Work/School/Family/Sleep/Weight Loss... How to make it all fit.

just so we understand. On Mondays you have class from 11 pm-7 am, then another class from 7 am-4 pm and another class from 6 pm-8:45 pm. Then Tuesday you start again at 11 pm-7 am in class?

Edit to add, ok, now I get it. I was missing the dates when I first looked.

You may have to let some of your time for exercise go, good news is that you can still lose weight if you keep your focus on your food. You should also pay close attention to your sleep hygiene, switching between days and night is going to be tough.

I think by "sleep hygiene" he meant getting enough sleep and making sure it's good sleep. Your body is going to be out of whack if you're constantly changing up your sleep/wake schedules so focus on getting enough sleep is going to be a high priority, even higher than exercise, IMHO.

My advice would be to simply focus on your food for the first couple of weeks. Combining a crazy work schedule with school is going to take some getting used to. Once you sort of get the hang of things take a good look at your day and see if there's a good fit for getting in some exercise. Perhaps every day as you're heading home from work you can hit the gym for an hour, or do it on your way there. Or only every other day.

As an example, I work 9 hour days (with every other Friday off), have a half hour commute each way and attend school online so most of my nights are spent doing homework. It's really hot here in the summer and I run outside (I refuse to use a treadmill) every other day. I also lift weights with a friend at the company gym on work days that I don't run. That friend is the type of person who gets to work at 5am every day so wants to lift by around 3:30pm. To make this all fit my schedule right now looks like:

Week A

• Monday - Run in the morning (work until 5pm)
• Tuesday - Lift in the afternoon (work from 6:30-3:30)
• Wednesday - Run in the morning (work until 5pm)
• Thursday - Lift in the afternoon (work from 6:30-3:30)
• Friday - Run in the morning (no work)
• Saturday - Rest
• Sunday - Long run in the morning

Week B

• Monday - Lift in the afternoon (work from 6:30-3:30)
• Tuesday - Run in the morning (work until 5pm)
• Wednesday - Lift in the afternoon (work from 6:30-3:30)
• Thursday - Run in the morning (work until 5pm)
• Friday - Lift in the afternoon (work from 6:30-2:30)
• Saturday - Long run in the morning
• Sunday - Rest

The only constant thing about it is that I'm waking up and leaving work at around the same time every day so my family doesn't suffer from the day to day difference. This will change as we move into the Fall, when the sun starts rising too late to run before work and my runs get longer as I ramp up for race season. I end up running at all different times and watching the weather to see if it'll be cool enough to run after work or not. Once we get into Winter I'll be running and lifting in the afternoons. And so on.

The point is, you need to determine what you have time for and what works best for your schedule. I doubt there are too many people with my crazy schedule but it's what I need to do to make it all fit.

I can totally relate to this, when I was in grad school I was working 45 hours a week while going to school in the evenings for about two years. The biggest thing that worked for me was advanced meal prep! I would cook a lot of meals on the weekends in preparation for the week. On week days, I woke up at 4 AM to do a workout, then prepared breakfast. I left the house at 6 AM for work and did not get home until about 7 PM, too exhausted to work out, so that is why I had to work out in the mornings. When I left the house though, I left with two meals and multiple snacks in a lunchbox with an ice pack to last me throughout the day. We have access to microwaves at work, so I brought chicken and veggies or some sort of hot dish. For the evenings at school, I would bring a sandwich or wrap that i could easily eat in the car or walking in between classes. It was difficult, but having a full days worth of meals and snacks prepared for me really saved me from the drive through or the fast food places on campus. Good luck!

@ejb060793 Yes, it can be done. My husband works 6am-11:30, goes to gym for an hour at lunch, then back to work from 12:30-4. Then back to the gym for 2 hours of cardio after work. He showers at the gym & goes straight to school to heat up & eat his dinner before going to class. His class gets out at 9:30 & he still has an hour drive home. That's some long days.

He's dedicated to his weight loss journey & isn't letting a busy schedule get in the way. He's been very successful at it, too. (Did I mention that he's 40 years old & we have 4 crazy kids?) I'm really proud of him.

The key is preparation. On Sundays I spend about 4 hours in the kitchen. I carefully plan, prepare & weigh/measure all his meals for the week. He eats all his meals away from home, but never goes out to eat. He can't even remember the last time he had fast food. And it shows. He looks really good.

You absolutely can do it! Make a plan & develop healthy habits! Best wishes!

soapsandropes wrote: »

You may have to let some of your time for exercise go, good news is that you can still lose weight if you keep your focus on your food. You should also pay close attention to your sleep hygiene, switching between days and night is going to be tough.

Adding a link for sleep hygiene:

http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/getting/overcoming/tips