I'm not making excuses but I need help!
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My wife takes 40 minutes to an hour to get ready for work and she doesn't wear makeup. If the person could do it faster...I'm sure they would. Just saying get ready faster is silly, because even if they did, there'd be a good claim to sleep later.I know how long that takes. It takes me about 30 minutes. Any my hair is long, so don't try that one on me. Maybe you could throw your hair up in some quick and easy up-dos on days you work out. I'll even find a link to some that I use all the time and they take about 3 minutes to complete if you really want. I'm really trying to figure out why you posted this if the only thing you're going to do is say why you can't work out? You're not the busiest person in the world. I'm going to keep saying it: there is always always always always time.
SO True! Do you think I like spending 45 mins to an hour on my hair?? HECK NO!
I think the point was which is more important? Hair or working out?
Personally, my workouts take precident over my hair. If I'm short on time, I put it in a ponytail and forget it.
But those are MY priorities.....they don't translate to everyone and specifically won't translate to many women. :laugh:
believe me, a pony tail would be great...but I can't do it!
PRIORITIES ....... exercise is not one for you. No one here can MAKE you want to exercise.0 -
Up at 5 am to get ready for work:
You have an hour from wake up till waking up oldest, so find a way to stream line your get ready time and use that 20-30 minutes extra to do something.
6am - wake up oldest son:
What are you doing b/t 6 and 6:30? This could be almost another whole 30 minutes for you to have an hour of workout time in BEFORE you go to work even.
6:30am - pack lunches for self and kids, gather sports uniforms for after school practices
6:55am - out the door:
I assume you communte & go to work during this time & you said "heels" so, as others have said, take sneakers to walk during lunch. Or during your day breaks (roughly 10 minutes total) do some squats, desk push ups, or other "small" activities that you can do in your cubicle or outside. Invest in some hand weights to keep at your desk & start doing small sets with them every break.
4:30pm - rush home to fix dinner
5:00pm - out the door to drop daughter off at cheerleading
5:30pm - pick oldest son up at soccer
6:00pm - back home to do homework with 6 year old
6:45pm - out the door to pick up daughter at cheer then off to Gymnastics
8Pm - shower the youngest and get him into bed
9pm - back out the door to pick up daughter from gymnastics
9:45pm - finally able to take work clothes and shoes off before passing out
I'm in no way "judging" or trying to push things at you, but if you make small adjustments you can get a workout in. As others posted, get up early if you have to. It doesn't have to be EVERY morning but maybe one weekend day and two days out of the week. If you want to be "fit" and not just skinny then you have to work out. You can calorie cut but you'll never get muscle tone that way. Whenever YOU feel most alert, whether that's morning or night, fit in your workout.
I'm a full time student & I work 40 hours a week, going to school till 10 at night and on Saturdays, but if you want to be fit you have to change little bits at a time. I'm still trying to get better at it & thats what MFP is for.
Good luck.0 -
Also -- I am skeptical your children do those activities every day of the week. When I played sports during my youth it was 2-3x a week maximum. I am not saying times haven't changed, but I am still skeptical. Similarly, you can fit in great work outs on your weekends, and Friday nights when I assume the schedule is not so tight.0
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I started parking in the furthest parking spot at work, when I go shopping, etc. Instead of leaving one of the kids activities and driving back and forth, hang out and take a walk while you wait for him/her to finish.
Don't overthink it and keep it simple.0 -
This thread caught my eye, but I haven't actually read through every single post.
However, I can't believe people are telling you to get up at 4a.m! That's the middle of the night as far as I'm concerned, and if I did that I'd be crashing big time by the afternoon.
To be honest, I think you would be better just to try and fit in some exercise on your days off (possibly something the kids can join in with too?) or when you have holidays. If you are losing weight through diet alone, I wouldn't be overly anxious about working out. As someone else said, you are obviously very active anyway. It's not as though you're slouching around on the sofa all day!
My personal opinion is that you shouldn't be too hard on yourself
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That's too bad. I'm sure shes really screwed when she wakes up late* and has to rush. I'm sure she really goes all out when that happens. Or does she find a way to go a little quicker? Knock it off people, you KNOW what you need to do if you want to make time for things. Just do it!!!
And I'm sure you know anything about my wife or how she does anything.
