Starting over...how do you all find the time???

tennesseeleigh

I'm not going to lie. It's freaking hard to find the time somedays. Both DH and I work full-time and we have a 15 month old. I am very involved with my church and outside activiites as well. I do my workouts on my lunch break and aim for 3-4 workouts a week with the understanding that some weeks it's just not going to happen. Days I can't make it to the gym I try to at least get a walk in and some bodyweight exercises.

We don't eat out very often although there are days like today where I have two meals out (Subway - half for breakfast, half for lunch). I try to keep my fridge, pantry and office drawer stocked with grab and go options (string cheese, 100 calorie almond packs, Greek yogurt, protein bars, etc). I find I do much better if I preplan our meals for the week. I know exactly what I'm going to cook every night and I try to plan it so I'm only really cooking every other day and then we have leftovers. Days when I'm so rushed I don't have time to plan I have a few eat out options that I know can fit into my calorie goals. I do much better if I input my planned meals and snacks into MFP in the morning so I can see what/where I may need to adjust. I can do that from my phone and it only takes about 5 minutes.

Most important I know that this is not a race. It's taken me a year to lose 33 lbs and I need to lose at least another 35-40. I am not going to get a prize if I get there sooner rather than later. This can't be a diet and it can't be a quick fix. It has to be something sustainable.

Mia_RagazzaTosta

Husband stationed in a different state
Three kids
Full time job
LOVE sleep

I will echo everyone else in saying that time will never find you; you have to make it for yourself.

leantool

There is 168 hours in a week. I find it hard to believe a person can't find time to exercise!!!


Nothing but Excuses!!!!

men have it easy

jonnythan

men have it easy

Did I really just read that?

nytius

Put one of your work out days on the weekend or an off day when more of your time is free. Then there's less pressure to find an hour and a half the rest of the week. Maybe just find a half hour and start there. Look for gaps in your schedule and opportunities to be active. Last week I took my little girl to a dance class and instead of waiting to watch her (as usual), I hopped in the adult class at the center at the same time as her.... having enough time is a real issue and not an excuse. Alot of people would find solutions in this thread beneficial so don't take some of these responses too personally. People who had to give themselves a big kick in the rear can sometimes sound harsh but its just passion for good health. Good Luck!

aneedell

I find the smart phone and the MFP app makes entering as you eat or in spare moments feasible.

jamimari777

You are busy!

When I'm busy I opt for easy meals that I can throw together - chicken sausage and baked frozen fries. Protein smoothies and protein bars. Nope, it's not ideal, but it gets me through and keeps my waistline down.

once you get into a habit, and find what works for you, it'll get easier. You just have to deal with the aches and pains until then. Stick with it. It'll get easier - it'll still be work, but it'll get easier.

Also, don't aim for perfection. Do your best, and your best will get better

FytByFayth

When I have a busy day and can't find the time for a full workout, I take 1 or 2 exercises and do 16 reps of them every hour on the hour. For example, I'll decide on squats and push-ups. Every hour of the day I'll stop and do 16 of them. It literally only takes minutes but by the end of the day, you've done over a hundred of them each.

Mcgrawhaha

make the time!

UnderCoverShyGirl

what works for me is to just do what i can, as i can. Constantly try to make better choices regardless of where and what you eat. Totally agree with the thought of making yourself priority but as the single mother of two now mostly grown boys, i know how hard that can be. There is not always enough time in the day! Find the foods your family loves that are easy/convenient for you and healthy....and don't think of it just as a "you need to lose weight", start thinking of yourself as trying to make sure your kids grow up knowing about and loving to eat healthy foods....if you keep that mission in mind, you might find it easier to make the time to cook/eat healthier and exercise more! You aren't just doing it for you, you are doing it for your family! Now that my children are grown and one of them despises healthy eating (which i never taught him, i thought it was just "for me" because i had the weight problem) I really regret not understanding that how i raised them to eat, would of course influence how they ate and consequently might give them problems as adults. Ugh!

