Can't find time to exercise

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I have gained 10 pounds over the past year that I want to lose. I use to eat fairly healthy plus exercise, then with changes in my life that have added stress my eating habits have gotten terrible and I am having a very hard time changing them. I do good for about two weeks then fall off the wagon again. I work 40 to 50 hours a week, plus bring work home. I have to take care of my sick husband, my grandson, our 7 acres and our home. It is hard to think about eating healthy sometimes because I am stressed. I know I would do better and feel better if I exercised; but I just don't seem to find time. I am up at 5 every morning and don't get to bed until about 11 at night and there isn't any time for exercise. Can I still lose those 10 pounds if I can just find the will power to eat better? I am 56 years old so I know my metabolism has slowed down which don't help. I have never had this problem so it really bothers me to be over weight and keep craving the wrong kind of foods. Just don't know what to do any more. I don't seem to have the will power I need.
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Replies

  • cdahl383
    cdahl383 Posts: 726 Member
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    I'm pretty busy as well (full time job 40-50 hrs a week, home projects, two little kids, etc) and I know what its like to not have much time to workout. I stopped going to the gym for a while and gained about 15 lbs during that time. I finally came to the conclusion that I'd either have to make time and stay healthy or just accept being fat. I don't want to be fat, so I am going to make time.

    You mentioned your diet being an issue. I've found that when you dont plan out your meals for the day, you tend to eat poorly because you just grab whatever is convenient because you're starving. If you plan your meals out for the day you should be in good shape as there will be room for surprises or a trip to McDonalds, etc. This should take about 10-15 minutes out of your day if that and then you can keep your diet goals in check. I've found this to be helpful. Otherwise I just grab something like fast food or open a bag of chips and there goes my weight loss plan simply due to a lack of planning.

    Hope some of that helps.
  • Stage14
    Stage14 Posts: 1,046 Member
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    Weight loss is far more dependent on diet than exercise. If you eat nutritious foods and eat at a calorie deficit, you will lose weight even without exercise.
  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    The only thing you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit, you don't have to exercise to create one.

    Put in all of your information in MFP, set it to lose .5lbs per week, eat your calorie goal every day, you will eventually lose those 10lbs, it will just take awhile =).
  • Stage14
    Stage14 Posts: 1,046 Member
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    Now that being said, it sounds like you could seriously use some stress relief and extra energy in your life, and exercise is a great way to get both of those. It doesn't have to be slaving away at the gym for hours. A 30minute walk 3 or 4 times a week can be a great way to add some light exercise and carve out a little "you" time without killing your schedule.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    I firmly believe everyone can find 15 minutes a day. You don't need a full-bore workout every day, but you can find 15 minutes to walk at lunch time, or keep a jumprope and jump for 5 minutes a couple times a day. Just a little bit will go SUCH a long way for your physical, and most importantly, your mental progress. It will make you more efficient during the rest of your day.

