Finding time to exercise

alyhuggan

I go to college, work part time and I still manage to go to the gym 1.5-2 hours 6 days a week. If you can't make time find time. You must have a lunch break, that could easily fit 45 minutes of working out in there. Even if it's just walking for 45 minutes that's better than nothing

resamarieh

I'm in a similar situation and am still trying to find a good balance. Sometimes I'm too tired (aka lazy) in the morning to workout and in the evenings I use seeing friends or a bad day as an excuse not to. It shouldn't be this hard! What I've started doing is reminding myself how good I feel when I actually work out. I've also found fun exercises I look forward to doing which helps motivate me to fit them in. Like a lot of people are saying it really is just a matter of making it a priority and just doing it. I'm still way at the beginning of making changes so my thoughts don't carry as much weight, but I wanted you to know you're not the only one with this issue!

Capt_Apollo

Sleep faster.

Is there some reason you can't go to bed earlier? Man, i used to stay up late watching TV, playing video games, or putzzing around on the computer. All things that were taking away time that i could rather use for sleep, and waking up earlier to work out.

Some people would rather sleep than achieve their goals.

DragonSquatter

Meh, if you want it, you make the time to do it. It really is that simple.

Most of us here don't sit around all day. We all have jobs and families and obligations that take up our time.

I workout 3x a week in the late evenings before bed. Sometimes I do it at home if I get bogged down with stuff to do, but I do it. No excuses.

conniemaxwell5

I struggled with this for months before I realized that I had to make exercise a priority and MAKE time for it rather than FIND time. I get up at 4:00 every morning and hit the gym before work. That's the only time I could do it consistently. After a few weeks my body has adjusted to the early hours and I'm no longer tired in the afternoon. This quote inspired me to do this:

"If it's important you'll find a way, if it's not you'll find an excuse."

It kicked me in the butt and I've been at the gym 5 days a week ever since.

Orfygirl

I find that if I don't exercise in the morning right after I get up then I usually can't find the time later on. I also find myself starting to get sluggish by mid morning if I don't have my morning exercise. I found that if I exercise after 7pm, I have a hard time getting to sleep because exercising usually wakes me up and gets me moving. But this is just me, everyone is different.

aloranger7708

No one really has the time to exercise; you have to MAKE time. Like another poster, I work in retail and my day consists of running around for 10+ hours acting as a babysitter and dealing with b!tchy people. When I get home (or before I leave) I just want to sit on the couch and relax. But I make a point to do at least an hour/4 days a week. The key, I believe, is finding something you enjoy. I hated exercising when I went to the gym and did machines. Now I ride my bike, go walking, skiing, snowshoeing, stand-up paddle boarding, surfing, etc. and LOOK FORWARD to exercising! Of course most of those are seasonal activities, but still :sad: The point is, find something you enjoy and don't dread doing. I used to force myself to run (more like attempt to run) and spend time on machines, which I hated. So yeah, if it's important to you, you'll make time

savithny

For me, I just need to find ways to work activity into my life. Most people would probably not call what I've been doing "working out" but it meets all the guidelines for activity that get used in research studies on excercise!

Rather than waiting for the bus that comes right by my house, I walk 30 minutes to a different bus route every morning. I walk fast, up and down hills, and even work in some intervals of *very* fast walking. My heart rate is up and it is definitely moderate exercise.

At lunch, I go out several days a week for another 15-20 minute walk.

I bought dumbbells and ankle weights, and 3 times a week I lift weights at home in the evenings. I can do this during my usual "Downtime" of TV watching.

Weekends, when we think about doing fun activities with the family, we make those active. We go for a bike ride, or a hike, or even just a walk around the neighborhood.

I'm only going to do it regularly if I can fit it into my real life. With a job and two kids, living in a small town with limited gym options (i'd love to swim, for instance, but the lap swimming times at the pool I have access to would make me late for work or conflict with my kids afterschool program. So that's not a realistic option. I've had to find things that fit into everyone's life)

savithny

Thought i would also point out that while rearranging sleep and getting up earlier is a possibility?

