How do I fit exercise in my busy schedule?
SCrawley100
Posts: 11
I am a full time employee at a Cardiology and Pulmonary Clinic and also a full time wife and mother. I work Monday - Friday 8:15 am - 4:45 pm at the clinic. I have a very busy schedule and don't feel I have time to work in exercise daily. I would love to get into a routine but don't know how to make it work. If anyone has any suggestion please let me know. The following is an outline of my day.
5:00 - 5:30 am - Wake up and start getting myself and daughter ready for the day.
7:30 am - Drop my daughter off at the babysitters home (my mother in laws).
8:15 am - Arrive at work
12:00 pm - 30 minute lunch
4:45 pm - Leave work
5:30 pm - Pck up my daughter.
6:00 - 6:30 pm - Feed my daughter.
7:00 - 8:00 pm - Bath, dress, and put my daughter to bed.
8:00 - 9:00 pm - eat dinner and clean up after dinner.
9:30 - 10:00 pm - Go to bed.
Note: My husband works two jobs. He is at his first job from 6:00 am - 2:30 pm. He leaves his first job to go to his second job and doesn't come home until around 8:30 - 9:30 pm.
Any suggestions would be helpful! Thanks Feel free to add me!
5:00 - 5:30 am - Wake up and start getting myself and daughter ready for the day.
7:30 am - Drop my daughter off at the babysitters home (my mother in laws).
8:15 am - Arrive at work
12:00 pm - 30 minute lunch
4:45 pm - Leave work
5:30 pm - Pck up my daughter.
6:00 - 6:30 pm - Feed my daughter.
7:00 - 8:00 pm - Bath, dress, and put my daughter to bed.
8:00 - 9:00 pm - eat dinner and clean up after dinner.
9:30 - 10:00 pm - Go to bed.
Note: My husband works two jobs. He is at his first job from 6:00 am - 2:30 pm. He leaves his first job to go to his second job and doesn't come home until around 8:30 - 9:30 pm.
Any suggestions would be helpful! Thanks Feel free to add me!
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Replies
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Wow you are an amazing woman! You go, girl! Is it possible for you to walk on your lunch?0
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Would hubby be willing to get your daughter up at 5am? That way you could work out from 5am - 5:30am. The other option is to work out at 8:00PM and push dinner to 8:30PM.0
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Yup, it's not easy. But you could always incorporate your daughter in your workouts! Make it a walk with her in a stroller. Ride a bike with her in a carrier. Roller blade together. Get a Wii or xBox Kinect and try the Zumba or dancing or whatever... they have lots of games! You could even do those at home games or some workout DVD's after she's in bed.. then a quick shower and you're done! On the weekend you could do some more stuff, take turns with hubby so you can get a good hour or so in before playing/cleaning/whatever.
I work full time too, 8am to 5:30-7pm. I workout on Tuesday evenings (usually at least 2-4 mile run), Thursday I'm off so I run in the morning (5-7 miles) and Saturday mornings are long runs (7-9 mile). Then Sunday afternoons I go to the gym for 1-2 hours, and try to do an hour up there either Weds or Friday evening, depending on the week and our schedule. It's not easy, but my kids are teenagers, so I do have a little more flexibility there as I don't have to bring them to the sitter's or whatever.
Just do what you can. Start small. Even 20-30 minutes is a great start!!!! Make it fun... you'll stick with it!!!!0 -
Is it possible to cut some of the morning time of getting ready? If you cut that down by 30 minutes, you could get a 30 minute work out in first thing in the morning. My other suggestion would be to eat when she does, so during the hour of eating and cleaning up, you can just do the clean up and have half an hour or so to work out then. Or during your lunch, if you are able to eat your lunch while you work before or after going for a walk during your 30 minutes? You have a pretty tight day! Good luck!0
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Can you eat with your daughter instead of after she's in bed? That may free up at least 30 minutes. You could get a workout dvd and exercise at home.0
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Could you maybe eat a relatively large lunch at work, eat a light dinner while feeding your daughter at around 6 pm, and then exercise at about 8 or 8:30?
I am busy too, and even though I've read that late-day exercising is not ideal, it's the only thing that works for me. If I eat a larger dinner it makes it hard to work out. I've gotten into the habit of having a more substantial lunch. Some days I come home relatively late, but am able to work out before dinner because I am not that hungry (due to the large lunch).0 -
calesthetics durring potty breaks squats, jumping jacks, wall or counter pushups, etc....0
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I have a similar schedule. Even though my hubby isn't always home to eat with us, I eat dinner with the kids. Then, I get them ready and put them to bed. I work out, log everything on here, take a shower and get ready for bed myself.0
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Park further away and walk faster than normal.0
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this will be a hard...but maybe try waking up at 430a to do a 30min workout... or try going for a quick walk during lunch.
