Too busy to Work out

2

Replies

  • SLIMGIRL86
    SLIMGIRL86 Posts: 2
    wow u sound like me i dont know when to work out im going to try 15 min sessions in the morning and before bed
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,300 Member
    You have to want to do it.

    I got my Master's degree, volunteered at 2 different locations, and was the only caregiver to my then terminally ill mother. I spent hours at the hospital with her as she wasted away from cancer and graduated with a 3.8 overall GPA with my MBA.

    I STILL found time to work out.

    So, yea. The whole "I don't have time" excuse? It is NO excuse. If you want it, you find time for it. If you don't find time for it... well then, it must not be important.
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  • Michealwho
    Michealwho Posts: 18 Member
    Someone may have said this already...you need to be selfish. The housework can wait, your bf won't starve if dinner is an hour late and the dogs can be exercised when you have more time. Right now you need to take time for yourself and don't feel guilty about it.

    My work day is about 12 hours long, with travel to and from, etc and I manage to help out around the home at night. I just fit my exercise in around it all.

    I get up at 5am so I can ride for an hour. When I'm on the couch watching tv with my wife, I use my hand weights or do an ab workout. When I'm waiting for the washing machine to finish, I use my skipping rope, even for just 5 minutes. Try to find, 10, 15, 20 or more minutes somewhere in each day to do something. It's better than doing nothing.

    Good luck!
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  • Natmarie73
    Natmarie73 Posts: 287 Member
    ... Then I come home do housework and tend to my boyfriends needs even tho he can walk. I cook, clean for him. ...

    However long it takes you each day to do this ^^ swap it with taking your poor dogs for a walk or doing a workout. Start putting your self before your boyfriend. If he can walk he can do housework and cook dinner himself.
  • amaysngrace
    amaysngrace Posts: 742 Member
    Well, it was not mentioned what was wrong with the OP's boyfriend, so maybe it could be an abusive relationship, where she may not be able to actually state what is going on because he might read it. I don't know. But, to the OP, Just do what you can do and do not let him bring you down.
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
    I am goin gto go against the trend here and say don't worry about exercise at the moment then. Exercise is for fitness. All your weight loss needs is a calorie deficit. Sort out your diet and you will lose weight. In a few months you might find the time to exercise more easily.

    I always found that dragging myself out of bed an hour earlier is completely counter productive to weight loss. Not only does it stimulates my appetite to the point that I want a 1000 extra calories for the 200 I just burned, if I get up early I crave even more food, because I am tired. Ultimately it was never sustainable for me to do so it only made me hate it.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,023 Member
    There is a 7 minute workout app.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Making the time to workout has more to do with prioritizing it than the actual time you have...If it's not that high on your list of priorities, then you won't do it. It doesn't make you a bad person or anything, it just means that other things are more important to you right now.
  • alisonlynn1976
    alisonlynn1976 Posts: 929 Member
    Do you watch TV at all? If yes, quit that and exercise instead.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    I have a job, a family & a home to run. I get up just before 6am & start working out...regardless of what the day has planned. I don't get what is with 'tending to the boyfriend' is.... I mean unless he is an invalid & you are his carer.... then what's the deal?

    I am thinking you use it as an excuse not to do anything.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    Do you watch TV at all? If yes, quit that and exercise instead.

    Huh? You can't do both at the same time?
  • alisonlynn1976
    alisonlynn1976 Posts: 929 Member
    Do you watch TV at all? If yes, quit that and exercise instead.

    Huh? You can't do both at the same time?

    Sure, I was just suggesting two lifestyle improvements in one. I think there's a high chance that the "too busy" OP spends time sitting and watching television every day. Most people do. What's with the "huh?"? As if I'm a complete idiot? No, I'm not.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    Do you watch TV at all? If yes, quit that and exercise instead.

    Huh? You can't do both at the same time?

    Sure, I was just suggesting two lifestyle improvements in one. I think there's a high chance that the "too busy" OP spends time sitting and watching television every day. Most people do. What's with the "huh?"? As if I'm a complete idiot? No, I'm not.

