Losing weight with a busy schedule?

picachu96
picachu96 Posts: 3 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone have any tips for losing weight on a crazy busy schedule? Ive tried to find time to do the right things like meal prep etc but it takes an incredible amount of planning and my job is just too crazy for that.

Im sure im not the only one. Overall im pretty healthy and i have a good sense of what my body needs. We dont give ourselves enough credit for that!! I just need a little nudge into the fat burning territory though, and one that doesnt make me sacrifice all of my time towards weight loss.

For reference, I lost about 20 pounds easy by eating around 1500 calories and running for 20 min a day. I'm 5'5" and 127 lbs (prev 151 lbs). Ive been at the same weight for a year so definitely hit a plateau lol. Now im down to my last ten "vanity" pounds and it seems impossible to lose unless you have a ton of time. Im curious if anyone has any practical and reasonable tips for doing so (i.e. Not bringing a food scale everywhere etc). Just looking for some new ideas that i may not have read about already!

Ive tried pretty much everything short of the extremes (juice cleanse). 1200 calorie diets are tough and I love working out but I have no energy to do so on this. Same with IF. If I increase my calories, i have to up my cardio amount to lose weight/fat and the pounds come off sloooowly, but it seems like a lot of gym hours logged (I strength train as well). HIIT is wayy too tough on my body/joints so I really don't like doing that. I know it works for a lot of people though.

Thanks in advance!!

Replies

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,615 Member
    I work full time, attend university part time, and am actively involved in both organisation and participation in one of my local cycling clubs. These things keep me fairly busy.

    How did I lose the weight?

    I entered my details into MFP.
    I chose sedentary as my activity level.
    I chose to lose 0.5 kg/week.
    MFP gave me 1250 calories.

    I exercise every day (sometimes just walking, sometime more), and thus get more calories of which I ate about half back.

    And then, I went to the grocery stores and markets around and had a really good look at what was available. I found all sorts of delicious options that fit within my calories! My diet went from the same ol' same ol' every day to something a lot more varied and interesting.

    Basically, the diet part just became what I ate at certain times. It was a relief not to have to think about it or plan or anything. Eating sort of disappeared into the woodwork like dressing myself and brushing my teeth.

    As for the exercise, I incorporated it throughout my day ... walking as part of my commute, walking at lunch, getting up and climbing flights of stairs on a break, walking after work with my husband ... gives us a chance to talk to each other, cycling as often as I can squeeze it in, and so on.
  • Mezzie1024
    Mezzie1024 Posts: 380 Member
    edited August 2017
    OP, we're practically the same size (same height; I'm currently 125). Losing is slow at our size and 1500 calories, but it does happen. It really just takes patience and consistency. I like being 120, and I could get there in a month if I were willing to drop my calories to 1300, but I'm not, so it's going to take 2-3 months. I need energy to be able to think for my job and exercise (I lift and do yoga and occasionally swim, burning about 100 calories via exercise/day; I'm pretty much sedentary otherwise due to disability).

    I've lost these five pounds before, so I know the drill and am not discouraged. I think that's really the only trick: confidence in the process.

    ETA: Meal planning shouldn't take more than an hour a week, and will take less time when it becomes habitual. Decide on a breakfast, lunch, and snack you'll eat every day that week, come up with 2-3 dinners (I need some variety!), make a shopping list. I like to prep my lunches for the week on Sundays since it's usually salad and it takes less time to make them all at once. If you can't manage an hour a week to take care of yourself, then you have more pressing problems to deal with than weight loss.
  • RedSierra
    RedSierra Posts: 253 Member
    About IF: I did intermittent fasting for a few weeks and found it very helpful. However, the reason it helped me is because restricting myself to an 8 hour window made my appetite smaller and I ate fewer calories. I wake up about 5 a.m. and leave just before 9 a.m. and sometimes eat 2 breakfasts -- the IF cut that out.

    To the OP: I have a busy schedule, too -- both work and college. What helps me:

    (1) Sometimes I make several takeout salads at the grocery store and eat those for a few days (spinach instead of lettuce). Skip some of the calorie laden items or take tiny amounts and read the salad dressing labels. I'm using olive oil and balsamic vinegar right now because of the zero sodium.