also maybe try eating w/your daughter instead of a later time that way you have time to digest before going to bed. this will also give you some extra time to do a dvd workout0 -
It's possible......I too work full time have a hubby and 3 little girls, but I fit it all in. Sometimes we may eat a little later at times, or I get home a little later, but its all because I have to incorprate exercising into being a better me. You can do it girl just juggle a few thing and work it out!!0
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You could get up 15-20 minutes earlier than usual and fit in an intense circuit training routine like 30 day shred. With limited time, it'll have to be something intense to really burn a lot of calories.0
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I started by buying a stairstepper from target and doing that in addition to wii fit games. I started the gym by making it a priority. I was a full time student (graduated from university 5/21) single mom of 3 and I worked 30+ hours. When something is really important you make it happen even if it takes creativity.0
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I am a single parent that works full time and I take 3 college courses every semester. My kids are older now but it wasn't long ago that my schedule looked an awful lot like yours. You have scheduled everything except YOU time. The only way I see you making time to exercise is if you pencil yourself in. I recommend you make it the very first thing you do every single morning before you even wake up your daughter. Start off committing to 15 minutes of anything...push ups on Monday, sit ups on Tuesday, stair climbing on Wednesday, lifting a full gallon of milk/water and doing curls 25x each arm on Thursday....don't make it a huge production....just do something that is different than your typical routine but make a list, write it on your To Do list or calendar and make a commitment to do it. I am presuming there are places in your schedule before or after work where you could shave 15 minutes of time -- perhaps you could pack things your daughter will need during the week every Sunday afternoon -- drop everything off that you possibly can (food, changes of clothes, etc) on Monday so you aren't repeating steps unnecessarily over and over-- that sort of idea. Tonight I had to force myself to get on my treadmill after 9pm tonight. I worked all day, cooked when I got home, started homework that's due Thursday because my daughter has a band concert at school tomorrow night. I didn't want to do it but I forced myself to commit to 15 minutes.... I ended up walking 30 minutes at 4mph which is fast enough to cause me to break a sweat. (just my 2 cents)0
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Hi I'm a working mom also. I got back into exercising by doing about 40 minutes after putting the kids to bed at 9 pm, every other day. If I'm short on time I'll do 20 minutes one day & 20 the next. I shower and wash my hair at night so there's less running around in the morning. Would love to hear from other moms as well!0
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It's hard, but you have to really learn to put yourself first. I still struggle with it, but I am getting better at being selfish, at least when my exercising comes into play. Is there any way grandma would watch your daughter a bit longer so you can get 30 mins in?
I am lucky enough to work at home, I am a home daycare provider. That being said, my days are in no way easy. I live where it's humid and hot so I have to start running in the morning (starting tomorrow actually). My day will be starting at 5:00 am so I can get my full work out in and get home and showered before my first job, (being a mom), starts at 6:15. My daycare starts at 7:30.
My days go until I finally (if I am lucky, I have insomnia) get in bed at 10:30pm.
When my husband is away on business I run on the treadmill and lots of times I start the oven warming up or start the food cooking while I am down running, my boys don't mind waiting a bit. Some times I have to stop mid way to take stuff out, but I still get my time in.
Your daughter's age will make a huge difference in what you can do. My boys are 10 yrs and 8 yrs old. When they were younger though my exercise was just walking. They loved it, I got to spend extra time with just them (even though in the day I am always there with them, but with the daycare kids they had to 'share' me). There were days I would use my yoga dvd.
It's never easy, even those with out kids can have trouble making/finding the time. As a mom I put everyone before myself, I was always last, but not anymore! I have to put myself first IF I plan on being there for my kids for as long as I can.0 -
I'm not sure how old your daughter is but would it be possible to have dinner at the same time as your daughter? I know 6pm sounds early to have dinner but before we had kids my wife and I used to eat at 8, 9 sometimes 10pm no problem. Now, dinner is at 6pm every day for everyone then get the kids cleaned and ready for the following day. send them to bed, then work out at 8:30-9:30. If you had dinner at the same time as your daughter that would leave you from 8-9 for a nice long workout. If you really want to work out, I mean really and truly then you will find the time. Personally, I used to complain about not having time to work out but I found that I was just making an excuse for myself not to do it. Now, I'm not saying this is your case because you are definitely a busy woman but you should do what you can, even if its only for 15-20 minutes a day.0
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You can also do a quick exercise DVD (I recommend 30-day shred) in 20 minutes while the dinner is cooking! (I also recommend Dream Dinners or other food prep stores, which really helps me get a quick and healthy dinner on the table, without doing all the prep work.) That saves a lot of time. It's hard to fit it in, but you just have to make it a priority, just like the other things on your to-do list.0
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Walk where ever you can.
Take stairs instead of elevators.
You could also try one of the 10 min workout dvds and try to do 10 mins in the morning each day.0 -
I hear you! I worked 70+ hours for the past two years. I made a couple of small changes - didn't get huge results but was better than nothing. One thing I got mini-trampoline and put it in my kitchen - when I was cooking especially the micowave, I would jump on the trampoline while waiting for the timer to go off. You can also do standing crunches in the shower - helps with abs. Also I did find just 10 minutes to take a quick brisk walk - I am hearing more and more that even 10 minutes helps. I had to mentally get over the idea that exercise had to be 30 minutes or an hour - that I never seemed to find or have the energy for. I just couldn't get up any earlier - just truly exhausted all the time. I just tried to find minutes every where I could - parking farther at the grocery store or walmart or wherever, etc.
But ultimately I had to get out of denial and the idea that I hated to exercise. I believe I talked myself into not finding the time or making it a priority. Once I got past that - I started to figure out how to find the time.
Good luck!0
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