Looking for friends with erratic schedules, like me

godzillaqueen
godzillaqueen Posts: 4
in Introduce Yourself
Hi! I signed up with Fitness Pal a while ago and love it for the food diary. I'm trying to get more involved with other aspects of fitness pal. I've been a yo-yo weight-gainer and loser for years, and I've found the most successful I've been is when I have a great routine: go to the gym every day, go to yoga once a week, etc. Routine has been my best friend. But now I'm currently in a job (field engineer) with an incredibly erratic schedule, so developing a consistent routine has been difficult. I work a 2-weeks on, 1-week off schedule, and during those weeks on, sometimes I work an 8-hr day, sometimes it's a 17-hr. day. If I'm in the field, I can work 17-hour days for 14 days straight. There's no time to get a nice run or walk in at the end of it because I just have to get some sleep! When I'm in the field, I sit for my entire shift in a chair, monitoring equipment, so no way to incorporate some exercise there.

Does anyone have any advice for how to incorporate exercise into a hectic work schedule, or how to focus on maximizing workout routines during the week I have off? Or changing my mindset that I don't need a set routine every day to lose weight? Any success stories from people with similar lifestyles?

Replies

  • churchchipmunk
    churchchipmunk Posts: 83 Member
    I have a very erratic schedule as well. Some days, I'm in the office hours on end...some months I travel for days on end. It is very difficult to try and forecast day to day what I can or what I can't do. I just wake up each day and tackle it as it comes. But, one thing I am diligent about doing is logging every day into MFP. It keeps me conscious about my food and is a swift reminder that (if I can) I need to get some exercise in.

    Feel free to add me as a friend. Would love to support and have extra support! :smile:
  • britttttx3
    britttttx3 Posts: 458
    I have two jobs, been working five days a week about 13 to 14 hour days. I try to make it to the gym atleast four days a week and do 45 minutes cardio. I would just move whenever you can and work harder at the gym!:)
  • Linda0S
    Linda0S Posts: 13
    Haha, my schedule isn't crazy like yours but it is weird. I work from 12 - 8 and when I get home it's around 10. I try to not eat then since it's so late but I just get so hungry!!!
  • Cp731
    Cp731 Posts: 3,195 Member
    Haha, my schedule isn't crazy like yours but it is weird. I work from 12 - 8 and when I get home it's around 10. I try to not eat then since it's so late but I just get so hungry!!!

    You can eat when ever you want. Cals don't know how to tell time. As long as those cals fit in your macro's. :drinker:
  • godzillaqueen
    godzillaqueen Posts: 4
    Macros?
  • ScarletEIizabeth
    ScarletEIizabeth Posts: 6
    I have the same thing! I work solid from 10-7 and barely get time for lunch, so it's normally a snack or a small sandwich if I'm lucky! (As I work in a restaurant and we don't get breaks) so by the time I get home I'm so hungry! Then I can't sleep because I've eaten too much before bed! It's like a vicious circle haha
  • amandaowen596
    amandaowen596 Posts: 1
    when yu eat only every once in a while then your body goes into phamon /feast. your metabolism slows way down and when u do eat something then it stores it because it knows you wont eat for awhile. i didnt realize this till last night when i was talking to my DH, he was asking about how my diet was going and i told him i would forget to eat all the time and probably only eat lunch:( he said the best thing to get my metabolism to speed up is to eat 6 times a day but not to go over my calorie limit.
  • Cp731
    Cp731 Posts: 3,195 Member
    Macros?

    Yes. Located at the bottom of your food diary. Proteins, Fats, Carbs and what not. Also adjustable, Go into settings and increase or decrease them.
  • maryrosenavoa
    maryrosenavoa Posts: 53 Member
    Oh pls feel free to add me. We can motivate each other :D

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