    (2) I cook a bag of dried lentils which makes several meals. They have 18 grams of protein in one cup. All I do is boil them in a soup pot and let simmer for an hour or so -- no watching requred. Add vegetables like carrots and onions and spice, then freeze in plastic bags. Reheat and add steamed greens. I am not a cook and this takes very little time. You can make your own variation of simple meals like this.

  • Meelisv
    Meelisv Posts: 235 Member
    edited August 2017
    picachu96 wrote: »
    ...Ive tried to find time to do the right things like meal prep etc but it takes an incredible amount of planning and my job is just too crazy for that.

    ....

    ... but it seems like a lot of gym hours logged (I strength train as well).
    Meal plannin/prep won't take much time. As said above, a hour or two per week tops.
    Youre contradicting yourself - you say that you have very busy schedule and can't really find time for meal planning, yet you spend lot of hours at gym. Skip some gym time and spend it for meal prep. Excercise is important, but it can't help if you don't eat properly. Remember that you can't outrun your fork :wink:

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,943 Member
    Cook simple, yet delicious meals. Maybe cook enough to eat from it for two days.
    Seriously, meal prep doesn't need much time. I spend about 30 minutes on days that I do cook, for preparing the food and cooking it. Everyone should be able to find 30 minutes, even on busy days.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    Meelisv wrote: »
    picachu96 wrote: »
    ...Ive tried to find time to do the right things like meal prep etc but it takes an incredible amount of planning and my job is just too crazy for that.

    ....

    ... but it seems like a lot of gym hours logged (I strength train as well).
    Meal plannin/prep won't take much time. As said above, a hour or two per week tops.
    Youre contradicting yourself - you say that you have very busy schedule and can't really find time for meal planning, yet you spend lot of hours at gym. Skip some gym time and spend it for meal prep. Excercise is important, but it can't help if you don't eat properly. Remember that you can't outrun your fork :wink:

    Yep this ^^ -- 2 hours on a Sunday has me all my snacks, my workday lunches and most of my dinners sorted for the week ahead. I work a full time job, I am on call evenings & alternate weekends, have a part-time business and run a 350 member social group. If you want to shift the vanity pounds, you need to make some changes to your schedule.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    Look at the stuff you do spend time on and decide if any of it is less important to your health/fitness goals. If there is anything that falls into that category - ditch it and use the time for food prep and exercise.

    If there is genuinely nothing in your schedule that you're willing to drop then you've learnt something important about yourself and what you value.
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
    CLBalderston wrote: »
    During the “fasted state” (the hours in which your body is not consuming or digesting any food) your body doesn’t have a recently consumed meal to use as energy, so it is more likely to pull from the fat stored in your body as it’s the only energy source readily available.

    Burning fat = win.

    The same goes for working out in a “fasted” state. Without a ready supply of glucose and glycogen to pull from (which has been depleted over the course of your fasted state, and hasn’t yet been replenished with a pre-workout meal), your body is forced to adapt and pull from the only source of energy available to it: the fat stored in your cells.

    Why does this work? Our bodies react to energy consumption (eating food) with insulin production. The more sensitive your body is to insulin, the more likely you’ll be to use the food you consume efficiently, and your body is most sensitive to insulin following a period of fasting.

    These changes to insulin production and and sensitivity can help lead to weight loss and muscle creation.

    IF is not some magical weight loss fairy...you lose weight because you are in a calorie deficit. period.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    picachu96 wrote: »
    Does anyone have any tips for losing weight on a crazy busy schedule? Ive tried to find time to do the right things like meal prep etc but it takes an incredible amount of planning and my job is just too crazy for that.

    Im sure im not the only one. Overall im pretty healthy and i have a good sense of what my body needs. We dont give ourselves enough credit for that!! I just need a little nudge into the fat burning territory though, and one that doesnt make me sacrifice all of my time towards weight loss.

    For reference, I lost about 20 pounds easy by eating around 1500 calories and running for 20 min a day. I'm 5'5" and 127 lbs (prev 151 lbs). Ive been at the same weight for a year so definitely hit a plateau lol. Now im down to my last ten "vanity" pounds and it seems impossible to lose unless you have a ton of time. Im curious if anyone has any practical and reasonable tips for doing so (i.e. Not bringing a food scale everywhere etc). Just looking for some new ideas that i may not have read about already!

