This would be easier...

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bunnypanther
bunnypanther Posts: 110
in Motivation and Support
...If I could only win the lottery!!!!

Then I could not work, afford a personal trainer to shout at me, a chef to make me nice healthy meals, a cleaner to do the housework and have lots more time!!!

I work full time and my work, like most peoples I imagine, is hard work. I guess that's why it is called "work" and not "lying flat out on a beach sipping cocktails" or "having a deep tissue massage".

I do a full day of work and get home shattered. Then I have chores. Washing up, washing, cleaning, cat feeding, gardening, cooking, etc...as I am sure the majority of people have...by the time I have had dinner and a wash it's pretty much time for bed and then it all starts again!

I have a gym membership...it doesn't actually help when you don't go, however! The waste of £30 a month isn't motivating me as I hoped it would!

In the mornings I'm raring to go and swear that I will go in the evening (not possible for mornings as Gym isn't open early enough) but by the time the evening has rolled around and I've done my jobs I barely can be bothered to make dinner. Sometimes I don't bother.

I have been a few times, maybe managed once a week since I joined in July. If that.

Just how do people fit it all in?

Being a grown up really sucks. I liked being 5. I was thin, my main responsibilies were laughing and playing. And someone else was in charge of my hair!!

No point to this really. Just having a moan. Wanted to share my pain. Wondered if anyone else struggles with this. And realise I am probably going to get a boot up the bottom.
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Replies

  • ewhip17
    ewhip17 Posts: 515 Member
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    I hear you, for sure..... add in 2 kids and I face similar issues. I think a lot of us do. I was lucky - my wife is incredibly supportive so she was taking care of things around the house in the evenings so I could go to the gym and she never complained. A job change now allows me to go in the AM which helps - by the end of the day I was wiped out and full of excuses.
    So yeah, I'm sure this wasn't helpful at all but sometimes it helps me to hear that many of us face the same issues. For me it is a matter of just never quitting even when I have bad days or weeks.
  • hollytrolly91
    hollytrolly91 Posts: 50 Member
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    You're not alone- I feel the same!

    Any chance that you could get exercise done on your commute to work? I've started cycling the 18 mile round-trip, which takes the same amount of time as public transport. Means that I get c. 700 calorie burn per day (using a HRM) and saving money that I'd be spending on the train.
  • _sirenofthesea_
    _sirenofthesea_ Posts: 117 Member
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    I was actually having almost the identical conversation in my head not long ago - It is really REALLY hard to make this work.

    I sat down and looked at my schedule and after having a 'there's no way I can do this' moment - and then I figured it out - I'm now going to the gym on my lunch hour instead of trying to figure it out at night and forcing myself to get up early <that totally sucked>.

    You're working at it - you'll figure out what works for you :)
  • SmartForAGirl
    SmartForAGirl Posts: 28 Member
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    I used to try to exercise by walking in my neighborhood. That gave me way too many excuses. It was always too cold or too hot or it might rain or it was almost dark etc etc etc I found a gym that is available 24 hours a day via keypad entry. It has been key to my weight loss. It means I can go exercise after everyone else's demands on my time are done for the day. Many nights I've been on the bike in the gym at 10 p.m. One day I had decided to skip my workout but, after going to bed, realized I really should do it. I got up, dressed, and made a late night gym run. Maybe see if you can find 24 hour fitness in your area.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Try pre-preparing some of your meals for the week, on the weekends. Alternately, a crockpot is a great investment. I do the gym at 5 a.m. so I don't have this problem, but if it doesn't open earlier enough, grab a video in or whatever you can at home. Being a single parent that works full time and has to constantly run around or just "do", is what it is. I MAKE time for me and that includes my exercise.
  • randomworldgirl
    randomworldgirl Posts: 106 Member
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    Just how do people fit it all in?

    I cook all of my protein on Sunday. This includes a weeks worth of chicken breasts, pork loin, boiled eggs, and sometimes bacon. Weigh out single servings, throw each one in a separate ziplock bag, write the weight on the outside of the bag with a marker.

    When I'm preparing my vegetables each night for dinner, I am also preparing my lunch bag to take to work the next day.

    Those are my "shortcuts."
  • bunnypanther
    bunnypanther Posts: 110
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    There is a 24 hour gym but its a fair way away! I dont think it would be financially viable for me! I am not near enough to the gym to go in my lunch break unfortunately. Tho perhaps biking to work could be looked into...my only concern there is there are no showers and I sweat like a pig when exercising! I literally drip!!