AllonsYtotheTardis

I save myself a lot of time by preparing more than one meal at a time. It takes the same amount of time to cook one larger meal (that can be served as leftovers again the next day) as it does to make a smaller one, that I can only serve once.

Exercise when you make time, but 75% of this process is about how you eat.

jpoblete77

Clearly she's not asking for pep talk, or motivation to make time because she understand how important it is...she's asking for tips and ideas! Going for brisk walks on your breaks and lunch breaks worked for me. I would eat my lunch at work, use the lunch break for either exercise or logging or whatever it is you need to do.

Mcgrawhaha

Hello!

I work full time, have two kids (ages 9 and 6), and I'm also a full time student. My husband works out of town, so I have the kids by myself the majority of the time except for school nights when my parents take them. I know that it's important to eat healthy and exercise, but I honestly can't find the time without giving up sleep. How do you all do it? I know it's important to log everyday and I was doing really well for a little while and then school started back up again.

I've tried making my meals ahead of time and logging them into the system before I eat. That seems to work, but then the next week, I won't have time to make my meals for the week and I fall behind. Half the time, I'm eating on the run, or I eat something late at night when I get home from class. I try to keep only healthy options in the house, veggie burgers, vegetables, yogurt...those are pretty much grab and go type of things, but then I realize I'm not eating the minimum calories per day and as we all know, that's not healthy. I was walking during my breaks and lunch at work, but then I started having to do homework or study during those times and the walking trips stopped. My goal is to eat healthier, exercise more, and set a better example for my kids, not really to lose weight.

I have a little less than two years left in school, I'm not going to quit and I'm part of a cohort so I can't take less of a course load. I'm just busy, but I know that I can't be the only one like this! If anyone has any tips, I'd be thankful if you shared!

Thanks!!

i have 5 kids, ages 14, 13, 11, 10, and 7. my husband is over worked and never home. my 4 daughters play softball and are on 3 different teams, each team having 2 practices and 2 games each week. my son has a problem with his heart, and eventually needs a pacemaker. until then, he is in and out of children hospital and back and forth to dr appointments. i too, am a full time student. my only advise is to find the time, make the time. if you want something bad enough, you will find that 25th hour in the day to make it work. good luck to you!

whouwannab

Hang in there! It can be tough, I know. I hope more people post some time saving/multi tasking ideas and less "make the time" comments.

hutc9939

I am similar to you in that I also have 2 children, work full time and am a student. I exercise (walk) on my breaks at work. I try to squeeze in exercise on my lunch break as well. The first thing I do when I get in the door (at home) is my Jillian Micheals DVD. Then I worry about dinner, baths, homework, etc. Sometimes, life takes over and I am not able to get it all in but, I do what I can to make it happen. When I go grocery shopping, I pick out a few things I can take to work and leave there such as portioned out almonds, fruit, peanut butter, etc. That way if I am not able to preprepare food, I will have healthy options available. Good luck!

raecork

Believe me I am there and making myself the priority is something I struggle with, I posted the exact same question not to long ago. I have a hard time with the logging too, especially on the weekend when everyone is home, to sit down to the computer and log my meals, I am still new here so I don't know all the tricks to making this easier. I don't have a cell phone with an App, and sitting at the computer some days just isn't an option. This past weekend I didn't log on once, nor did I go back and log what I ate when I finally logged onto MFP yesterday. What I did was eat the foods I knew would keep me at or under my calorie goal, plus I made sure to fit in exercise, I recently bought an elliptical trainer and I love it, I set it up in the family room, I exercise when the kids take naps, watch TV or play. This weekend I exercised while we watched movies on Saturday night, we were all together and I didn't feel like I was taking time away from my family, I have 4 children oldest 12 youngest 7 months. Mommy guilt is mommy guilt we all feel it in our own way. I am at home right now but return to full time work in April, I am trying to find solutions that I can maintain. I love MFP and I am finding it easier, but I do find that I now have go to foods that I eat just because I know how many calories it adds up to and I can just copy it from day to day if needed. But it has also inspired me to create and experiment with new recipes and the build your own recipe tool is great, but I do find it time consuming, but again I am new, I made a new recipe last night and it took me half the time it did, compared to my first try. So it does get easier and less time consuming. When I go back to work I plan on fitting exercise in immediately after work before I pick the kids up from daycare. I don't know if this will end up working or not, I may have to try first thing in the morning. I would love to be one of those people that have logged in 365 days in a row, so far only manage 25, but for me this isn't realistic or maintainable. and bottom line that's what it's got to be.

