Finding time to exercise

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  • Lunachic77
    Lunachic77 Posts: 434 Member
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    I work 12 hours a day Mon-Sun. I don't "find" time...I make time. No matter how tired I am, I make it work. It may require me to miss watching TV or go to bed a little bit later, or even wake up a bit earlier...but when all is said and done, my body/health will thank me for it.
  • xLexa
    xLexa Posts: 482 Member
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    I have made excuses all week, I started a new job on Monday and working 10 hour days and when I get home am both mentally and physically exhausted. No more excuses this week. The time I sit down , put my feet up and drink a coffee, I could have gotten at least a 30 - 45 mins workout in. I was telling myself I wanted to spend time with my kids before bed, but when they went to bed, you know what I did? Started reading facebook, the local news telling myself I did not have time to exercise or I was too tired. Well no ma'am/sir not any more. We can fit this in, we can still do all the other things we need to or want to , and if I do not have the time for something? Sorry Facebook see you on the weekend :P
  • AmIhealthyyet
    AmIhealthyyet Posts: 361 Member
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    Many said make it a priority, but long days sometimes over shadow the importance of that. Because it isn't a 'habit' yet it makes it even tougher. I don't have long, tough days but still find evening workouts next to impossible. So regardless of my start time for work, I get up and work out BEFORE my coffee, shower and day start. Of course doing 4:00 am exercise from home makes it easier then going out but it works for me. Good luck
  • AmIhealthyyet
    AmIhealthyyet Posts: 361 Member
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    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?
    Skip the treadmill and spend the time doing weights! I personally think your limited time could be better spent doing weight bearing activity over a treadmill. Your schedule sounds similar to my husbands, poor guy is up at 3:00am to get exercise in before his 5:00-3:00 shift.
  • pzjd09
    pzjd09 Posts: 12
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    You just have to make exercising a priority and figure what works best for your schedule. It is different for everyone. I work full time and I am a wife and mother of an almost 2 year old. Sometimes I have to work on the weekends or get called at night, then the days can be longer or run together - lol. However, I have decided to make exercising at least 5 days a week a priority. I tried different times of the day - morning, lunch, night to see what would fit my schedule better. In the end, the morning workouts before the day got started were the best for me. If nothing else, I at least got my workout in. So yes, the alarm goes off at 4:15am *yawn* and makes for an even longer day, but it works for me. To keep the afternoon sleepies away, I make sure I eat in 2-3 hour intervals throughout the day. I know it isn't possible for all jobs to do that, but I am fortunate I can do it. So that means packing plenty of snacks - fruits, raw veggies, yogurt, cheese snacks or whatever I am in the mood for. You could try that as well. Hope you find what works for you :)
  • tashaa1992
    tashaa1992 Posts: 658 Member
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    I work 30 hours a week in a nursery, I'm a college student, and I work 8 hours in a charity shop. You can do a workout in 20 minutes, research HIIT. I do HIIT 2-3 times a day, I walk on my lunchbreaks, and I do pilates on my days off too. You don't need to exercise to lose weight, but exercise is great for your mental and physical health. Make 20 minutes in your day and push yourself really hard, that's all it takes:).
  • mjculbertson4512
    mjculbertson4512 Posts: 157 Member
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    Get a work out in before you leave for work, even just a short 10-15 minute walk gets you started
    Walk as much as you can at work, walk over to talk with coworkers, don't im, email or call
    Take the stairs
    Stretch or do light weights during your breaks, walk, put in a 10-15 minute workout dvd and close the office door
    Consider working out over lunch
    Have your gym bag in the car and hit the gym on the way home, or have your workout clothes for your kind of work out with you.
    Walk to and from the bus or subway, with the price of gas these days we all may be doing this soon:smile:

    Take your pet or borrow one from the neighbor out for a walk or run when you get home.
    Take the kids to the park, they play and run, you walk circles around the park

    You get the picture, squeeze in a bit here and there. Time will add up by the end of the day.
  • smalls9686
    smalls9686 Posts: 189 Member
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    I don't find time, I make time.

    Its that simple and that hard at the same time...reality is we ALL make time for the things we WANT
  • bobbiboo24
    bobbiboo24 Posts: 44 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies! A lot of people think the answer is "Make the time". Of course, that is the ultimate answer and I do try this but it's very simplified.

    For instance, on a regular week I get up, go to work around 8 until anything between 7 or 8, then I'm hungry so I eat, then I usually have additional overtime to do which can take anything from an hour to a few hours. Then I sleep because I'm exhausted and try to get at least 8 hours because I really need that to perform well throughout the day.

    Every second week I am on-call so I have to be available to work 24/7. This can hamper my sleeping patterns enormously. I might have worked my full day at the office but then might get a call at 3am to work for a few hours. This is probably the killer in my exercise regime.

    I love my job and I'm quite ambitious about being successful in it but I also want to be successful at getting healthy and losing weight.

    @nygr8guy puts it well that if he was to work out prior to work he'd have to get up at 3:30am and he'd only be getting 4 and a half hours sleep at that point. That's not healthy either. Sleep is clearly his priority here. I wonder is there any where you could walk at lunchtime maybe? Even 20 minutes to half an hour is better than nothing?

    I also like the way @AmIhealthyyet has phrased it that " Many said make it a priority, but long days sometimes over shadow the importance of that. Because it isn't a 'habit' yet it makes it even tougher." It is tough but I really want to make it a habit.

    Like I said above, I am getting about 3 exercise sessions in a week at this point but would like to get up to 4 or 5.

    Thanks! also to @tashaa1992 and @mjculbertson4 for some solid, useful advice. I've been trying to set 30-45 minutes for exercise in the mornings but then am exhausted in afternoon. Even a quick 15-20 minutes would be better than nothing and then maybe something additional in evenings if possible...but at least I'll have done something small.

    Thank you all!
  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
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    there are already so many great suggestions on here the next thing I would suggest is just simply to make it a part of your everyday lifethere are 6 kids 3adults.living in my house and we've made it a family event to

    Go out and walk and exercise and move and that's including all three adults in the house working full time jobs the kids going to school normal family responsibilities on top of everything else and just by focusing in and spending that time instead of sitting around watching TV and complaining about being fat we brought everybody into it

    my 3 year old twins can show you how to do a perfect squat
  • alyhuggan
    alyhuggan Posts: 717 Member
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    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
    resamarieh Posts: 16
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    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
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    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
    DragonSquatter Posts: 957 Member
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    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
    conniemaxwell5 Posts: 943 Member
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    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
    Orfygirl Posts: 274 Member
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    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
    aloranger7708 Posts: 422 Member
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    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 :smile:
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
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    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
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
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    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
    MyM0wM0w Posts: 2,008 Member
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    You don't 'find' time. You MAKE time.

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