    I live alone so no one else to help out with chores and the like! Unless anyone has had any luck training cats to hoover?

    I could possibly get a swim in on a Tuesday morning looking at time tables and my hours.

    Its nice to know other people feel the same and have managed to find a way!

    Being alive and living is just so busy and tiring!! :D
    Better than the alternative tho!!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    just going to leave this here...

    "Instead of saying 'I don't have time' try saying 'it's not a priority' and see how that feels. Often, that's a perfectly adequate explanation. I have time to iron my sheets, I just don't want to. But other things are harder. Try it: "I'm not going to edit your resume sweetie, because it's not a priority" "I don't go to the doctor because my health is not a priority." If these phrases don't sit well, then that's the point. Changing our language reminds us that time is a choice. If we don't like how we're spending an hour, we can choose differently"

    you do gardening, washing and cleaning every day!?
  • radmack
    radmack Posts: 272 Member
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    I started working out before work rather than after. At first it was tough getting up early, but then it got to the point where it made me feel so much more energetic during the day.
  • MissMissle
    MissMissle Posts: 293 Member
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    What time do you have to be at work in the morning? I used to go at 430AM, now I go at lunch, and come back to my desk a sweaty mess and I really don't give a crap. I mean I do give a little crap, but I'd rathe rbe sweaty than fat, and I SWEAT. generally my bra and underwear are soaked through and my bra is STILL wet when i get home at night, which is generally around 9pm. You just have to commit, and make the sacradice.

    Meals ahead of time help too. I eat the same thing everyday for lunch, and as soon as I walk in at 8 or 9 I rinse and fill my water bottles, rinse my tupperwear and fill them up again with my lunch, then shower, then put clothes away / clean the house / fed the cats / do laudry / do whatever / make dinner for us. It sucks, its a routine, but its betetr than being fat. I think.

    You can always go to the gym on the weekends too. Ha, i have a memnebership to one of those 24 hour gyms - its almost $40 a month and i thought that would motivate me.... i havent been in 2 years ;-(. finding the right gym turns out is pretty important too for some, like me.
  • bunnypanther
    bunnypanther Posts: 110
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    I dont do all of those things every day, but there is always stuff to do. Having a constantly shedding long haired cat that insists on weeing on the floor doesn't help. So I do hoover and mop most days!!

    Today I am definately feeling "stop the world, I want to get off!!"

    Its partly time and partly I feel so bloody knackered. I dont sleep well generally and often have night sweats so bad I had to get a plastic sheet! Have been docs, medication side effect, no point changing, have done twice, hasn't helped. Thing is, I think maybe going to the gym might actually help with energy levels and sleep...its just getting up the initial energy to go!!

    I'll look at my schedule. See what I can do, see what I can leave, get a catheter for the cat and shave it...that kind of thing :D
  • Diary_Queen
    Diary_Queen Posts: 1,314 Member
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    My electronic pressure cooker has been amazing on saving time. I can pre-set it to start at a certain time and then it stays in warming mode until I get home. Gives me time to help kids with homework.
  • JingleMuffin
    JingleMuffin Posts: 543 Member
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    I'm not interested in winning the lottery, that's why I don't play. lol

    It will be worth it cause you will have worked for it. the tougher it is - the sweeter the victory. that's what I tell myself anyway :)
  • JingleMuffin
    JingleMuffin Posts: 543 Member
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    My electronic pressure cooker has been amazing on saving time. I can pre-set it to start at a certain time and then it stays in warming mode until I get home. Gives me time to help kids with homework.
    I need one of those. or a crock pot with a timer.
  • benaddict
    benaddict Posts: 1,381 Member
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    I have a gym membership but I only go once, maybe twice a week. Instead I get up at 5 AM and go for a walk/jog (2 miles) around my neighborhood. Takes me about 30 minutes, then I get home, shower, get ready for work, and leave at 6:50. In the evenings I cook dinner (it helps that on weekends I plan out all my meals so I already know what I'll be having each night), then prepare my lunch for the next day. I also lay out my workout clothes and the clothes I'm going to wear to work so that I can get dressed quickly in the morning. I usually have time to do a couple of chores each day (tonight I'll do one load of laundry and vacuum, for example) and then watch a couple of TV shows and spend some time bumming around online (mostly on Facebook and MFP). Some days it really does feel like I'm doing the same thing over and over and over again, but that's what the weekends and vacations are for! I absolutely HATE getting up in the morning, my husband knows not to speak to me because I'm super crabby, if I had my way I'd be up past midnight and sleep till at least 9 AM every day, but running is a priority so I make sure to get to bed by 9 and get up by 5. I always used to tell myself there was no way I could work out in the morning because I don't like getting up early, but I finally got to the point where I hated being fat and out of shape more than I hated waking up 30 minutes earlier. I do agree though that it would be easier if I didn't have to work!
  • hrcc2000
    hrcc2000 Posts: 12 Member
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    There are plenty of youtube videos for workouts, some are really great. You could do crossfit type of exercise or some sort of aerobics or even yoga. You don't need weights or anything for some of them.

