Juggling Adulting and Weight loss?

kommodevaran

In my opinion, losing weight and adulting are not in conflict; weight management is part of being an adult. If you aren't losing weight, and you think you're eating in a calorie deficit, you're eating more than you think. You have to tighten up your logging, or find some other way to be more "honest" (in lack of a better word). There is no way around that. Instead of trying to find time for exercise in a busy day, I suggest making exercise a natural part of your day. You have dogs. They need exercise. That's an opportunity for you to get exercise too.

BetsyBidez1105

DebLaBounty wrote: »

Did you ever enjoy going to a gym? I stopped buying lattes every day and used the money I saved to join a cheap gym. My friend found a gym on her route to work, uses the machines and takes a shower, then drives to work. She says it's a good start to her day. Maybe if you had a short elliptical workout in the morning three days a week, and a walk with your dogs in the evening, you'd feel better.

I completely stopped drinking Starbucks after getting a kuerig and no more fast food. I need to confirm with my Dr if I can be on the elliptical but doesn't sound too bad.

BetsyBidez1105

ZoneFive wrote: »

I understand that you want to cut back expenses. But right now, and maybe for the next three months or so, you need help to heal your body and lose some of the stress. Look into a cleaning service for your house and maybe a dog-walker, to take a few responsibilities away for a short time. You'll get a lot more out of walking -- or any gentle exercise -- when you're not feeling you have to hurry home with the dogs and clean the bathroom and make dinner.

That would be nice, but I find it hard to justify spending on those services when I'm already paying between $140-215 a week for my physical therapy. I guess I just feel guilty spending all this $.

Packerjohn

JerSchmare wrote: »

Thing is, you have to prioritize yourself first. I went through all what you’re going through. But, health is the main thing. If you don’t have that, you can’t take care of anyone or anything else. So, prioritize you first, then everything else after. What will happen, over a period of many years is that you will have to make decisions...like, 3 dogs, or maybe just 1? Long commute, or maybe move close to work or find work close to home. Like, you start saying, “I don’t have time for all this commuting and dog stuff. I need to fix this.” But, that won’t happen until you first make time for you. You come first, other stuff follows. It will be really hard in the beginning. But, if you dedicate yourself to it, you’ll figure it out.

This.

You can make things easier for yourself. Unless you live in a very rural area or have a very high paying/specialized job, you can most likely get a job closer to home with similar pay and reduce the commute.

Also, consider giving the dogs up for adoption. You are away 50+ hours a week and your husband 60+. What type of life is this for the dogs? Plus, I would be pretty sure 3 dogs adds considerably to your household cleaning needs. Remember, the old saying, If you love someone/something you might have to set them free".

Also, the biggest factor in weight loss is the calories in. You can reduce that below gain/maintenance and not exercise and lose weight. This can be done regardless of your job and schedule.

Best of luck.

Fitnessmom82

The best advice I can give is what worked for me...i put off taking care of myself and losing weight for year because I was too busy, ect...
I decided a few months ago to dedicate one month to myself. Obviously still doing all the adulting:-) but I promised myself that I would go to the gym every day, even if it meant getting up super early. I would eat healthy even if it meant eating differently than the rest of the family. I told myself no excuses, this had to be done. If after a month it was unbearable then I would stop. The first three weeks were brutal, adjusting to this new routine. Now I love it. And it has made me a better adult. I'm happier and healthier. Find something that works for your schedule and commit to it for a bit to test it out. If it doesn't work, come up with a new plan. Eventually you'll find something that fits in to your lifestyle!

clicketykeys

BetsyBidez1105 wrote: »

ZoneFive wrote: »

I understand that you want to cut back expenses. But right now, and maybe for the next three months or so, you need help to heal your body and lose some of the stress. Look into a cleaning service for your house and maybe a dog-walker, to take a few responsibilities away for a short time. You'll get a lot more out of walking -- or any gentle exercise -- when you're not feeling you have to hurry home with the dogs and clean the bathroom and make dinner.

That would be nice, but I find it hard to justify spending on those services when I'm already paying between $140-215 a week for my physical therapy. I guess I just feel guilty spending all this $.