It takes you 30 minutes? I can get ready to get to work from the time I wake up in under 4 minutes if I have to. Why don't you just go faster? You obviously care too much and are taking too long to get ready for work. Never mind that I'm saying that without clarifying that I can get on the train to go to work in my pajamas and then shower and change at the gym near my office. But then again I'm just going to make a sweeping assumption that what I need to do to prepare for work is the exact same as what everyone else needs to do. This is an asinine argument, people take different times to get ready. Accept it and move on.
First off, this really has nothing to do with hair and getting ready in the morning. I was simply proposing a scenario where someone would be forced to go quicker, which are things that can be adopted to an every day schedule. This post is about making time to exercise, and if you can get ready quicker, you can find more time. Second, I don't blow dry and straighten my hair every day, it takes 30 minutes when i decide to do that (plus makeup). Most days I just part my hair on the side, put it in a low bun and be on my way. I find the time to exercise, and again, I'm sorry everyone thinks I am a huge *kitten* for all of this, but whatever. I used to do this same **** until I decided that I wanted to make the changes.0 -
Wow....what a schedule you have! I would think that with never sitting still you probably have your metabolism set on overdrive, but I'm definitely no expert so honestly I can't say for sure. One think you could try to do is maybe split up a workout to say 15 minutes in the a.m. and 15 minutes at night? Do you have a dog you could walk? (kill 2 birds with one stone on the dog walking).0
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Why can't one of your oldest 12 or 13 year old kids help out? They could watch the youngest one, help with homework, and/or give him a bath while you do a video or they could do some of the chores including preparing dinner. They are old enough and self-sufficient enough even if you give them something to shove in the oven just to watch or you all have PB&J sandwiches for dinner once per week.0
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My wife takes 40 minutes to an hour to get ready for work and she doesn't wear makeup. If the person could do it faster...I'm sure they would. Just saying get ready faster is silly, because even if they did, there'd be a good claim to sleep later.I know how long that takes. It takes me about 30 minutes. Any my hair is long, so don't try that one on me. Maybe you could throw your hair up in some quick and easy up-dos on days you work out. I'll even find a link to some that I use all the time and they take about 3 minutes to complete if you really want. I'm really trying to figure out why you posted this if the only thing you're going to do is say why you can't work out? You're not the busiest person in the world. I'm going to keep saying it: there is always always always always time.
I disagree. Unless you work in the fashion industry (or something) ... 90 minutes seems really excessive.
It's not 90 mins on my hair...it's 90 mins to get up, shower, shave, dress, makeup, blow dry, and straighten.
Here's some tips to get ready faster in the morning:
1 - get a no fuss hair cut that does not require blow dry or straightening
2 - wear no or very minimal make- up
3 - lay cloths out the night before so you don't have to hunt around for stuff, get your kids to do the same with their stuff
4 - make lunches the night before/have kids make their own lunch
5 - lay out breakfast the night before
6 - teach you kids how to get their own breakfast
7 - shave at night - my dear husband does this if we expect a really busy morning
Other ideas to help things go more smoothly:
8 - Check out programs like "once a month cooking" and "30-day gourmet" to help you out with the dinner time crunch
9 - Work together with other Moms who are in a similar situation, trade off babysitting or cooking or car pool
10 - Use you lunch hour for a walk
11 - Find ways to get exercise with your kids on the weekend as other posters have mentioned
I have found that I have to Plan to Succeed. Sounds corny, but it is true. More than that you need to be disciplined to implement the plan consistently.
Teaching your kids to take responsibility for their own stuff is also a huge component. It is really hard to do at first because you know they will fail sometimes. Letting them learn from natural consequences is good and will set them up for a life of being able to take care of themselves. On top of that you care of yourself is an important thing for your kids to observe. You are providing them with a model of how adult life should be lived.0 -
There's absolutely no reas the 12 and 13 year old can't do laundry, clean the house, get themselves out of bed and make their own breakfast.