    What about going to the gym straight after work? All that other stuff will still be there an hour later and you'll be finished with the workout. Pack your clothes and a snack to eat before hand on your way to work.

    Good luck to you. I have to meal prep during the weekends and make sure my calendar is updated, otherwise, the workout will fall flat. I also have two other people that workout with me, so we encourage each other not to miss.
  • bumblebreezy91
    bumblebreezy91 Posts: 520 Member
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    Ugh, I'm with you, OP!

    I work as a CNA full time at one job and almost full time at the other, so I'm cooking, cleaning, washing, doing laundry, etc., for 20 other people at the facility (and then these same things for one person in her home) and thus have no motivation to do these things at my own home. I attend nursing school full time and my classes go late because I'm taking the only open section of chemistry, so by the time I get home from school, it's bedtime (or I'll get no sleep before my AM shift at job #1, which is follow by PM shift at job #2 on my days off from school) and then I go to work and school back to back and haven't even had time to do homework, then I have to cram that in somewhere. I had someone ask me if I lived alone and I FORGOT ABOUT MY FIANCE and said YES because I NEVER see him (he works AM shift at a factory and by the time he gets home, I'm either at work or school already) LOL! I was mortified!

    I think being busy helps me avoid mindless eating, so in a way, I would be heavier if I won the lottery and had too much time on my hands. Sure, I could afford a fancier gym and a trainer to boot, organic and extremely healthy foods to fill my kitchen, etc, but I would want luxury foods! I would want decadent stuff from expensive restaurants and I'd want to spend all of my time reading, writing, and watching Netflix and EATING while I did those things.

    I go to Anytime Fitness, so I can workout whenever the H-E-double-hockey-sticks I want! I went early this morning because it worked best with today's schedule, but I will go later in the day or not at all other days of the week. It depends. I purposefully signed up for this gym because I was working third shift at a nursing home and knew I wouldn't be able to go to a gym with limited hours. I make sure every penny I spend on food is on the healthiest foods I can afford. I go to the produce section first and make those items priority, then I'm less likely to get something naughty in one of the aisles because I can see my cart filling up and I know I'll go over my budget if I get this extra item. I park as far away from my destinations as I can and I get a little extra exercise in that way; my school's parking lot fills up fast, so I always end up parking a good mile away from my building.

    You can do it!!
  • foodequalshappy
    foodequalshappy Posts: 31 Member
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    I wasted a year's gym membership during which I went about 5 times. Like you, I work full time, have a second job/website/hobby and I have a child. Let's neglect the husband for now.
    The only way that I have managed to get any exercise done is by using th dvds. I got the T25, cancelled my gym membership which was £35 a month. The dvds are expensive but only the price of 3 month's membership.
    I wake up at 6 every morning and do the 25 minutes before work.
    The advantage of 25 minutes is that when I am tempted to lie in, I realise that I will only get 25 extra minutes of sleep which is not that much.
  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
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    Well, you prioritize what's important to you.

    For me - the house just doesn't get cleaned every day. I do certain things daily, but it's certainly not going to pass any white glove test, that's for sure.

    Laundry only gets done twice weekly in small loads. So doesn't take that much time to do.

    My SO and I take turns cooking - I hate cooking; he loves it.

    I have also chosen to not have children, so that frees up a lot of time (and money).

    We all have our priorities; find what's important to you and do it. The rest of it can wait.
  • opus649
    opus649 Posts: 633 Member
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    Simple doesn't mean easy, that's for sure.

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