week to hang on to muscle.

Exercise is easy though, food's the harder one to deal with on a schedule; lots of preparation involved there, unfortunately. I am nowhere near as busy as most people in this thread but am used to a more relaxed schedule, so am finding that more of a challenge, myself. Like I've been buying food to fit my old lifestyle & cooking habits, and am letting veg & fruit go to waste in favour of convenience foods

I think one answer is to cook a whack of meat 2x a week, and use FROZEN veg (am looking into freezing fresh veg bc I hate the taste of frozen-at-the-store, apparently this is possible). Or cook a whack of good ratio chili or something and eat that for days.

I find breakfast is easy because I eat the same thing almost every day. Keeping meals simple/repeating menus probably helps.

(DON'T lose sleep to work out, that's a losing game imo, and a sure path to burnout)

Healingnutritionsolutions

I just treat exercise like its a daily routine like sleeping, eating, etc. I always plan my schedule out and make time for it. Even if its just 30 mins sneaking away for a quick run. But the key is making it a priority and a daily routine to me and I always seem to find a hole in my schedule for it.

LIke brushing my teeth...

Healingnutritionsolutions

Okay - update - many of these tips are working - I went through one day and did an itemized time schedule to find a bit of wasted time, there really wasn't much, but I was spending some time doing "nothing" that is now being utilized better... who knew.

Started with diet - very much upgraded - 50% carbs, 25% protein, 25% fat - give or take a bit here and there

Recruited family to help me do this - now they help with laundry, dishes, setting table, dusting and vacuuming - we have tons... and an upgrade to our washer and dryer in the near future. Husband cooks when he can, older daughter does too, and helps even more. During that time, I workout...

Exercise - have been making time to do most of P90X lean phase - I miss a day here and there due to rotating shifts and being called in for nights when I have already worked a day, etc... but I am now on my second week.

Planning - Definitely better, MFP on lunchbreak (working night again tonight), or intermittently with phone app, shop with the week in mind, plan meals ahead, don't allow myself to get OVERhungry and keep most crap food out of the house. My new sinful yum is frozen greek yogurt and fruits.

Sleep is better - but not great yet, up to about 6 hours most nights, 7-8 on a great night! And I need to do even more planning because my time is getting ready to take a hit in a couple weeks when kids go back to school and my grad school homework and school projects start... That's why I asked you guys for help :flowerforyou:

MyChocolateDiet

Not me, I work in a Fortune 1 company.
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Wal-Mart, congrats
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:laugh: LOL no it just seemed funny the oneupmanship of that.

MyChocolateDiet

Okay - update - many of these tips are working - I went through one day and did an itemized time schedule to find a bit of wasted time, there really wasn't much, but I was spending some time doing "nothing" that is now being utilized better... who knew.

Started with diet - very much upgraded - 50% carbs, 25% protein, 25% fat - give or take a bit here and there

Recruited family to help me do this - now they help with laundry, dishes, setting table, dusting and vacuuming - we have tons... and an upgrade to our washer and dryer in the near future. Husband cooks when he can, older daughter does too, and helps even more. During that time, I workout...

Exercise - have been making time to do most of P90X lean phase - I miss a day here and there due to rotating shifts and being called in for nights when I have already worked a day, etc... but I am now on my second week.

Planning - Definitely better, MFP on lunchbreak (working night again tonight), or intermittently with phone app, shop with the week in mind, plan meals ahead, don't allow myself to get OVERhungry and keep most crap food out of the house. My new sinful yum is frozen greek yogurt and fruits.

Sleep is better - but not great yet, up to about 6 hours most nights, 7-8 on a great night! And I need to do even more planning because my time is getting ready to take a hit in a couple weeks when kids go back to school and my grad school homework and school projects start... That's why I asked you guys for help :flowerforyou:

how much have you lost? (weight, not sanity).