How do you find the time for exercise?

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  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    lacroyx wrote: »
    I don't find time to exercise. I make time.

    100% agree, if it's a priority you'll make the time, if not you'll make excuses.

    Do you take a lunch break at work?

  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    edited December 2014
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    If you wanted to work out badly enough, you would find the time to do it. Give up some computer time. Work out right after work. Make a sandwich instead of spending an hour and a half on dinner.

    I think part of the problem is that you overdid it. Working out 6-7 days a week would be enough to make me never want to do it again either. Try 3-4 days and see if you can stick with it.

    ETA: Nm, I thought you were working out 6-7 days a week. My bad. Learn a reasonable schedule and stick with it.
  • Laura732
    Laura732 Posts: 244 Member
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    Can't tell which country you're from, but here in the US, most of us are expected to take a lunch break. Your employer expects you to be gone and usually they don't look for you during that time of day. If you have an hour for lunch, spend half of it walking or going up/down the stairs. Also, your family isn't there to bother you during your lunch breaks.

    I keep pretty much the same schedule that you do, and I can get 60 minutes of exercises from my chiropractor done in the evenings! Sometimes its only 20 minutes, but the important one's get done. Sure, it means something else doesn't get done, but how bad do you wanna be healthy?

    Just as with anything else, if its important to you, you'll make the time to get it done. Exercise needs to be done, but if it helps, don't try to knock out an entire hour in one block. If your schedule is such that two 30 min sessions work, by all means get off the couch.
  • sw33tp3a11
    sw33tp3a11 Posts: 4,646 Member
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    I make time. We all have 24 hrs a day. Taking 45 out of those 24 hrs shouldn't be too complicated.
  • Laurochka
    Laurochka Posts: 140 Member
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    I once read an article that suggested instead of saying "I don't have time to xxx" say "i'm not prioritising xxxx right now" and that will help you see what your current priorities actually are.
    If yours are moderating your computer gaming forum that's fine - make it an active choice and decision that that's what you're doing with your time. If however you really want to exercise and decide to do this then you reduce your time online and exercise then.

    I have a busy lifestyle and often get asked by colleagues how I find time to do everything. My answer is I prioritise. I don't watch much TV and I try not to spend too much time on the computer outside of work hours. Also I make a plan.
    I know on certain days I need to go to bed earlier because I have to get up early to go to the gym as all my evenings are full so if I want to exercise I have to fit it into my morning routine.
    Also if you start exercising regularly you may find you have more energy.
    If you like being online - use YouTube exercise videos and do home workouts for 15 - 20 mins an evening.

    If you really want to exercise you'll have to make sacrifices and fit it in somewhere.
    There's no "easy" answer.

    I hope you make a plan that works for you!
  • NoelFigart1
    NoelFigart1 Posts: 1,276 Member
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    I don't stick to nighttime exercise like I do morning exercise. It just doesn't happen.

    My usual schedule:

    5:00am Get up, swish down the bathroom, make bed, throw clothes over swimsuit.
    5:30am Hit the gym with Dear Hoosband. We part, I swim, he does his running foolishness, and we meet back up after workouts and showers at
    6:45 am Go home, have coffee and breakfast. (We live close to the gym)
    7:15 am Out to the door to go to work.
    5:30pm Home from work. If I was smart, there is dinner in the crock pot. I am not always smart. So I sautee up some meat and veggies and we have dinner. We might watch ONE tv show during this time, but not always.
    7:30 pm Make lunches for the next day, sort out and pack gym bag, get out clothes for next day. (Laundry is usually done on weekends)

    After that, I might screw around knitting or writing or messing around online for an hour. Ideally, I should be writing, but being a writer, I am also an amazing procrastinator. I try very hard to have my head on the pillow by 9pm. Sometimes I am bad and it's 9:30 before I'm down.

    I'm training hard enough swimming that I kind of need that eight hours of sleep.
  • kikontx
    kikontx Posts: 92 Member
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    I get home from work around 5:30pm and then I start getting supper situated and usually finish up cooking/eating around 7pm....then its time to take the pooch out for his nightly round (about 20-30min usually, which is some movement but sometimes much of it is spent just standing and not moving lol).

