Work and Fitness...HELP :(

Hello everyone! I am a 20 year old university student that is looking to shed a few pounds and get happy and healthy! Being a full time student you can imagine it would be difficult to be at the gym 3-4 times a week, so now that I am on summer holiday you can imagine how excited I am to be training more often. One problem, I work in retail and am one my feet for 39 hours not only walking by doing physical labour as well. Also, my work shifts are odd as I often do (10 am -6 pm, 12 pm -9 pm). Did I even mention that my schedule is changing week by week?! Also, I have knee issues and feet issue. Oh and the opening hours for my gym aren't the greatest and because of my weekend shifts I won't even be able to make it in on Saturday OR Sunday.


So enough about my background. Basically, I'm looking for advice. Today I begin a 9 hour shift with only 1hr break (not cut into segments) and woke up this morning with my feet hurting and my knee throbbing. It has essentially discouraged me from going to the gym this morning because I know I have a long day/evening ahead of me. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can stay on track with my fitness and weight loss program despite this clear obstacles?!


Be happy and stay fit!

Alicia

Replies

  • Nikk2674
    Nikk2674 Posts: 11 Member
    Hi Alicia:
    Walking during your break sounds like something that might help and then some ab work at home while watching tv and maybe some push ups. From what you say, it sounds like squats and lunges are out so when you can find an incline to walk on, maybe that can help tone the lower body. Oh, and planks help at home with the core.
  • cricket_77
    cricket_77 Posts: 165 Member
    Losing weight is more impacted by your diet than exercise. Eat in a deficit and you should lose some weight. Make sure you are eating adequate protein in order to help maintain your muscle mass.
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
    Schedules can be crazy sometimes and make it challenging to be consistent. I'm in a similar boat. My wife works night shift, we have a 1.5 year-old son, I'm a graduate student (which means I'm always on the clock lol), and I'm active in my church. I always do my workouts at home. It is so much more convenient for me to do so. I cannot get to the gym. Plus I like just rolling out of bed, get busy exercising, and then get on with my day. It's effective too. I dropped 64 lbs working out at home.

    Allan
  • PinkyFett
    PinkyFett Posts: 842 Member
    I'm a full time student and mom to 3 kids 5 and under and find time to make this work. Point being, if you want it, you can do it.:bigsmile:
  • tabbyblack13
    tabbyblack13 Posts: 299 Member
    If you can get on YouTube there are a lot of video workouts there that will give you a verity to try out. These will help with fitness but to lose the wight you will need to eat a a deficit. Exercise will give you more leway and will help strengthen your body.

    Also look into getting different shoes. My mom loves a lot of the skechers fitness shoes because of the amount of cushone in them. Any good quallity shoe is going to cost you but it does help.
  • greentart
    greentart Posts: 411 Member
    First, a couple questions... Is your diet in check? Do you believe your foot & knee issues to be caused (or at least made worse) by your weight? I ask because simply eating less can help you lose weight, which could then make exercising less painful for you. Either way, find things that don't stress out your body that you enjoy. Do yoga or pilates when you get home from work (or before). When you get up in the morning, do a quick, basis exercise routine. Do some squats, pushups, lunges, jump roping, jumping jacks, crunches, etc. You can even buy a home dumbbell set so you can do some inverted rows and upper body exercising.

    You don't need to be at a gym to exercise. If you want this... you got this!