Where do you find the time?

I work full time and have 2 boys. I have to MAKE time every day for excersize. It's not non-negotiable in my life. I'll take my kids to the gym with me and leave them in the "kids club" and they LOVE it. They BEG me to go to the gym! I'll take them to the local high school and run around the track while they play in the middle. That way I can keep an eye on them. I also have a treadmill at home as my last resort... They go to bed and I get my run on. I work 10 hour days, have a house full of pets and I don't care what happens, I need to take care of me. I feel better than I have EVER and my couch is collecting dust! (I watch all my shows on the treadmill). I feel like it'sa mind over matter thing. You just gotta make it happen. After a while it becomes habbit. I look at what I do every day and can't believe this is my life... But it's awesome!:flowerforyou:

I exercise after the kids are asleep...some nights that may not be until 10pm, but that's the only time I have...I work full time & have a 2 & 4 year old, so time is very tight!!

I am a single mom and I used to love to sleep in until the last minute but I have had to make the effort to get up early to get it done. I know if I leave it until after work I will be too burned out and busy!

I am really lucky in that I have a pretty relaxed job environment and my work has a gym on the premises so I end up doing my workouts during my daily "lunch break" and usually end up eating my lunch while working at my desk.

Doing it on my lunch break is awesome because it helps break up the day and keeps me from having to sit at my desk for 8 hours straight.

I work 8 hours, get up at 4:50 to get to the gym, do about 30-45 mins of workout and afterwards off to work! I occasionally workout after I come home. I do the 30 day shred video that is only 20 mins long. I have 1 year old that just likes to sit on my chest when I am doing abs during my video.... so I have to adjust my workout to her.
I sacrifice game time on my computer to do exercise!

I understand your struggle... and I am very defintely NOT a morning person, but I have found that if I don't peel myself out of bed by 5:30 and workout, I won't do it. I am a working mother with 2 young children (18 months and 4 yrs) and my husband travels for work so I am on my own quite a bit.

By the time I work the entire day, pick the kids up, get dinner ready, eat, bathe and get the kids to bed, get the kitchen cleaned as well as any other nagging housework that needs to get done, it's usually 8:30 or 9:00 and to be honest... I am just way too exhausted to even think about working out.

I have found that the hardest part is actually getting out of bed so every night when I set my alar, I very deliberately promise myself that I will only push the snooze button once and then will get out of bed no matter how tired I am.

When the alarm goes off for that second time I just stand up (in fact I am standing when I turn it off). Since getting out of bed is the hardest part, I am hafway there and now the walk into my bathroom to put my workout clothes on is little easier.

I will admit... I HATE getting up that early in the morning and often consider it pure torture but it has been worth it in the end.

Are there days that I miss? yes, absolutely. I try not to beat myself up about it too much when it happens and I also try to make adjustments to the rest of my day to make time for it later (push dinner back a little later so I can get a 20 minute workout in while the kids play for a bit before we eat) but that doesn't always happen.

I also schedule 1 evening a week where my husband will pick up, feed, and put the kids to bed so I can go to the gym on my way home from work. This actually allows me 2 things (a little extra sleep one morning a week and a little alone time) which I appreciate greatly.

The other thing that really helps.... and this too is VERY hard for me, and that is getting to bed as early as possible. I have made 10:00 my cutoff in terms of when I turn the TV off and go up to bed. (I record the shows I like to watch so I don't have to watch them at any specific time). It takes me about 20 minutes to get ready for bed and then I read before going to sleep, but if I am up much past 10:30, that 5:15 alarm seems very early.

Good Luck. Feel free to add me as a friend

Just remember you can't be the "best you" for everyone else if you don't take some time to get yourself to a better place of wellness. I just had to come to that realization a few weeks ago. My husband and I work full time jobs and are pastors of a youth ministry on the side, I have a 9 month old and just moved into a larger house (translation-more to clean!) so I know life is busy and you sound so giving of yourself to make your family and their friends have better lives. It's important to remind ourselves that if we want to continue to be around to give of ourselves to the people that we love then we need to care for ourselves. We just have to find some time somewhere. It is not easy, if it was, everyone would be skinny and healthy ha ha but start small. Trust me I can relate to not wanting to work out in the morning too but I'm starting to see that as my best option. Good Luck, I am sure you will figure something out that will work for you.

You have to wake up early. Period.

Wake up an hour earlier than normal and do SOMETHING. Go for a walk. Go for a jog. Go for a bike ride. Do calisthenics (push ups, sit ups, squats, etc.) in your bedroom. Do a DVD on the days when there are no teenagers on your couch. Get up and get moving early in the morning and get it out of the way. You will feel great physically and mentally all day having gotten it out of the way first thing.