    Ive tried pretty much everything short of the extremes (juice cleanse). 1200 calorie diets are tough and I love working out but I have no energy to do so on this. Same with IF. If I increase my calories, i have to up my cardio amount to lose weight/fat and the pounds come off sloooowly, but it seems like a lot of gym hours logged (I strength train as well). HIIT is wayy too tough on my body/joints so I really don't like doing that. I know it works for a lot of people though.

    Thanks in advance!!

    Given your stats, there's a very good chance 117 just isn't a realistic goal. If it is achievable, you really don't have an "easy" option to get there. It's going to take a meticulous approach to eating and weighing out food and meal prep.

    Now if you are willing to overlook the scale number and just want to look better in the mirror, shift your workout focus to strength training, following an established program. You should slowly "recomp" doing this, but you will need to be patient.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    CLBalderston wrote: »
    During the “fasted state” (the hours in which your body is not consuming or digesting any food) your body doesn’t have a recently consumed meal to use as energy, so it is more likely to pull from the fat stored in your body as it’s the only energy source readily available.

    Burning fat = win.

    The same goes for working out in a “fasted” state. Without a ready supply of glucose and glycogen to pull from (which has been depleted over the course of your fasted state, and hasn’t yet been replenished with a pre-workout meal), your body is forced to adapt and pull from the only source of energy available to it: the fat stored in your cells.

    Why does this work? Our bodies react to energy consumption (eating food) with insulin production. The more sensitive your body is to insulin, the more likely you’ll be to use the food you consume efficiently, and your body is most sensitive to insulin following a period of fasting.

    These changes to insulin production and and sensitivity can help lead to weight loss and muscle creation.

    I think you may be over exaggerating the effects of IF because there really isn't a lot of research out there yet. Many websites promote IF as a magic bullet, but the science simply isn't solid enough yet. Studies are few and with small groups. Hell, I do IF myself and would never make blatant claims without reliable sources to back them up. Science is always changing, and IF does not negate the concept of CICO.

    https://examine.com/nutrition/the-low-down-on-intermittent-fasting/
    The weight-loss equation is simple: you need to ingest less calories than you burn. IF is just one way to make this happen, but it is a way that some people find easier than the more common “eat smaller meals” approach.
    The body of evidence on IF is still relatively small, but a growing number of studies have reported improvements in various health markers aside from weight, notably lipids.[1] Further, those studies suggest that IF may provide unique metabolic benefits over the “eat smaller meals” approach.
    Assessing the potential metabolic benefits of IF is a long-term endeavor. As a systematic review of the literature noted in 2015,[8] preliminary evidence looks promising, but solid research is still sparse, so that “further research in humans is needed before the use of fasting as a health intervention can be recommended”.

  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    CLBalderston wrote: »
    During the “fasted state” (the hours in which your body is not consuming or digesting any food) your body doesn’t have a recently consumed meal to use as energy, so it is more likely to pull from the fat stored in your body as it’s the only energy source readily available.

    Burning fat = win.

    The same goes for working out in a “fasted” state. Without a ready supply of glucose and glycogen to pull from (which has been depleted over the course of your fasted state, and hasn’t yet been replenished with a pre-workout meal), your body is forced to adapt and pull from the only source of energy available to it: the fat stored in your cells.

    Why does this work? Our bodies react to energy consumption (eating food) with insulin production. The more sensitive your body is to insulin, the more likely you’ll be to use the food you consume efficiently, and your body is most sensitive to insulin following a period of fasting.

    These changes to insulin production and and sensitivity can help lead to weight loss and muscle creation.

    Sort of, but not really. Total calories matter, you cannot lose weight if you are not in a deficit, even if you are using stored fat as a fuel source during fasting periods.
    When resting or doing low intensity activities, your body should be relying primarily on fats for energy. During more intense workouts or efforts, the shift should be primarily towards glucose. This is called metabolic flexibility. The exact ratio is determined by a multitude of things, such as genetics, hormones, fitness, etc. This is a field where research is still on going, but it seems to point that insulin resistance & the corresponding inability to burn fat efficiently (2 separate mechanisms) are due to a defect at the cellular level, not a hormonal influence. It also appears that diet has a little effect on fixing this problem, but exercise has a much greater impact. (Exercise makes the cells much more receptive to insulin)

    So to recap, just because you might be burning fat in a fasted state, that's only a snapshot of the process and will not cause you to lose weight (lose fat) over time, unless you are in an overall calorie deficit.
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