    That said, you can lose weight by calorie deficit alone, but you probably won't be thrilled with the results when you get to your goal.
  • Jill_with_a_G
    Jill_with_a_G Posts: 58 Member
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    You sound pretty busy as it is. I think if you forget about the working out right now and concentrate on the healthy eating, you will see results. The "me" time in your day is important. I spend mine at the gym and get up a little early to have the house to myself. But, maybe, you could spend that time planning your food for the next day. Cup of coffee or glass of wine (depending on the time of day), sit down and think about yourself and what would be good to eat in advance instead of gobbling something unhealthy because you are rushed for time or starving. You need to take care of yourself so you can take care of others. :)
  • BIRD0
    BIRD0 Posts: 74 Member
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    How much time do you spend doing "leisure" activities (tv/internet/etc)? Maybe swap out some of that time for exercise.
  • FrankiesSaysRelax
    FrankiesSaysRelax Posts: 403 Member
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    Weight loss is about a caloric deficit- if you are burning more calories than you are consuming you will absolutely lose. There are plenty of people on here who have lost weight from diet alone.
  • brendabryden
    brendabryden Posts: 40 Member
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    Thank you for the support and ideas. I was used to exercising every day for 30 to 60 minutes so I felt 5 to 15 minutes a day wasn't much; but I will try to squeeze in a few minutes a few times a week. Seems like if I get any time it is late at night before I go to bed. I don't hardly ever watch TV and if I am on the internet it is normally later at night working on things I brought home from my job. Thanks again.
  • Krissy563
    Krissy563 Posts: 47 Member
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    A long time ago, a friend of mine replaced "can't" with "won't" and I have remembered that ever since. It puts things in a whole different perspective. *You* control how you spend your time.
  • kathleenjoyful
    kathleenjoyful Posts: 210 Member
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    Calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate at this link http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and eat the 20% suggested calorie deficit. You will lose weight regardless of whether you're exercising or not. Invest in a Fitbit or any other fitness tracker, and track how many steps you take a day, and what your calorie burn is. As you're so busy and your days are so long, you are probably doing a lot more NEAT than you realise.
  • magurski
    magurski Posts: 45 Member
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    You can absolutely lose weight from diet alone. In terms of effectiveness, diet > weights > cardio for weight loss. Just changing what I ate, I dropped 20 lbs in about 2 months (and then the honeymoon period was over, and the weight loss slowed, but didn't stop). Just eliminating things like sugars, breads, and starches can do amazing things for losing weight.

    What I find helps is planning out, at least in general, my meals throughout the week. If I were more motivated, I'd literally spend a day on the weekend pre-cooking and portioning out meals for myself and my wife, but I mostly just decide "we'll have X, Y, and Z sometime this week", which still helps, because the ingredients get bought, and everything's available.

    From the sound of if, you're already fairly physically active, between the 7 acres and the care giving, so I wouldn't worry about exercise unless you really want to engage in it. I know I never set out to exercise (in part, the diet/lifestyle I chose had many people see significant results, especially in the beginning, with zero exercise), but eventually had such an energy reserve that I started the C25K program. Now that 30-45 minutes 3x a week is something I look forward to, but it does really affect things like how late dinner is during the week.
  • maca416
    maca416 Posts: 143 Member
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    Ask your self what is more important Work or Health

    I asked myself this a just over a year ago & guess what the answer was :)
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Weight loss is far more dependent on diet than exercise. If you eat nutritious foods and eat at a calorie deficit, you will lose weight even without exercise.

    this!

    if you really want to lose the weight, find the willpower!
  • annakow
    annakow Posts: 385 Member
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    Loosing weight is about calorie deficit..lose weight first, start to exercise later.
  • ktsmom430
    ktsmom430 Posts: 1,100 Member
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    You sound like you are extremely busy and probably getting a lot of exercise just with the schedule you have going all day long.

    You can absoultely lose weight from diet alone.
    I lost almost 100 pounds before I began to exercise.
    Try to focus on cutting calories, and eating as little processed foods as possible
    You can do this!

    I will be 62 at the end of September and there are a lot of people here that are over 40 doing this.

    Good luck!
  • Angelikajohnston
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    If you don't have enough time for exercise then you can eat healthy food. Healthy eating is a key to maitain yourself fit and active and prevention from all diseases
  • igotabulletproofheart
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    I have gained 10 pounds over the past year that I want to lose.

    Fat is lost in the kitchen.
    I use to eat fairly healthy plus exercise, then with changes in my life that have added stress my eating habits have gotten terrible and I am having a very hard time changing them. I do good for about two weeks then fall off the wagon again.

    What kind of habits? Find the root of these habits, ask yourself why you're doing them and stop.

    To tackle mindlessness (i.e. mindless eating) then allow mindfulness to enter your life. Meditate. 10 minutes a day can do you miracles. Or if you don't want to meditate then bring mindfulness to all your actions, specifically the ones to do with food.

    Personally, I find that planning my meals on mfp the night before helps tremendously because it gives me something I have to stick to -- if it's not on my diary already, I can't eat/drink it.
    I work 40 to 50 hours a week, plus bring work home. I have to take care of my sick husband, my grandson, our 7 acres and our home. It is hard to think about eating healthy sometimes because I am stressed.

    Plan! Plan! Plan your meals!