    Too busy does not mean sitting watching tv though at all. I'm too busy for most things.... but dont watch any tv nor do I ever sit down at all... and I mean like at all. From the moment I wake up till the moment I go to bed I am not once sitting down....or watching TV.... yet I'm always busy.
  • HealthyishWithMaggieG
    HealthyishWithMaggieG Posts: 397 Member
    I am goin gto go against the trend here and say don't worry about exercise at the moment then. Exercise is for fitness. All your weight loss needs is a calorie deficit. Sort out your diet and you will lose weight. In a few months you might find the time to exercise more easily.

    I always found that dragging myself out of bed an hour earlier is completely counter productive to weight loss. Not only does it stimulates my appetite to the point that I want a 1000 extra calories for the 200 I just burned, if I get up early I crave even more food, because I am tired. Ultimately it was never sustainable for me to do so it only made me hate it.

    Even though I agree with the majority that are saying you're just making excuses and you'll make time if you really want to, I agree with this comment, too. If you're not ready to commit to making time to workout, you have to be diligent about your food and water intake.

    Here's another way to look at things. I used to be a workout junkie and eventually got burnt out. Now, I have my MFP account set to a lower activity level than is probably true for me and count everything I do around the house as exercise (cooking, cleaning, taking care of my dog, etc). I just make sure I do everything with gusto/extra effort, so I work up a sweat or get my heart rate up. I time everything I do and add it to my exercise diary. It's been working for me and I dropped 7 pounds in 10 days by doing this (while being pretty good about the foods I ate).

    If you do choose to workout, something else I've found that helps (when I do feel like "working out") is the Sworkit app on my phone. I'm recovering from back and kneed injuries and the stretching routines are what I use from the app. You can set the length of time you want to workout and it will take you through the exercises to do. It's very simple and you don't need any equipment to do these workouts.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
    First too busy to work out is just an excuse, I wake up at 3 am every morning so I can get my workouts done before work. If you want to work out you will find a way.

    Now for taking care of the boyfriend, unless he has a serious medical condition that he can't take care of himself, you need to stop trying to be his mother and let him fend for himself.

    Lastly, to lose weight you don't have to exercise you do that with your diet. So find your reasonable calorie deficit.

    Take responsibility for yourself and your health, it's either time to make it a priority or you aren't ready to do that yet. The choice is yours, but the excuses are just that excuses.

    Good luck
  • emboslice94
    emboslice94 Posts: 60
    If you really want it, make time. 5am may not sound appealing, but it grows on you.
  • sloth3toes
    sloth3toes Posts: 2,212 Member
    There was a thread awhile back, about what time you get up to exercise. I get up at 3:20 AM on work days to stairclimb for 1/2 hr. I work 12 hr shifts, and start at 5 AM..... And I wasn't anywhere near the earliest riser in that thread.

    Crap. So, I post that yesterday. Today, I sleep in, and miss my cardio. *kitten* on a twisty stick. :sad:
  • shall1112
    shall1112 Posts: 40
    where'd the OP go?
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    where'd the OP go?

    Too busy to reply, which is understandable considering she spends 19 hours a day at home.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,300 Member
    There was a thread awhile back, about what time you get up to exercise. I get up at 3:20 AM on work days to stairclimb for 1/2 hr. I work 12 hr shifts, and start at 5 AM..... And I wasn't anywhere near the earliest riser in that thread.

    Crap. So, I post that yesterday. Today, I sleep in, and miss my cardio. *kitten* on a twisty stick. :sad:

    Haha... some days you need the sleep more then the cardio though. You could be in my shoes. Started some new meds that I take at night. Took one last night about 11PM. Next thing I know it is 10AM. Yea... Hopefully I adjust to these things soon!
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Is single parent working two jobs? Sympathy.