    So looking at this part I can think of two things.

    One - while you are "just standing and not moving" start doing some squats and lunges. If your pooch stops several times then you can get a couple of sets in.

    Two - after the pooch is done, then go back out on your own and get in a more brisk walk or even a jog. Doesn't have to be a long one - even the same amount of time that you spent walking the pooch is good.

    Once you start working this in, you'll probably be more more motivated to make changes in other areas to increase your exercise time.

    Good luck.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Stop playing on your computer? problem solved....

    this... you've finished supper by 8... either take the dog for a proper walk, or do your work out after that... you have 4 HOURS between that and when you go to bed... thats plenty of time...

  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    What others have said is true. Until you make exercising a priority you will rarely "find" time to do it. So I don't "find" time, I make time. I work 9 hours per day, spend another hour commuting and go to school part time and I still have time to spend an hour at the gym or out running around my neighborhood. I live in Tucson, AZ so running in the summer can be problematic. When it's hitting triple digits in the afternoons, I run before work and work later. This time of year, I usually run as soon as I get home from work. Lifting at the gym is always after work. I still have enough energy to go home, make dinner, do a little cleaning and do my schoolwork before I hit the sack at 10:00pm.

    However, exercise will actually make you feel less exhausted after work. I speak from experience on this because until 2011 I didn't work out at all. According to the pedometer I got that January I often didn't walk more than 2000 steps per day. Although I wasn't technically overweight, I was getting there and I couldn't walk a flight of steps without getting a little winded. I now have more energy, am rarely tired until bedtime, and I'm in the best shape I've been in over 20 years.

    I agree with the others that you should probably just go to bed earlier and get up earlier. That will magically add a few more hours to your day. If you're truly not a morning person (I used to say that, too, until I was up at 5am so I could get in a run before the sun was fully up and the temperatures topped 80°) then do your workouts before bed and keep your midnight bedtime.

    The good news is, you don't need to exercise to lose weight. You just need to eat less calories than your body burns every day. So, if you really don't want to exercise, then don't and stop making yourself feel guilty about it. But don't make excuses that you don't have enough time because that excuse just isn't valid.
  • KayBallin
    KayBallin Posts: 111 Member
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    1. I stopped making excuses.

    I work very weird hours. Sometimes I have to be in the gym at 4:30 a.m. or else I won't make it at all. Some weeks, I work upwards of 14 hours per day (not making it home until 10 p.m.)

    I wasn't a morning person.... until I was forced to be. I HATE working out that early, but soon enough it becomes a habit. I'll feel worse if I lie there in bed and don't go and feel *kitten* the rest of the day because I DIDN'T go.

    You gotta figure out your priorities and go from there. If you want it bad enough, you'll make time.
  • fat2strongbeth
    fat2strongbeth Posts: 735 Member
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    You have to decide what your priorities are. If you want to exercise, you will find time. I would recommend going right after work before you have dinner.
  • lpendleton58
    lpendleton58 Posts: 285 Member
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    Stop playing on your computer? problem solved....

    Stop making excuses for everything too.... Let's be real here you said you went and it hurt guess what that pain is your body rebuilding it's self. Those pains go away over time and eventually you miss them!!

    Seriously stop making excuses... you can wake up and early and go to the gym before work! I know your not a morning person... that's because your wasting your life on your computer at night!. Go to bed earlier and wake up early, eventually you adjust to it.

    To be honest, I only skimmed through the OP and liked how this was the beginning of the responses and some of the others followed suit. Tedebearduff is 100% on the money!

    I'll tell you like I told my mother-in-law. We all get the same 24 hours in a day and many make it a priority to make time to exercise as well as eat right. To break the #s down even further, lets say you sleep for 8 hours and work for 8 hours. That's 8 hours left to make time to exercise. If you are spending those 8 hours on the computer, watching t.v., talking on the phone, or anything else, then you need to reevaluate your priorities if you really want to get back into exercising.

