Fitting in exercise with a busy schedule?!?

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  • lunglady
    lunglady Posts: 526 Member
    I'm a physician. My hours are long and I take call. To fit it into my busy schedule I work out at 5:00 AM. My toddler and husband aren't up yet so they can't interfere. I also can't blame the long workday if it hasn't started yet.
  • mic1mam
    mic1mam Posts: 33
    I work 10 hour shifts getting home at 330 am, so I walk on both of my breaks and at lunch. We have a treadmill and weights at work, so it does make it easier. I haven't started the weights yet, this is the start of my second week of mfp. Good Luck. Try to fit in short bursts of any exercise whenever you can.
  • Changing_Charity
    Changing_Charity Posts: 197 Member
    ALSO there are little things that make a difference,

    -taking the stairs instead of the elevator and if you have stairs at home...go up and down them numerous times even if you dont have too. sometimes i will go up and down my stairs 10 times in a row and it really gets my heart rate going.

    -park your car at the far end of the parking lot so you have to walk further to get to your destination

    -do sets up jumping jacks, jog in place, etc. during commercials when youre watching your favorite shows.

    -go for a brisk walk around your neighbor hood

    anything to get your heart going is great! make yourself sweat everyday! good luck :)
  • Jess21684
    Jess21684 Posts: 202 Member
    As bad As I dont want to come off *****y I feel like there should be no excuses. It really comes down to the point if You make it priority or want it bad enough, you will make the time no matter what comprise you may have to make. That being said, I would first try making a small goal to yourself.. maybe like at least 3 times a week or something. even if you say I will go straight to the gym or workout STRAIGHT after work before I do anything else for at least 20 min. Most the time, You will feel so good and endorphines will be flowing, and you will push yourself to go a little longer. Even just 20 min of fitness is better than nothing and if you push youself hard enough or do HIIT workouts in that time-frame, you can still get a decent workout and burn in for those 20 min :) I dont know if your planning on going to a gym or not but Jillian Michaels has great circuit training workout dvds out there, that are usually no longer than 30 min and its strength, cardio and abs all in one 30min workout. That would be a good workout to do even if you pick 3 times a week and go from there. I am not a morning person, So i would just go STRAIGHT after work and tell myself ill go for a certain time, if you go past that then all the better. its just getting a routine going that is the hardest. Once you put your mind to it and keep in mind WHY your doing this, the routine will get easier and it wont seem so tiring to you. Set small goals and dont try to go too hard at first. 3 days a week, 20min hard working workouts A week is a start and better than nothing :) It will become easier and more habit after awhile and then you can up your workout times and go from there. Start SMALL, keep positive, stay consistant with your goals no matter how small or big they are and keep reminding yourself what you want from this and why your doing this for yourself. most of all do a workout that you actually enjoy, you will be more likely to not want to skip out on it
  • Jess21684
    Jess21684 Posts: 202 Member
    I def agree with Charityleegs posts. YOU have to make the time, no matter what or how you do it. you have to keep in mind why you want this so bad and no matter what, you just have to make the time & make it a priority for yourself. I sometimes just simply dont want to workout but I just try to make myself just get up and do it bc I know that in the end, when the workout is over, I feel so much better that I just got it done. Try to keep telling yourself that and dont give yourself too much time to ponder on it, just do it and say im choosing to do this for me bc Its what I want for myself :) self talk really can help a bunch.
  • 141by2016
    141by2016 Posts: 179
    Watch this , it helped me to re-frame the problem: with all the other things we make a priority can not find 30 min a day to save our own lives?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F5Sly9JQao

    BTW: I am a first year medical student, spend 10-14hrs a day 7 days a week studying in high stress environments and they can have my workout time when they pry it from my cold dead fingers. You are number one and you are no good to anyone if you can't take care of yourself.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    I saw some motivation fitness image that said "If you haven't got time to get fit, you better make time for ill health." or something similar.
  • ghimm
    ghimm Posts: 38 Member
    If you have a smart phone, there is a great app called Sworkit. It's a type of circuit program where you can tell it what you want to work (full body, arms, legs, anything goes) and how long you want to do it. It times out exercises in 30 second increments, building in breaks. You can do it first thing in the morning for 20 minutes before you hop in the shower... you can do it when you get that weird burst of energy right before you're planning on going to bed. It's nice because you can do it anywhere and it varies the routine so you don't get bored. I do it in the laundromat while I'm waiting.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    go to bed earlier. I'd say you feel overly tired now because of your 6hrs sleep.

    Workout in the morning before work, at lunch if possible or after work.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    At the risk of sounding rude - you are in the same position as most, if not better as many people on here also have kids to look after and they make the time.

    You just have to make the time. Go to bed earlier and get up earlier to fit in a morning workout. There are a lot of different ones you can do in a relatively short time, many of which have already been suggested.
  • rosebud12078
    rosebud12078 Posts: 14 Member
    I work 8 to 4:30 and now with it being dark early I can't go for my usual long walks. At the same time I don't want to stop excersing. So this is what I am doing for now until I think of something better. I get 40 minutes for lunch so I walk either 15 to 20 minutes on my lunch break then when I get out of work I walk another 15 so I get at least 30 minutes a day. This might be something you can try. :happy:
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    The hardest part is getting up and just doing it, tired or not. Maybe my story will give you a little motivation. It took me two years to actually get up off the couch, step away from the computer, and get moving. I used the "I don't have time" excuse and was convinced that was the case. I'd just had my second child, and I hadn't even lost weight from the first child, who was almost five by that time. I don't always have the best luck, so right after I had made the decision to get fit and had started working toward my goals, I found out I had cancer. Nothing like the fear of death to keep me motivated. I don't want to come off as morbid, but even when I was in chemo and sick, I found that getting up and exercising, moving and taking time to elevate my heart rate and clear my mind, helped me get through it and kept me from gaining the weight my oncologist told me I most certainly would gain from all the steroids and other drugs. I could have used cancer as an excuse for sitting and resting, but I didn't. Point is, you just have to do it, even if it sucks at first. It will eventually stop sucking, and you actually look forward to the time you spend working out.

    Best of luck!

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