After work too tired to workout

toyota
toyota Posts: 33 Member
edited November 17 in Fitness and Exercise
I desperately need to workout and lose weight, but i am struggling because i have several things going against me. I work at a school cafeteria, that's hard work, very fast paced. I been working on those concrete floors for 19 years now, and it's taking it's toll on my body. Hip Bursitis, leg pain. I am about 100 lbs. overweight too, which don't help any. I so bad want to workout and exercise when i get home, but skip it alot of the time, because i am just too tired. Is there anything i can do to perk me up in the afternoons, & exercise when i get home from work?

Replies

  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    edited May 2015
    I work on my feet in a highly active job too. I log an average of 15000 steps a day just at work. I'm tired when I get home too. I still turn around and get back out the door for a two hour high intensity workout at the dojo, three nights a week. I have often felt like just sitting on the couch until bed time instead. I have always forced myself to get up and get moving. I have yet to regret doing so.

    No excuses.

    You will feel better once you get yourself moving again. :)
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    Have you thought about working out before work? I get up at 5 am to get my workout in because I know I will find excuses not to do it after work.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited May 2015
    Start off with some yoga...it doesn't burn a lot of calories but it may make you feel better. When you feel better, you are likely to do more.

    They make yoga for people who are inflexible, overweight, have arthritis, etc....you should be able to find something that works for you. Look for Peggy Cappy, Megan Garcia, or Meera Kerr
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    edited May 2015
    Work out in the morning. I'm in bed by 9:30 most nights to get up at 4 to go to the gym.

    Paradoxically, the days I get up early and crank out a hard asskicking at the gym are the days I have the best energy, and am not as hungry.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
    strong_curves wrote: »
    Have you thought about working out before work? I get up at 5 am to get my workout in because I know I will find excuses not to do it after work.

    This. We humans are so good at finding excuses... just gotta do it anyway.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    Don't work out at home! Is there a gym you can join on your way from work to home? You could go before or after, be in an environment more conducive to exercising, and maybe get some motivation from other members or a trainer
  • peachyfuzzle
    peachyfuzzle Posts: 1,122 Member
    The good news is that you don't have to workout to lose weight. You just have to eat less.
  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    That's very true, you don't have to workout to lose weight. Eat less than your body requires and you'll drop fat.

    The bonus exercise brings is that you can get to feeling better in your skin, faster. Whether that's because you are creating a larger calorie deficit and lose weight a little faster or reliably, or because you are improving your strength or cardio pulmonary capabilities, you end up feeling better, faster.

    To the original poster... just as examples you can: walk on your lunch break. Walk or cycle to work and back home if that is practical. If you take transit, walk to a distant bus or train stop. There are all sorts of tricks you can do to introduce regular exercise into your life that don't require travelling to a gym or getting up even earlier for your job.

    And mind the calories! :smile:
  • suruda
    suruda Posts: 1,233 Member
    I agree with the above....don't stress about working out yet. Give yourself a goal to start out with, 20 lbs or something like that...when you hit that, consider adding a light workout. Maybe just a 10 or 15 minute stroll. Maybe a short video like yoga or pilates, some of the more mellow workouts. The eating is what will make the pounds drop though, get that under control first!
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    I would suggest short walks right now too. You should be able to do 10-15 minute walks 3x/wk. Do that for a couple of weeks. Then add another walk or extend each walk by 5 minutes. Gradually up your walking that way. After a few weeks you will find that it gets much easier. In a month or two you might decide to add a bit of bodyweight training a couple of times a week. And so on and so forth.

    It is perfectly fine to ease into exercise. I think thst, for the very out of shape, it is better to start slowly like that rather than to jump in and go full blast. I am saying that based on my own experience.
  • Charliegottheruns
    Charliegottheruns Posts: 286 Member
    toyota wrote: »
    I desperately need to workout and lose weight, but i am struggling because i have several things going against me. I work at a school cafeteria, that's hard work, very fast paced. I been working on those concrete floors for 19 years now, and it's taking it's toll on my body. Hip Bursitis, leg pain. I am about 100 lbs. overweight too, which don't help any. I so bad want to workout and exercise when i get home, but skip it alot of the time, because i am just too tired. Is there anything i can do to perk me up in the afternoons, & exercise when i get home from work?