    I know this sounds rough, but often the truth is. Everyone who has responded are just providing constructive criticism in their own way. It is up to you to take it and either get better from it or make more excuses.
  • happymum37
    happymum37 Posts: 95 Member
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    Can you make more of your time that you spend walking the dog? You said it's mainly standing around but you could power walk of even jog instead. I'm sure your pooch will enjoy the extra exercise too :)
  • Brolympus
    Brolympus Posts: 360 Member
    edited December 2014
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    You will start to have more energy as you workout, and it won't be so bad getting up early to workout (or go to work early and get out early to hit the gym if you are like me). It takes about 2 weeks to fully adjust to it though; it does suck at first. You need to just suck it up and push through it, and understand there is an investment period. Nobody said it would be easy. If you want something bad enough, you will do it. If you just make it something that would be "nice to have", it is not going to motivate you enough.

    Also.....go to bed and stop messing around on your computer until midnight. There is your issue right there. Bad time management. A workout really only takes 45mins-1hour. If all you are trying to do is just lose weight and doing cardio, it is even less, maybe 30 minutes of high intensity cardio.

    Suspend the Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/etc. accounts for awhile. Remove the distractions and focus inward for a bit. I typically purge myself of social media every 6 months for a solid month or so to help me focus and use my time better. Sounds like you need to evaluate how you are spending your time. Wherever you can shave a few minutes down during the day, you can invest those in yourself. The rewards you get back in higher energy levels come pretty quick.
  • JazzFischer1989
    JazzFischer1989 Posts: 531 Member
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    You can:

    1. Cook/prepare enough food to last you for a few days so you won't have to spend an hour and a half doing it when you get home from work.
    2. Get started working out shortly after you come home.
    3. Cut down your time on the computer (this one seems pretty obvious). Do you have to be on the forum for 4-5 hours every night?
    4. Walk the dog after your work out.
  • the_hotness
    the_hotness Posts: 7 Member
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    I workout in the morning before work. I get up at 5:30 a.m., am in the gym from 6 - 7 a.m.

    I have a full time job, am in school part time (transitioning to full time), work a second job most weekends and other serious commitments I have in my life. But I dedicate the first hour of every day to getting my grind on.

    If it's important enough to you, you will find a way. If it's not, you will (continue to) find an excuse.
  • araromi2
    araromi2 Posts: 111 Member
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    I actually have trouble finding time as well.I have an infant and work full time with a 2.5 hr daily commute but I've decided,I'm going to do at home exercise programs.
  • mrsemmypants
    mrsemmypants Posts: 44 Member
    edited December 2014
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    lacroyx wrote: »
    I don't find time to exercise. I make time.

    This exactly. I work graveyards, so I go as soon as I get off of work, it gives me enough of a boost to make it home and then I sleep like a baby. It's such a habit now that I find myself missing it on my rest days. You've got to want it though, coming from personal experience, if you don't want it, you won't do it.

    edit; About being sore, trust me, been there, done that. I spend a lot of time at the chiropractor and it helps a ton. I'm the queen of turning wrong or jamming up my hips. :smile:
  • fit_mama30
    fit_mama30 Posts: 178 Member
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    Stop making excuses. We all have 24 hours in a day. I never was a morning person, I could wake up at 10. At some point the only time I had was at 6 am, before work. I got my body out of bed by 5am and was in the gym before work. It became an habit.

    Now, I have to train at night because of the long commute. I wake up at 6am, I'm at work all day and get home around 6PM, I'm exhausted, because of the work day and commute (1h30/twice a day) but I still MAKE time to exercise. I hit the gym right before getting home or squeeze a home workout if I don't feel like training at the gym. You don't need an hour, you can have a quick 30 minutes workout also.

    You have to make yourself and your health a priority.

    Also, go to bed earlier and wake up earlier would be an easy fix?
  • goddessofawesome
    goddessofawesome Posts: 563 Member
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    I'm not a morning person either but I get up and drag my butt to the gym. If I don't chances are good that I won't make it (I do also do DDP yoga and cardio at home however I also lifting and I have to hit the gym for that).

    If you're too tired after work or lack the time then you have to get up in the morning to do it. Go to bed earlier, unless there's a good reason why you're getting to bed at 12-1 a.m.

    Or, you can just continue to make excuses and not go to the gym.