Finding time/motivation for exercise

Add me and I'll cheer you on!

Well that is the challenge...the motivation. How about trying small steps such as parking far out in the parking lot so you add more walking. Stop while you are working to do 10 air squats every couple of hours, etc. Just try to build in a little bit more while you are working.

I struggle with the same thing-in fact, I should have gotten up to work out this morning, but I slept in and am now typing this!

Consistency is the key and I'm telling myself the same thing. I went through a period where I just did it and didn't talk myself out of things and it worked. Now to reacquire that mindset.

Commit to doing it, then do it. I work full time, have 2 young children, am responsible for the majority of the housework, just finished a Bachelor's degree and I've still lost almost 40 pounds. You can do it!

You will have to make the time. It doesn't just happen.

Find something you like to do. It makes it easier to stick with. Your motivation will come from the changes you see and you'll want to keep going.

I like the ideas you are getting so far! One thing I have found is that exercise really does make you feel better. Maybe not immediately, but over time you will find you have more energy. You just need to put in the time to build the healthy habits.
Do you like to plan? Set up a calendar with goals. Do you have something you are wanting to accomplish? For instance do you want to be able to do 25 push ups? Find a push-up challenge and use that. Start small. Incorporate your family. Get your kids moving too.

I'm a chef working 55 hour weeks. I taste a LOT of stuff every day so I'm putting that as 250 working calories. My trouble is finding the time and motivation to exercise. I get in from work so tired so just slump on the sofa, cook dinner, sort the kids out and then slump again! I work on my feet so it's fairly active but I'm not getting out of breath like you should with exercise. Any motivation from fellow MFPers? Thanks in advance x

I wake up over an hour before the sun comes up to take care of breakfasts, lunches, coffee, dog walks, feeding pets, and then I spend the next several hours hauling hay and feed to my livestock. I get my first cup of coffee around 9am, then immediately start laundry (which has to be hung to dry) and loaves of bread. I clean coops and pens and hutches while bread proofs and laundry dries, then haul more hay, check my incubators, check my fencelines, and update my sales page. I take dinner out to thaw and prep side dishes, walking my dogs every hour due to an elderly male with bladder issues. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I organize closets/dressers/cabinets. Tuesdays and Thursdays I bake pastries to sell and can vegetables. Saturdays I trim hooves, worm, vaccinate, bathe animals, scrub water tanks, and sundays I bake more bread, reclean coops, etc. I also maintain two separate gardens that grow 80%of my familys food and 90% of my livestocks food, so seasonally I am pulling weeds, planting, tilling, hoeing middles, threshing, harvesting, selling produce.

And I work out at least an hour a day to boot.

If you want to do it, you will figure it out. and let me tell you-life; especially working on your feet all day, is SO much easier when you're in shape.

Wow! All I can say is thank you to each and every one of you. All the posts are very inspirational and knowing that you can all do it (being even busier than me!) has given me a swift kick up the bum! So up for a brisk half hour walk before breakfast shift tomorrow morning. Going to lay out my fitness gear before bed tonight. Thank you all soooo much x

I think that, if you can manage to get the motivation to exercise before you go to work, that will go a long way to helping your situation. That way, you're exercising when you're more energized. After that, your work will continue to keep you up on your feet through your work day just as much as it always has. You may feel fatigued earlier at work than you have been, but focusing on what you're doing will help keep your mind off of it.

After that, you're free to slump as much as you like guilt-free, having already gotten both your workout and your work day out of the way.

Over time, your energy levels will build up, and you might even find an exercise that you enjoy to the point that it doesn't feel like work, both of which will further assist in the motivation side of things.

I am having the same issue. Due to working an 8am to 5pm shift I have no time in the evening to get my videos in. I have enough time to pick up my daughter, make dinner, and get her bathed and ready for bed. Its already almost 730 by that time. Then I put her down around 745 to 8 (she is 4 so I still read to her and what not). So by the time I get to relax after that and preping lunch for the next day its already 830 to 9. So I have to get my butt up at 5am to workout. I did it for a good month and since have fallen into a slump. But it can be done!!! All we need is the motivation! And it will come I promise! :flowerforyou:

Even when I start an early day, I must push myself to workout Before work, or it never happens. and, yes, that sometimes means getting up at 4am! Coffee pot set the night before, and walk.

Benefits: It's not too hot; One pre-work shower, one hair-do-per-day; Give energy to myself first and foremost; No excuses;

Suggestions: Make yourself go to bed 1/2 hour earlier. Start with 1/2 hour exercise. Just do it. Set workout clothes Out the night before with water bottle ready. If you have a friend or spouse or neighbor to 'meet' you at 5am - set it!

I successfully trained for a half marathon by "having" to meet my running partner, early a.m. When the alarm went off…sometimes I got up Because I Was Meeting Her!!

Good luck!

I actually did a 6 am bootcamp once upon a time, and was surprised how well I did at getting up and working out. It was a great surprise.
Another thing you might try is a bona fide Dance Break in the middle of your shift. Put down the work and crank up the music and dance crazy for 15 minutes. It will get your heart rate up, and you can incorporate squats, lunges, etc as you go...