People who do it by getting less sleep, overall -- are damaging their own performance and hurting their health. Research keeps showing that chronic sleep deprivation screws up your metabolism - raises cortisol, affects hunger hormones ghrelin and leptin, and causes you to become insulin resistant. If you choose to get up earlier to exercise, it really means going to be earlier at the other end to ensure you get a solid nights sleep (the vast majority of people need at least 7.5 hours/night).

I went to a really fascinating talk on sleep physiology, and the researcher said that anecdotally - when they required their research subjects to get 8 hours of sleep a night, they lost an average of a pound a week even though they'd not been directed to change their eating in any way....

MyM0wM0w

You don't 'find' time. You MAKE time.

HPLW0705

I asked this same question months ago and got the same type of responses. Honestly, I work out when I get home from work or class, even if it's after 11 at night. I'm mentally drained by then as well, but I've been doing it for so long now that I just feel like I have more energy. No one on here is going to give you the magic solution because everyones situation is different, but if you're wanting to make a physical change in yourself, you'll figure it out just like I had to. I work full time, go to school (in class, not online) full time, and because my husband works out of town, I play single mommy to our 2 kids a lot. I understand being tired. You can do this!!

bushidowoman

I've been asking myself this question for a long time. I wake up at 5AM, get ready for work, and get home from work at 8PM. If I get myself on the treadmill at that time, I'm tired and wind up eating dinner at 9:30-10PM. 11PM I go to sleep. With that schedule I wind up skipping the workout just because I'm exhausted by the end of the day. I would have to get up at 3:30AM in order to get my workout in the morning before work. I need to do something, because doing nothing hampers my weight loss efforts. Does anyone have any suggestions?

This is my husband's schedule. He leaves the house at 0530 and gets home at 2000. (I'm just the opposite; I leave the house at 1730 and get home at 0800). Once we get home...we have seven children, including two in diapers and a nursling. So we have to spend some time loving on them!
(Thankfully, we both only work three shifts a week, opposite each other, so one of us is always home with them.)

First of all, I plan out my meals and snacks and take them with me. I don't wait to eat when I get home, because I know that I'll have children who missed me wanting to sit in my lap and tell me about their day. I also plan meals that are easy to eat "on the run" when I am at work. Boiled eggs, cut up veggies, nuts, fruit, yogurt, etc.

OK, so working out. I do short workouts on my work days--thirty minutes when I wake up. I alternate days of full-body strength/weight training with 5K running or hitting my heavy bag. If I can't squeeze in thirty minutes before I go to work, I do 20. Or 15. Or heck, even 10 minutes of jumping jacks, pushups, lunges, etc. before getting into the shower. But most of the time, I can make room for 30 minutes. Yeah, I'm tired and don't feel like it, but I really need that little shot of endorphins before a long shift.

Getting up earlier works for me, but it doesn't work for my hubby. He grabs a quick dinner at work and does his workout when he gets home. Or occasionally, he hits the hospital gym during his break.

Then on the days we're home, we do a full workout. We have turned our backyard shed into a gym/dojo, and the kids often join us for workouts.

Our parents both have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, etc. (my dad died at 55 from a heart attack.) I am 40, and he is 47...neither of us have any health problems, nor are we on any medications so far, and we hope to keep it that way as long as we can. And we need energy to keep up with our large family. So skipping the workouts are just not an option.

SprinkledWithEmotion

If you want to you will find the time. Can you walk to work? Take a walk on your lunch break?

popsicklestar

It is hard for me to make it to the gym after I get off work and I'm tired, but I always go straight to the gym when I wake up on my days off. That means that even on a terrible week when I'm super busy and exhausted, I always exercise at least two days. Usually, I can get my act together and make it in at least one or two of the 5 days during the week, so that puts me at 3 or 4 days a week. On a good week, I make 5. I do pretty intense workouts, so I make them count. Sometimes it helps to take your gym stuff and a little snack and go straight from work, so you don't go home and get too comfy. I'm not a morning person, so going at 5am is out of the question for me.