They should be helping out with their younger sibling, as well and that wold free up time for you.0 -
If you don't take care of yourself, no one else will. You need to make time for yourself, wether it be to exercise, or just destress. You can't go go go, and expect your body not to finally give out. With your hectic lifestyle, you're looking at more colds, and other illnesses just from the stress and the fact you're not taking care of yourself physically. Just cutting calories in general is a bad way to lose weight. Not only does it slow your matabolism down, but also you start cutting out important nutrients your body needs. As far as having a busy lifestyle, does not mean your matabolism is in over-drive. You're body is always trying to maintain a state of balance, so when you cut calories too much, even if you eat, your body still goes into starvation mode, and will hold on to everything you take in, therefore causing a plateau.0
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Yikes... Thats a grueling schedule...
Any other adult in the household who could help out a little?
Could you teach the kids how to make their own lunches the night before, do some house chores for themselves & for you. & Wake up by themselves?
Could you do any kind of exercise while at work at your desk? Sometimes I go to the printer/fax/scan/copier.... And stand there while the faxes/copies are coming out, and I do leg lifts. Or sometimes at lunchtime I take walks...
When do you have "Me" time? I'm not going to tell you to get up at 4pm.. Look how long your day is already. Maybe the answer is to get a brisk walk at lunch. Not sure thou. I thought two Pomeranians were hard to take care of. If not then walk at lunch. Maybe with ankle weights on. : ) Good luck. For Christmas we are sending you to a all inclusive spa in the Bahamas..0 -
youre up at 5.
get up at 4.
this.
YOU have to make time.
You think all these other people don't have a busy life? THEY MAKE TIME!
stop making excuses and just do it.
...Not this. If you are going to bed at 8pm then yeah, get up at 4. But if you don't get good quality rest throughout the night then you are only going to be hurting yourself even further. Sleep is extremely important. You do have to make the time, but you need rest as well.0 -
youre up at 5.
get up at 4.
This......it sucks balls, but on days that I know I'm going to be working both jobs and running my daughter around, I have to do it because NOT getting the run in is simply not an option for me.
"If it's important, you'll make time. If it's not, you'll make excuses."
(please don't think I'm being mean, I'm not....that's just a quote that REALLY helped me :happy: )
Sure, exercise is important, but not at the expense of sleep. No way. There are many, many studies and info out there on the importance of sleep and I never, ever do anything at the expense of sleep. (I'm a single mom too, but my life is much less hectic since I live in the Arctic.)
I'm getting a used Bowflex for weight training at home. Even a few minutes, here and there, of weight training is highly beneficial. According to a recent study (Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2012 Sep 20) a few minutes of weight training may be more beneficial than 30 minutes of cardio.
Please mom, eat well, get your sleep, look after you and your kids, and then add in what you can. I think you are likely getting lots of exercise just doing your day to day stuff. :flowerforyou:
10p-4a is 6 hours of sleep
That's plenty for me...maybe not for the OP, was just offering an opinion and an expample of what I do.
Sorry, I didn't mean to belittle your opinion at all.
6 hours of sleep is inadequate for most people. Many people are going through life sleep deprived and have health problems as a result. I need 8-9 hours, and sometimes even more. A busy mom like the OP likely needs at least 8; however, she can determine that for herself. Personally, I hate mornings (especially during DST) and I get up earlier than I have to just to get some "me" time. When I get my Bowflex I will likely put in a few minutes in the morning, but there is no way I will reduce my sleep. An hour of cardio in the morning? Never.
getting up early is not an option for me! I need more than 6 hours of sleep...I'm way to busy not to rest. As for those saying I have extra time in the morning because I get up at 5 and don't get my son up til 6:30, well obviously you don't know how long it takes to shower, dry hair, straighten hair, do makeup and get dressed!
I know how long that takes. It takes me about 30 minutes. Any my hair is long, so don't try that one on me. Maybe you could throw your hair up in some quick and easy up-dos on days you work out. I'll even find a link to some that I use all the time and they take about 3 minutes to complete if you really want. I'm really trying to figure out why you posted this if the only thing you're going to do is say why you can't work out? You're not the busiest person in the world. I'm just not convinced that you are serious about exercise because there is always always always always time.
"I know how long that takes. It takes me about 30 minutes. Any my hair is long, so don't try that one on me. " You don't have my hair or know what I do with it.
"I'm really trying to figure out why you posted this if the only thing you're going to do is say why you can't work out? " I came on here looking for advice on how to fit in 10 mins here and 10 mins there....NOT for someone like you to criticize how I do my hair or how long it takes me.
