How do you squeeze in time to exercise?

I hear that dilemma!

I turned my daily commute to work into a bike ride (take same amount of time, maybe a few minutes less now) & lost 100lbs doing it.

Pick your poison & don't let anything stop you!

Thats awesome!!!!!! Congrats!!!!!

Some how I have gotten to the point that I get up between 4:30am and 5am to do some kind of workout. Then instead of driving I walk to and from work and also take a noon walk...(Work is only 2 miles away so that makes it nice). Also I carry around a pedometer which keeps me motivated throughout the day to see how many steps I can fill it up with each day. It's the little things. I wish you well on your fitness journey.

If you really and truly have no time (can't skip a half hour of television, etc.) then just try to add more activity where you can throughout the day. Park your car farther away so you have to take more steps. Don't use elevators or escalators and take the stairs instead. Do some pushups and situps when you get out of bed before you hit the shower. Walk on your lunch break if you get one. Do squats while waiting for the microwave. You get the idea. It won't make you an endurance athlete but it will add activity.

Exactly what I was going to say...

I prioritize getting at least 30 minutes of excercise in at least 3 times per week.
I ride my bike or walk to work.
I walk or ride to the store or to do errands.
While I was waiting for my daughter attending our church youth group last night, I went to a local park and did a half hour of kettle bell excercises.
I hardly watch T.V. anymore. If I want to watch, I ask myself what else could I be doing that will be of greater benefit to myself or others.

Here are a couple of ways:

• I try to bicycle into work a couple of times a month. I want to do it more often, but I haven't nailed down how to fit riding both ways every day into my schedule. However, that 20- to 30-minute ride in the morning gives me a nice workout while still getting me into work -- and it's faster than driving or taking public transportation.

• There's a step aerobics class at my YMCA around the lunch hour. A healthy snack before or after, a quick shower and I'm back at work.

• Carving out time in EARLY morning or the evening when everyone else is down for the night. This could be more intense like running outside or 15-30 minutes of simple floor exercises every morning or evening.

That said, you also have to average eight hours of sleep per night, plus work and all the other things that happen. In the end, you'll find the balance that works for you. It is trial and error.

(I didn't scan all the replies before writing my reply. Sorry if I'm repeating something/everything that's been said before.)

If you want to do it, you'll figure out where you can make time. Wake up earlier, go to sleep later, work out during your lunch hour - everyone is busy, but you have to make the time for it.

This^^^

I figured out I have to do it first thing early in the morning. My alarm goes off at 4:00, I get to the gym and I have to be back by 6:30 so my husband can go to work, then I get ready for work and am out the door again by 7:30 to take one kid to school and one to daycare then off to work. The kids and house get all my attention in the evenings.

I can't figure out how to carve out enough time to really exercise. How do you all do it?

BTW, not much I can give up at the moment to accommodate for exercise. I am tapped out.

That was always my biggest complaint. I used to only have down time for a little while after my kids went to sleep. Not the best time to start a workout, for me at least. So what I started doing is going to bed at the same time as them and getting up an hour earlier. THAT was hard. Both parts. Giving up my moment of solitude and then getting up at 4:45am. Sometimes I can break away from work for a 15-30 min to take a quick walk.

If you can do something in 10 minute increments throughout your day, it adds up. Just because you can't find and hour to devote to a workout, doesn't mean your out of options.

One thing that derails me is trying to plan it. You just have to grab the monent when it comes. If you're a stay at home mom and the kids are napping and you have a spare moment between everything else you've got going on, grab it and do some situps/jumping jacks/pushups/jogging in place... whatever. If you work in an office and there's a gap between meetings or you've just finished one project and want to clear your mind before starting the next, do a lap in your building or parking lot, or do some yoga at your desk. If you're in school and have a few minutes between classes, take the long way and walk as fast as you can.

I'm not going to downplay how difficult it is to squeeze it into a busy day, but like some other said, when you really want it, you'll find a way. It took me a long time to figure that out. Now that I have, I find that I look for those breaks and how much I can do during them. Good luck!!!

It's difficult for me to find a large chunk of time at any one point in the day, so I usually break my workout time into 2 or 3 segments of 10-20 minutes each whenever I can fit them in.

Just like 90% of the folks here, I get up earlier also.. I'm up at 0400 and done by 0500 to 0520. One thing we do at our house is, on Sundays, my wife cooks all the food we will eat for our lunches during the week and puts it in Tupperware in the fridge. We also pick out and ready all our clothes for the week. So, each morning, after work outs shower, we just grab a set from the hanger to get dressed and grab a container of food from the fridge for lunch. Saves a lot of time in the mornings. Although, granted, Sundays do suck for my wife..
Also, if I can make time in the evenings, I try to squeeze in a 10-Minute Trainer or 3.. But, that doesn't always happen.

My alarm goes off at 3:15 am.

I finally figured out that the only time no one else could put a demand on my time is when they're all asleep.