    If you're stressed then find solace in foods/meals that you know will help your body function efficiently. You're worsening things for yourself by eating the wrong foods because they're not helping your body function and develop well.

    I know I would do better and feel better if I exercised; but I just don't seem to find time. I am up at 5 every morning and don't get to bed until about 11 at night and there isn't any time for exercise.

    Exercise isn't the miracle you want it to be. Put a healthy diet on that pedestal before you place exercise on there because change will not happen if you don't change the way you think about food.

    Understand this: Food isn't there for you take comfort in and for you to "treat" yourself. It is just fuel for your body. Think of your body like a car. Nothing helps it function more than the right fuels.
    Can I still lose those 10 pounds if I can just find the will power to eat better?

    Easily.
    I am 56 years old so I know my metabolism has slowed down which don't help.

    It wouldn't have slowed significantly.

    The bigger you are, the higher your metabolism is. The more you move (which you say, is about 18 hours of the day for yourself), the more calories you burn.
    I have never had this problem so it really bothers me to be over weight and keep craving the wrong kind of foods.

    You're craving the wrong foods because your body's crying out for help -- it doesn't want those foods, it needs the nutrients you're depriving yourself of. Google "food craving meaning chart" and think about your current diet when you look at it.
    Just don't know what to do any more. I don't seem to have the will power I need.

    Stop feeling sorry for yourself, and "man up". ("Woman up" just doesn't sound right! )
    Sorry, I'm not usually such a horrible ***** but honestly, you need to give yourself some tough love because right now your mind and taste buds need discipline. The beginning is always the most difficult part but when you start accepting that you can get those results, they'll come flying.

    Also, you do have the power you need, you just need to understand and accept that all you need is a change of mind and change of behaviour. That's all it takes. You don't need to learn rocket science, you just need to learn to read food labels and nutritional info and accept that you're worthy of a healthy, functioning body. It's not hard. Anyone can do it, but very few - the few who want it enough to put the work in - can succeed.
  • OllyReeves
    OllyReeves Posts: 579 Member
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    A long time ago, a friend of mine replaced "can't" with "won't" and I have remembered that ever since. It puts things in a whole different perspective. *You* control how you spend your time.

    That's so incredibly unhelpful. You might as well say 'If you want to bad enough, you can fly'

    Did you read her post? She doesn't sit around watching telly. I would suggest that instead of meaningless completely unhelpful platitudes, you just refrain from posting.

    In the meantime, consider this: A long time ago, a friend of mine replaced 'posting inane rubbish' with 'shut up you unhelpful bore' worked for him.....
  • paulperryman
    paulperryman Posts: 839 Member
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    you are already exercising with all that workload, Exercise doesn't lose weight. In fact exercise can do the opposite or atleast appear to. you lose weight by diet primarily, exercise just helps the process if in combination with dieting and you look better with exercise.

    slow motabolism or not you can lose weight if you eat right, don't undereat and don't overeat, find out what your real BMR is and factor in say a busy workload and work with that least then you know you aren't undereating or overeating or get a fitbit type thing or a heart rate monitor and work out what you actually burn on an average day and go from there.

    Find a way to de-stress, that's a killer for weight loss, even if it's just a few mins of meditation or positive afformations, anyone can do that there is no I can't do it cause my life is so stressfull, everyone has alot of stresses to deal with you aren't alone.

    Personally i am up at 4:30am get barely 6hrs a night sleep if i'm lucky and that's usually broken sleep, i work a 10hr nonstop job with only 10-20mins a shift of breaks if we are lucky, then go to the gym for an hour b4 coming home for dinner and working out my next days meals. Which leaves me with about 3 hrs of me time b4 bed again at 9-9:30pm. OK i don't have to look after sick relations and keep a huge acerage aswell so i feel for you there, maybe you need to ask for help in that regard, you can't do everything by yourself. :)

    I know my mother is similar in that role of always putting others ahead of herself and trying to be everywhere at once and it takes it's toll. and my father was a work-a-holic which led him to a quadruple bypass and type 2 diabetes
    Please don't work yourself into the ground.