Does your health insurance not cover physical therapy?

fitoverfortymom

clicketykeys wrote: »

BetsyBidez1105 wrote: »

ZoneFive wrote: »

I understand that you want to cut back expenses. But right now, and maybe for the next three months or so, you need help to heal your body and lose some of the stress. Look into a cleaning service for your house and maybe a dog-walker, to take a few responsibilities away for a short time. You'll get a lot more out of walking -- or any gentle exercise -- when you're not feeling you have to hurry home with the dogs and clean the bathroom and make dinner.

That would be nice, but I find it hard to justify spending on those services when I'm already paying between $140-215 a week for my physical therapy. I guess I just feel guilty spending all this $.

Does your health insurance not cover physical therapy?

If she has a high deductable plan, it's possible that is the cost out of pocket if she hasn't reached it yet. We have a society focused on health insurance rather than health care.

OldHobo

Having never seen "adult" used as a verb, I naturally assumed this thread was about combining weight loss with extramarital relations.

BetsyBidez1105 wrote: »

Any suggestions on how to create a good exercise routine in between a busy schedule? We are trying to cut back in expense so we don't have a gym membership.

So of course, tantric exercise leaps to mind.

Arleigh7

I have a long commute through terrible traffic so what I now do is getup at 4 45am and I'm in the car at 5am. I then get to the office by 6am (instead of the 90 min. to 2 hour drive if I left at 6 30) and I stop at a nearby gym for a morning workout and shower and then I'm at my desk by 8. I never worked out in the morning before and I was one of those people who said I couldn't workout in the mornings. I was wrong AND I found it energized me for the day. Still have to watch your food intake of course and eat healthy. Good Luck!

Arleigh7

And FYI...see if you have a Planet Fitness nearby. Their standard membership is $10 a month.

Sp1tfire

BetsyBidez1105 wrote: »

katadx wrote: »

My first suggestion would be to see if your partner can help you with some of those chores. Then, I'd ask your doctor if low impact cardio like elliptical would be okay for you with your lower back injury. But, that being said, you don't need to exercise to lose weight. As long as you eat a deficit you'll see results!
I hope your year slows down and you get some much needed time to rejuvenate mentally and physically!

Thanks for your advice and support! I love the elliptical when I go to the gym. We currently don't have a membership bc we're trying to cut back on expenses. But hopefully some walking would be a good start.

This is a strangely specific suggestion, but do you ever go to auctions? There are often real estate auctions near where I live and there is almost always some exercise equipment there. People are hesitant to bid because they don't think it's worth it to haul it. I found an older model elliptical for like 2$ because no one was paying attention to the exercise equipment. It may be worth checking out if you find time!

Bry_Fitness70

NorthCascades wrote: »

You don't need exercise to lose weight. Full stop. All you need is a calorie deficit - portion sizes.

If you want to just exist at a lower weight without regard to cardiovascular health, muscle development, and a favorable body composition, then sure, just eat less and don't exercise.

maybe1pe

You have gotten a lot of great advice. I agree with most of it given.

weigh all of your food with a food scale. They're cheap if you don't have one.

You don't need exercise to lose weight, I didn't start exercising until I had lost 70+lbs because it wasn't a priority until then.

Just want to throw out there what works for ME and may not work for everyone but could give ideas.

I don't "clean" during the week. I load the dishwasher and my partner unloads when they're done but other than a quick wipe down of counters I don't do anything else. Maybe a quick sweep of the kitchen if my dogs track in a bunch of leaves or something. I use a couple of hours on my weekend to clean. I dust and vacuum and mop floors while my partner cleans the bathrooms. Boom knocked out in no time and we are both done. It has dramatically eased my stress during the week.

I also have two dogs. I have a fenced yard so our routine is like this:
before work: outside run around the yard for a few minutes to burn a little energy. throw a ball or something.
after work: let them out to the yard to run while I change. Then we suit up and go for a walk 30-45 minutes (2-3 miles).
before bed: playing in the yard. throwing balls running around (good exercise for them and me) for 15-20 minutes. They love the attention.
They might go out a couple more times just depends.
On weekends they get longer walks or maybe 2 - 30 minute walks

After our evening walk I work out -10- 30 minute home video of some kind. Sometimes something on youtube sometimes something I own it depends.

For dinner: I MEAL PREP THE CRAP OUT OF IT. We sit down and decide on Saturday what we will eat the next week and shop for any ingredients we need. On Sunday we make it.... we make it all. And we divide out dinner portions and lunch portions and stack them in the fridge to grab and go.
THE ONLY TIME I DO NOT PREP MY FOOD ON SUNDAY is if I am making something in the crockpot. Then I start it before work and set the time (I have a programmable one so that when it's done cooking it turns it to a keep warm mode) dinner hot and ready whenever I am.