    Try eating something about 90 minutes before you get off, preferably carbohydrates.
  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    ^^ sounds like a plan. Doesn't have to be a lot but an energy boost. And easing into exercise should help you manage pain and reduce the impact of weight on your various aches. Again, try to sneak in exercise. Walk to the farthest bus stop you can manage, or park at the back end of the lot. Incorporate walking into doing regular errands. It's easy if you stop to think about it... and stopping to think about it, in effect changing old habits, is exactly what you (and me) need to do if we want long term success.

    Ask for help and you'll get it around here!
  • JenileeFinley
    JenileeFinley Posts: 15 Member
    I would pack my gym bag and bring it in the car with me so I didn't have to go home to change because once I got home after work I never felt like leaving. :)
  • toyota
    toyota Posts: 33 Member
    Thanks for all the tips. Once i get this coffee addiction under control too, it may be easier to exercise. My goal is to do cardio in the mornings before i leave for work & do weight training and strength training after work.
  • icemaiden37
    icemaiden37 Posts: 238 Member
    JenileeFinley wrote: »
    I would pack my gym bag and bring it in the car with me so I didn't have to go home to change because once I got home after work I never felt like leaving. :)

    I do this - when I leave work I go straight to the gym so I don't have the opportunity to talk myself out of it! I also try to make sure I have eaten a snack to get me through it.

    It would be ideal to go in the morning before work but my gym doesn't open til 7am and I need to get my kids up and ready for school.
  • rod195
    rod195 Posts: 16 Member
    I go to gym before work... I was really tired for about 2 weeks been doing it about a month now, sort of getting into a routine but it's very fragile
  • Mistraal1981
    Mistraal1981 Posts: 453 Member
    You don't have to exercise to lose weight. I lost 5 stone by calorie counting alone
  • Sweet_Heresy
    Sweet_Heresy Posts: 411 Member
    shadowfax_c11 wrote: »
    I work on my feet in a highly active job too. I log an average of 15000 steps a day just at work. I'm tired when I get home too. I still turn around and get back out the door for a two hour high intensity workout at the dojo, three nights a week. I have often felt like just sitting on the couch until bed time instead. I have always forced myself to get up and get moving. I have yet to regret doing so.

    No excuses.

    You will feel better once you get yourself moving again. :)

    Exactly. I too work a crazy busy job (also logging about 15k steps in my 8hr day alone), work 6 days a week, and my car is out of comission so I walk to and from my gym (2 miles from my apartment)...but I'm there Mon/Wed/Friday religiously.

    Just get it done. It's hard and it sucks, I know...but I eat a snack and pound down a Red Bull and get to it. You will feel so good about yourself afterwards that it will be worth it.
  • mike_bold
    mike_bold Posts: 140 Member
    I thought I knew what tired was. Now I have 2 kids under 3. I was wrong. Now I really know what it means :) Still not an excuse, I rarely miss a workout.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    Then keep gaining weight. No problem.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    Take a half hour nap after work, set an alarm, then get up and work out. You can't force your body to function without adequate rest.
  • llUndecidedll
    llUndecidedll Posts: 724 Member
    edited May 2015
    .
  • cosmichvoyager
    cosmichvoyager Posts: 237 Member
    If you have an active, physical job then just cutting calories and tracking food might be enough to see progress. Setting huge goals such as working out 2x a day or losing 100 pounds can prevent you from working out at all or losing anything because it seems so unattainable. I think something small to start like cutting enough calories to lose .5 pounds in a week is a good idea.
    Then see how you get on, if you feel better, manage your pain more etc
  • misscaligreen
    misscaligreen Posts: 819 Member
    I have lost 66 pounds without exercising at all. I'm starting to exercise now hopefully lol because my deficit is getting smaller as I lose weight and I can't eat less calories than I currently am. so my goal was to drop some weight through diet until I got to a point where I physically felt like I could exercise. being so overweight and out of shape exercise was torture. and in my opinion being that out of shape you cannot possibly exercise enough to create a calorie deficit. it is much easier to do it through diet. exercise is obviously important for health and strength and overall well-being but losing weight it's a good start to get into that point and it can absolutely be done without exercise.
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