You're looking for advice on how to fit in 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there and there have been SO many great suggestions, but yet you seem to be only responding to the ones who are telling you don't worry about exercise focus on diet AND the ones who are trying to help you manage your time in the morning better, but it's not to your liking. Why ask the question at all, if you're not going to consider the 50+ people who have thrown out excellent suggestions? It sounds like you're looking for someone to tell you don't have to exercise--so don't do it! You'd squeeze in time, if you were really serious about it.0 -
Alright everyone, separate corners.
I'd say keep at pair of tennis shoes and work and do 20 minute walks a few days a week. And make it your goal to get outside/active with the kids on the weekends. Workouts don't have to be conventional, everyday in the gym...
I wouldn't get up earlier (sleep is NECESSARY for good sound mind/body), don't mind everyone telling you change your hairstyle/etc, that's crazy. I know it's hard to get into a routine with fitness but if it's important to you you'll find fun ways to get it done.
This journey is about what YOU are willing sacrifice for health/fitness/happiness, not everyone else.0 -
I would change it like this: up at 5 to work out (there are some great work outs free on YouTube, or download a workout, or buy one along with some dumbbells), oldest gets an alarm clock and wakes himself up, kids pack their own lunch (or pack lunch night before). 6am get ready for work, 6:55 out the door.
Edited to say: before I got married I was a single mother of two, worked nights in Las Vegas in a high class club that required me to look my best (hair, make up, etc.), I'd sleep only about 3 hrs a night then have to be up with the kids, yet I still found time to exercise and still found time to get myself ready for work and have time with the kids while not working. You just have to shift things around a bit but you can do it 0 -
Up at 5 am to get ready for work
6am - wake up oldest son - The older kids can wake themselves up. I woke up on my own when I started junior high.
6:30am - pack lunches for self and kids, gather sports uniforms for after school practices - The older kids can do this too, preferably the night before. The older two can take turns making the younger kid's lunch and the youngest can help them.
6:55am - out the door
4:30pm - rush home to fix dinner - Kids should help with this.
5:00pm - out the door to drop daughter off at cheerleading
5:30pm - pick oldest son up at soccer
6:00pm - back home to do homework with 6 year old - can the older kids help with this?
6:45pm - out the door to pick up daughter at cheer then off to Gymnastics
8Pm - shower the youngest and get him into bed
9pm - back out the door to pick up daughter from gymnastics
9:45pm - finally able to take work clothes and shoes off before passing out
Soccer AND gymnastics AND cheer? Every day? What happens when the 6 year old starts activities? My mom gave us a 1 activity limit. If your daughter is active from the 6:30AM to 9PM Monday through Friday she's going to get burned out and possibly injured. If your daughter wants to insist on two activities then tell her she needs to find a way to get a ride about half the time. With a team activity there are bound to be other parents who could use a break. You all need some downtime. The family schedule has to be fair to the whole family.0 -
I haven't read all the responses but I wonder--how old are your kids? Are they old enough to prepare their own lunches and get their own stuff together for activities? Not telling you how to parent your kids, but these are definitely things that even young kids can do. Not only would it give you time in the morning to do some exercise, it teaches them to be responsible for themselves. Missing their (fill in the blank) for (whatever activity)? Bet they remember next time!
FWIW, my oldest two (ages 9 and 7) have been responsible for getting up (I set an alarm for them), packing their own snacks and lunches, getting dressed, and making sure their backpacks are loaded with everything they will need for the day for the past two years.0 -
My kids are only 3 and 16 months, so I'm sure I have this kind of thing in store for me! But here are my ideas...
Is this the schedule every single day? Surely there are some days when they're not doing activities? And what about the weekend? Even if you exercise on Sat and Sun, you can do a really good workout then, and try to find time once in the week to exercise.
Are you a single mum? I go to the gym when my husband is home to watch our kids. Or I put them in the crèche. Surely the 12 and 13 year old can look after themselves for an hour, and maybe you could put the 6 year old in a crèche.
You say you rush home to prepare dinner. Perhaps one day you could make extra and freeze it, and then instead of rushing home to make dinner you could go to the gym, and dinner could be defrosted later.
You could get all the lunches, uniforms etc ready the night before so you don't have such a rush in the morning, and use that time to do a little exercise.0
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