I hope you are able to incorporate some of this advice from everyone to work for you! Good luck!

ETA: If you get breaks at work is there a place you could walk??? You'd be surprised by how walking can add up, I walk on my breaks for a few minutes and it does help me get a few extra calories each day.
Also, I have 3 herniated disks in my back and have had surgery on a couple of them. It's not fun but losing the weight has helped tremendously with my quality of life.

KelGen02

I feel you... I am a full time working Mom of 3 sons although older 23, 19, 14 they all live at home as well as two dogs. I have 4 herniated disc in my lower back, 2 in my neck, and degenerative joint disease at the young age of 48. I leave the house at 650am every morning to bring my son to school before headed to work and don't get home until 530pm every night. The last thing I want to do is cook, clean or anything else for that matter other than assuming the position on the couch... well that mindset left me with an extra 60lbs over a 4 years span on my already over weight body. Making my back/neck issues just that much worse. Since then I have changed my mindset on mostly everything that caused me to justify the weight gain. Portion control was key, as the first three months as I did not exercise a lick because I thought there was no way I could with my back right? In those three months I got my mind right with food, learned to cook new things, I began to prep my meals on Sundays for the week so it gave me less excuse to come home and eat crappy because I was too tired to cook. I became best friends with my crock pot, who knew all that can be made in that thing?? I also prelogged my food for the next day before I went to bed each night. It left less room to stray for the day knowing where I was for calories already. I lost 27lb in the first 90 days, so I was feeling like a boss now and decided it was time to get active. I literally walked 20 minutes a day on my lunch, rain sleet snow I told myself I needed to walk. Those walks turned into 30 minutes at a much faster pace for just under 2 miles. I added a night of zumba to the mix, fun class didn't feel like exercise it was just and hour of dancing as far as I was concerned. loved it so much added a 2nd class to the week. Fast forward a year, I have lost 75lbs with 25lb to go. I still zumba twice a week, go on my lunch walks daily, run on the treadmill twice a week and just recently added a circuit boxing training class two days a week. while I have to modify a lot of that class because of my back/neck issues, I am still getting my sweat on and never imagined I would ever be able to finish a class like that. Obviously you have to pass everything through your dr as far as how much you can do with your injuries, but find one thing you enjoy doing and just do it religiously... You don't need to exercise to lose weight, that is simply Calories in Calories out... However, exercise keeps your heart healthy and just makes you feel good. Small changes, consistency and you got this. If this old broad can do it, anyone can LOL Good luck!!!

emcclure013

I get the busy schedule thing... crazy dog mom here too, plus I have a hectic work schedule that keeps me running. I've been following MFP for almost 5 months now and logging everything I eat. The only purposeful exercise I do is walking - nothing else. I walk a mile on my lunch break, and I walk my dog every evening after supper for another mile or two. Following this, I'm down over 45lbs!

It's totally possible to do this all as an adult... just remember to log everything honestly, count even the little things that add up over time. Most of it's diet related, and if you can get out and just move a bit it makes a big difference!

KateBoss7521

I hear you— it can be exhausting to have so much “to do” constantly swirling in your head.

One thing I find helpful is keeping a yellow legal pad handy and writing everything down that I need to remember. Cleaning, appointments, shopping list, etc. It greatly reduces my stress because my brain can be clear. I write things down as they come to mind and then forget about them.

I joined Planet Fitness because it’s $10/month and then a yearly charge of $40. I’m really broke, but it’s one thing I don’t regret spending money on.

Check craigslist or local Facebook garage sale groups. People in my area frequently give away exercise equipment for free/cheap because it sucks to haul around and they just want it gone.

I also have 3 dogs. They hang out with each other & sleep during the day when I’m gone. They aren’t suffering because of my busy schedule. As long as you get a walks in as able, and spend some quality time around the house with them evenings, they are just fine

mgalsf12

Welcome to adulthood. ;-)

LAWoman72

The phrase "adulting" makes me stabby.

As a 19-year-old, all grown up, fully self-supporting single parent working like a dog for peanuts, I used to walk on my lunch hour. When I worked my next job where we only got 30 minutes for lunch, I walked while eating my sandwich. It was nice. I got outside and out of the office.