I dont have time to exercise!

I have 3 kids, a job, and a new baby. I joined a gym but It has been proving near impossible to get there more than once or twice a week. Can i still lose weight even if i cant workout?
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Replies

  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,923 Member
    Of course you can. You just need to be super strict with your diet.

    2-3 times a week (or whatever you can manage to do) is best, but you can lose weight without exercise. You'll just be skinny fat like me (I lost most of my weight that way). Skinny fat is a bad word on here - but I'm happy with what I've accomplished!
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
    Yes you can.

    You also don't need to go to the gym to exercise. Not sure how young your two oldest are but you can go for a walk, or even walk around the house. You can get exercise DVDs and so on as well.

    But no you don't have to exercise to lose weight.
  • mdb543
    mdb543 Posts: 219 Member
    I just messaged you!!
  • tami101
    tami101 Posts: 617 Member
    Yes you can! Exercise just makes it easier. You will have to eat a lower calorie diet without exercise but a lot of people on here have lost weight without it. I would try to go to the gym as often as you can though, or at least exercise at home just because it's good for you. =)
  • Do you have a stroller? Even a 30 min walk a day (or walk the other kids to/from school?) adds up. Just walking my kids to school and back gives me 40 minutes a day. Or the 25 min 30 Day Shred video during nap time or after their bedtime? Yeah, I know, doing anything after bed time sucks. That's my chill out time. LMAO I hate gyms, you couldn't pay me to go to one. I walk/jog with my husband (and dog) after dinner too. Sometimes the kids follow on their bikes/scooter and sometimes they stay home (I have a 5th grader, he can watch his sister for half hour while we go around the block. LOL)
  • This video is awesome...even a lunch break walk? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo
  • SavageFeast
    SavageFeast Posts: 325 Member
    Many of Jillian Michaels' workout DVDs are in 20-30 minute sessions that you can fit in a few times per week at your convenience.
  • meggawatt
    meggawatt Posts: 145 Member
    Sure, you'll lose weight if you're strict with your diet. However, you'll feel better about you if you take some time for yourself and that might include some time in the gym. Good luck to you!
  • Freshstart07
    Freshstart07 Posts: 12 Member
    I know exactly what you mean I have two kids a job and transportation is not provided to my kids school. So every morning it takes me an hour and a half just to get to work. I love going to the gym its good for me mentally but I am only averaging once or twice a week for about an hour. What I did was go to Walmart bought a mat and a couple of weight for my house and I am doing floor exercises at home to supplement my exercise routine.

    There is a lot of good stuff you can do on your bedroom floor.
  • alsunrise
    alsunrise Posts: 386 Member
    3 kids and a baby?? You are getting exercise hun... lol
  • gingerjen7
    gingerjen7 Posts: 821 Member
    I have 3 kids, a job, and a new baby. I joined a gym but It has been proving near impossible to get there more than once or twice a week. Can i still lose weight even if i cant workout?
    Yes, if you are careful about your diet, you can still lose weight.

    However, I'm a single mother (with 0% support from his father or my family) and my son is developmentally disabled. Even though I work 40+ hours a week and I am busy taking my son to occupational therapy, behavioral therapy, swimming lessons & horseback riding programs for children with disabilities and cancer, I still find a half hour to work out at night. At about 8:00 I make my son go upstairs to his room to watch a movie while I do Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I wouldn't have thought 8:00 would be a good time to do it, but since it seems to be the only time I can do it consistently, that makes it the best time to do it. I used to say I didn't have time to do it, too, but that was because I didn't MAKE time to do it. Not saying you have to, but you can if you really want to, but you have to actually want to do it.
  • You don't have to "work-out" or go to the gym. The little things you do at home count as exercise too. You just have to be creative. Put the little ones in a stroller and walk around the block a few times and count that as your exercise under the category of Walking at a slow pace. If your baby is small enough for you to lift them in the air, lay on your back and lift the baby in the air 10 times or put the baby on your legs and lift your legs up and down. If you have older children, play hopscotch with them. All of these things can count towards your exercise for the day. Be creaytive and have fun with your kids while doing it.
  • You will find the time!!! try DVDs at home, try to even play/exercise with your kids, it will be a game for them but you will be excersing and it will help them to.. make a routine , and pretty soon you will find your self asking you for more and more excerise that you will HAVE THE TIME TO please your body!!!! give it a try...

    Sometime I even do my workout with the DVDS at 12midnight cause I dont have time either... :-)
  • nellyett
    nellyett Posts: 436 Member
    sometimes it's hard to get motivated to do a 'formal' exercise session....

    why not try and just add things in during the day? do squats or lunges between tasks. take 2 stairs at a time. do pushups during commercial breaks. hold a plank while waiting for something to boil. that kind of stuff.

    Everything counts!!
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    Of course. Exercise keeps you healthy and makes you look great, but isn't critical for weight loss.