    This thread? Wtf.
  • sexylady1979
    sexylady1979 Posts: 13 Member
    Ok everyone those are good points.... No more excuses. I'll change the way I do things. No the boyfriend is not disabled just plain lazy. and says that his knees are sore because he broke both legs in high school playing football but he can walk just fine.
  • spikrgrl503
    spikrgrl503 Posts: 247 Member
    Yes she is making excuses but you guys are being too hard on her. Not everybody can get up at 3:20 in the morning to work out. I absolutely need 7-8 hours in bed to be a functioning human being (caffeine makes me sick and I sleep really horribly at night). I work out on the weekends because I have more time (only work half days on weekends) but telling her, "You can get up really early in the morning because I can" is really not ok.
  • JoJo__Fit
    JoJo__Fit Posts: 258 Member
    This is for yourself and no one else, Make it Happen!!

    Get up extra early if you have too and workout

    Do 10 mins in the morning, 10 mins in the afternoon and 10 mins before bed

    It just depends how bad you really want it.
  • EvenThatNameIsTaken
    EvenThatNameIsTaken Posts: 164 Member
    In my own case (before I started exercising regularly), I wasn't too busy. I just plain didn't want to do it. You sound like you are using "too busy" as a mask for "I don't want to do it." Which is totally natural but won't help you at all and if you continue, you will just keep enabling yourself and solidifying that behavior, making it harder to change.

    It doesn't sound like you have much support. For me, having someone else encourage me to go regularly really helped. So maybe try to find a workout buddy or even just a walking buddy. Oh hey, you have dogs. There you go. Look at their sad eyes, wishing for some mommy/outside time. Just look at those sad eyes begging for a walk!

    Anyway, I know it's hard, and I know what it's like to be a slave to my own excuses. That's where you are right now. :) At some point, you have to get some ovacles and tell yourself "I am not going to put up with these excuses anymore, me!"

    It might take awhile. It's been about 2 years and I have just recently started really enjoying exercise. I went from loathing it, to being ambivalent about it, to being okay with it (it's gotta be done), to actually looking forward to it.

    I agree with others recommending 7 minute and other short workouts. Start something that you can very easily fit into your day, commit to doing it even if just once a week. and Good luck! You got this. That boyfriend of yours... whole other story. Focus on YOU first.

    Also agree with people saying exercise is not absolutely necessary for weight loss. You can't outrun your diet (took me a year to finally accept this). Diet is most important if you're wanting to lose weight.
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  • manda1978
    manda1978 Posts: 525 Member
    I am a full time working parent, with 2 pet dogs, a husband and a 4 bedroom house to maintain. I get to work at 7.30am every day... oh and I train 6 times a week. I get up 4.30-5am to do it, or do a session at home after work/dinner/packing lunches etc hence its 8-8.30pm.

    Don't tell me you don't have time, thats bullsh!t. You're just trying to justify you're own laziness. Yes they're harsh words, but honest. If I can do it anyone can. When you're serious drop me a line.

    EDIT - this has to be a troll. check out her other thread - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1178507-foods-that-i-eat
  • Dreamingallday
    Dreamingallday Posts: 47
    I work shift work in a hotel. I stand behind a desk for 8 hours and maintain my home ( I'm someone who takes q-tips to the moulding), maintain a healthy relationship, take care of my pet and prepare my meals and my boyfriend's (packed lunches and dinners), while working out in someway every day: I find a work out wherever I can. I even take public transit, so a chunk of my day is travel.

    For example:

    Shift 3pm-11pm.

    11:00am wake up
    11:15am Gym
    12:00pm-Shower, pack lunch
    12:40pm- Do hair and make up
    1:00pm- Put dinner in the crock pot
    1:30pm-Eat breakfast and relax
    2:00pm- Catch bus to work


    12:00am- get home (boyfriend has usually put the steel cut oats in to the crock pot for breakfast)
    12:30am- eat dinner
    1:00am- Make boyfriend's lunch, tidy up apartment until ready for sleep.


    The shift changes are harsh on the body and some nights I don't get sleep at all or very little. My sleep and activity hours are different every week and can change at the drop of a hat, so I shift things around to suit the day. Even if I can only give 30 minutes to the gym, I still jog to and from my bus stop, do lunges/squats or pushups on my lunch break... it's all about wanting to make the time for the work out.

    I'm really groggy, so please excuse any odd ramblings or repetative lines. :P

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