Mia_RagazzaTosta

Hang in there! It can be tough, I know. I hope more people post some time saving/multi tasking ideas and less "make the time" comments.

I work out on my lunch hour and prior to that, I did exercise videos at home.

tuesdaypm

Hi, I find it very helpful to eat a very simple diet. Eat roughly the same thing for breakfast and lunch everyday. That makes it easy to plan ahead and track. Get some simple snacks that you can store in a backpack or your car-100 cal packs-you can make your own in ziplocks to save money. Use your planning and prep time wisely and make things in bigger batches than needed so you have some go to leftovers for dinners. Food has a bigger impact on weightloss than excersize so make that your focus at first.
Good luck

trickycoolj

No kids, but I'm pretty busy working full time, taking an evening class, and have a townhouse by myself that I need to keep up (thankfully this schedule started after yardwork season!), and well I want to have time for personal/fun activities or I'll go crazy.

Pack your breakfast and lunch when you clean up dinner in the evening. I have lots of things to build lunches around in my freezer that I've gotten at Costco. Sandwich thins and various toppings (laughing cow cheese, light salami, PB&J, etc), bags of carrots/mixed veggies (bag these up in single portions when you buy them it only takes about 10 min), hummus to dip, a little dessert that won't break the bank (apple, clementine, banana, portion of animal cookies), yogurt for breakfast (this could be a pre-made yogurt, I've started using 1 cup gladware with plain greek yogurt, frozen mixed berries and a sprinkle of granola for crunch). Track all of these things as you put them in your lunch box because you're still at home, it's evening so you're less likely to be in a rush to get to work/school, and you can barcode scan everything as you pack. Then you have a fair idea of where your day will be and what you can do for snacks/dinner through out the day. Keep a handful of almonds or a portion (1oz) of beef jerky in your bag to avoid buying impulse unknown meals.

If you often stop at a work/school cafeteria find a healthy meal and always stick to that one. I calculated out the calories in the garden burger/grilled chicken burger and fruit salad combo in my cafeteria and depending on the sauce it's about 500 cal, it's great when I can't pack a lunch and it's easy to track. If you don't have a cafeteria and must resort to fast food know ahead of time what doesn't break the bank for you.

As far as exercise, I'm in a desk job I try to get up and move around when I can, just stand up when you're on phone calls and pace at your desk or march in place. Climb the stairs up and down during your 15 min break. Park in the last row (makes a big difference on my pedometer). Try using a pedometer to monitor your activity level and figure out different things to increase it on days you absolutely can't fit in a workout. I feel less bad when I realize those laps around the grocery store were ticking away on my pedometer for 1000 extra steps on my errands after work!

bondavbriwil

I suggest starting with small goals. Work out 2-3 days a week. Be good Mon-Fri with eating. Don't beat yourself up if you "mess up" one day by not eating the healthiest or missing a workout. Stay positive. Try to stay in the mentality that every day counts, not the mentality that you'll do it tomorrow. Good luck!

Exactly. Small goals to start. If that don't work, make smaller goals.

Start off slowly working more and more in. That is what I am doing. Started off doing 15 min walks and ordering only the sandwich and not the combo from fast food. It was baby steps and took patience but I was able to add more time for exercise and healthier foods.

It is what you are doing with your studying, finding more time here and there. School, family, health are all high priority. Its hard to find a balance but just take baby steps.

Good Luck!