    Do things with your kids. Run up and down stairs. Go to the playground. Skip rope. Play ball. Go for walks.
  • nellyett
    nellyett Posts: 436 Member
    Oh, and one more thing that I just tried this past weekend....I started the C25k program a few months ago and now I LOVE running! It's MY time for me. :)

    Anyway, I wasn't able to get out on my own on Sunday, so I took my 7 year old to the park and while she played on the apparatus with the other kids, I ran around the path that circles the playground. I did sprint / jog intervals and only spent about 25 minutes doing that.

    Take the kids to the park, put the baby in the stroller and walk around at a quick pace. :)
  • julieh391
    julieh391 Posts: 683 Member
    You can absolutely lose weight without working out. I was in an air cast for a foot condition for 5 weeks and still lost 10lbs just eating at a deficit (however, I'm sure some of that was muscle, which isn't okay with me.) As soon as I got that stupid cast off I was right back to exercise, though. It hasn't changed the rate at which I'm losing, but I feel 1000x healthier than I would if I was just doing this with diet alone. What I do is get up at 5:30 so that I can go to the gym and get back before my husband leaves for work. I also have 3 kids (6 months, 3, and 11) so I'm taking the oldest one to and from school and spending the day with the little ones. Then I go to work 2nd shift usually from 3-11. I'm in bed by midnight and up again at 5:30 the next day to hit the gym. It's just about what you feel is most important. If you want to feel stronger and have a healthy ticker, workout. If you just want to lose some weight until you can figure out how to fit in exercise in a way that won't feel like torture, set your MFP weight loss goal, and eat the calories and macros it sets for you. Good luck!
  • I have 3 kids and I paid for a gym membership for 2 years and only went maybe 10 times.. What I've discovered I never have time to work out but I make time.. I workout in the middle of my living room to Tony Horton's Power 90 DV .... I've done it late at night and early in the morning.. I put on in the pack and play and the other an activity and the other is usually playing on her own..its not easy but you are doing this for you ...
  • junipearl
    junipearl Posts: 326 Member
    how far is your work from your home?
    could you walk/bike it?
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    Yes you can exercise is not a requirement of weight loss
  • Funny, I didn't know you needed a gym membership to work out.
  • From my experience in babysitting, being a mom IS EXERCISE! Try including them in your "exercise" by playing games, going on walks, pulling them in a wagon (my mom used to do that and she had amazing legs) or swimming with them in a pool, ride bikes, etc. This also can help your kids to learn to have a healthy, active lifestyle!

    Investing in bikes, a stroller, wagon, etc will be more cost-effective in the long run if you don't already own a few of those things!
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
    I have 3 kids, a job, and a new baby. I joined a gym but It has been proving near impossible to get there more than once or twice a week. Can i still lose weight even if i cant workout?
    Yes, if you are careful about your diet, you can still lose weight.

    However, I'm a single mother (with 0% support from his father or my family) and my son is developmentally disabled. Even though I work 40+ hours a week and I am busy taking my son to occupational therapy, behavioral therapy, swimming lessons & horseback riding programs for children with disabilities and cancer, I still find a half hour to work out at night. At about 8:00 I make my son go upstairs to his room to watch a movie while I do Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I wouldn't have thought 8:00 would be a good time to do it, but since it seems to be the only time I can do it consistently, that makes it the best time to do it. I used to say I didn't have time to do it, too, but that was because I didn't MAKE time to do it. Not saying you have to, but you can if you really want to, but you have to actually want to do it.

    Just have to say that I really admire people like you. <3
  • Ronngie
    Ronngie Posts: 295 Member
    Walking is a great idea! Even if you can only steal 5 or 10 minutes at a time, you could walk, or do jumping jacks. Good luck! :)
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    I lost without exercise. You just have to eat less. Stick to the 1200 calories a day and you'll lose.
  • djc315
    djc315 Posts: 585 Member
    3 kids and a baby?? You are getting exercise hun... lol

    seriously!

    what about going for a family walk? do you have a wii system? you could get that and buy Just Dance and the whole family could play it. Or just play music and have dance parties with the family. if you dont have a radio, pandora.com would be a good place to get music for free.

    I'm sure you never have time to even sit down during the day, so you are doing okay. I sit more than not, just because of work, so...I'm sure you are burning more calories than me even though I do go for walks every day.
  • AverageAngel
    AverageAngel Posts: 123 Member
    You don't need a gym. You need willpower. Look up Body rock.tv on YouTube. I have lost 8 pounds in two months. My husband can't keep his hands off me. 15 min or less. Equipment optional. Stop making excuses. We believe in you. Remember, you are what you eat. Eat beautiful fresh food. Nourish your body. Don't diet. And sweat. Sweat like your life depends on it. Because it does. Goodluck you! I wish you the best. Your kids deserve it!
  • lewcompton
    lewcompton Posts: 881 Member
    An easy way to increase activity/workout is the purchase of a pedometer... increase to 10000 + steps per day...
  • djc315
    djc315 Posts: 585 Member
    Funny, I didn't know you needed a gym membership to work out.

    Don't think that was the point of the post. It would be pretty difficult to even get 30 minutes at home to yourself when you have 4 kids.
  • lewcompton
    lewcompton Posts: 881 Member
    Love doing wii fit and wii resort with the family...