Making Excuses

allsturns
allsturns Posts: 36 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I quit smoking earlier this year resulting in over eating and gaining weight that I can't seem to shift. I know I need to get more active but I'm finding it so hard with these dark mornings and evenings.

I'm a single parent with a 3, 9 and 10 year old at home and work full time leaving at 7:30am returning at 6pm. The baby rarely goes to bed before me so I need activities that I can manage around my hectic home work life.

Please help me with suggestions. I'm pretty shattered most evenings, have no family nearby to sit for me so it needs to be quick but effective so that I can't keep making excuses

Replies

  • Andia15
    Andia15 Posts: 104 Member
    The Alexis Ren workouts on YouTube are what's working for me. They only take 10 minutes, are hard as hell but seem pretty effective.
  • thisPGHlife
    thisPGHlife Posts: 440 Member
    Why not get the kids involved? Everyone can benefit from a post dinner walk. If it fits into your weekends, it's the perfect time if year for hiking. The nine and ten year old could do yoga with you if they're interested. There are also videos on YouTube that are geared towards adults and kids. There's also calisthenics and body weight fitness you can do. You can use the three year old as a weight and do some lunges and squats!
  • allsturns
    allsturns Posts: 36 Member
    Thanks both, when the weather was better we were going for short walks but they would argue or just want to come back so it actually got pretty frustrating so I have no chance of getting them out now it's colder.
    I'll give the YouTube videos a try as I could possibly do those before I get them up in the morning. Trying to do anything after work is exhausting as by the time I've cooked tea cleaned and got them bathed I'm ready to lose myself in a book and put my head down for the evening
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    edited October 2018
    Dumb question maybe... but if finding time/energy to workout is that challenging, can you focus more on your eating/intake?

    Also, "quick" and "effective" rarely go well together.
  • allsturns
    allsturns Posts: 36 Member
    edited October 2018
    I'm eating 1400 calories per day, all the weight is on my tummy, I'm actually thinking of seeing my gp as it doesn't seem to budge but wanted to try everything first
  • allsturns
    allsturns Posts: 36 Member
    Thanks AnnPT77 there's no doubt I want to get fitter now, for too long I couldn't because I was a smoker and that hindered progress, now my weight gets me out of breath!
    I'm just fed up of making excuses for why I can't do something. I need to find what motivates me to get up at 5 instead of 5:30, with results so slow it's a hard sell to myself. Does that make sense?
  • huntersvonnegut
    huntersvonnegut Posts: 1,177 Member
    edited October 2018
    Wish I could help with your motivation issue. You just have to make the effort to start the habit and hopefully sooner rather than later it will be one habit that you don’t want to break. But speaking of breaking habits, congratulations on quitting smoking. Probably even more important then having a flatter stomach. Just keep trying and you’ll get there.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    allsturns wrote: »
    I need to find what motivates me to get up at 5 instead of 5:30, with results so slow it's a hard sell to myself. Does that make sense?

    In addition to what everyone else has said, some of this is probably going to be how to make it easier for you to get up at 5 instead of 5:30. In my case, I know if it's very cold in my room I'm not going to want to get out of bed. This is a bit difficult to square because I prefer sleeping in a cold room so it's finding that happy medium. Ideas like sleeping in my workout clothes aren't going to work if don't want to get out of bed. It would also end in poor sleep given a. half of the types of clothes I "workout" in (who wants to sleep in bibshorts/cycling shorts? Not me in most situations) and b. my typical sleeping attire or lack thereof.
  • allsturns
    allsturns Posts: 36 Member
    Thanks so much everybody, alarm is set for half hour earlier, just hope I find the same motivation that pushed me to create this post first thing tomorrow morning
  • chriswatts1965
    chriswatts1965 Posts: 1 Member
    If I am too short of time for a full workout, but want to get my heart pumping and a sweat on, I use the "7 Minute Workout" App on my phone. Work out at home, no equipment needed. I'm reasonably fit, so I do two such workouts in a row. The App offers various workouts eg for fat-loss or to focus on particular body parts, all 7 mins. I love it!
  • thisPGHlife
    thisPGHlife Posts: 440 Member
    To add on, sometimes just getting started is the hardest part. Tell yourself, "I'll just do ten minutes." Then you can feel free to stop or keep going. Worst case scenario is you stop after ten minutes and you've done ten more minutes if exercising than you would have. But, you may just feel like continuing. @AnnPT77 is dead on with getting your blood moving.

    Also, it's important to increase slowly so you don't burn out. Once you do get into the swing of things, make sure to find activities you enjoy. You're not going to continue to exercise if it feels like a chore. If you really like dancing, maybe try Zumba or having impromptu dance parties. Even with exercises you like it can still be a struggle sometimes.

    I also agree with checking your logging. Not just making sure there hasn't been accidental portion creep but also making sure that 1400 is correct for you. Is your deficit too small or too large for where you're at in your journey? Have you been in a deficit for 8 months and maybe need a diet break for a week? Heck, maybe take a diet break for three days just to have one less thing to stress about. (Not to imply you should have a free for all, but eating at maintenance can reduce the stress of having to make sure you're in a deficit.)
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,162 Member
    allsturns wrote: »
    Thanks AnnPT77 there's no doubt I want to get fitter now, for too long I couldn't because I was a smoker and that hindered progress, now my weight gets me out of breath!
    I'm just fed up of making excuses for why I can't do something. I need to find what motivates me to get up at 5 instead of 5:30, with results so slow it's a hard sell to myself. Does that make sense?

    IMO, the motivational magic is finding something that is so much fun you'd do it even if it weren't good for you. I know that, in itself, isn't necessarily easy. But maybe trying to think of yourself as trying things until you find something fun to do is a more affirmative way of thinking about it. (Some of the things in this and other exercise threads about "grinding away" and "discipline" make me feel a little discouraged just reading them, and I'm one of the lucky ones who found her fun).

    Another thing to think about: If your chief objective is calorie burn, you may be overlooking a good option. For many/most of us, the single greatest calorie burn comes from our resting metabolic rate (RMR), the calories we'd burn just being alive lying in bed all day. Second biggest calorie burn is non-exercise activity, the things we do in daily life like chores, non-exercise hobbies, errands, our jobs, playing with the kids, etc. Exercise, for most of us, is third, dwarfed by that combination of RMR and non-exercise acitivities (those two together are called Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT), BTW).

    If your goal is weight loss, you might want to give some thought to working on increasing your NEAT, alongside trying to find a fun/manageable way to exercise. NEAT increases usually aren't a huge fitness contributor (they help a little), but they can be significant calories. Here's a thread about increasing NEAT as a weight-loss adjunct:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss

    So: Turn on some music and dance while cooking, add some "unnecessary, inefficient" ( ;) ) movement to your cleaning, walk to the furthest restroom at work, walk during your breaks, etc.

    Best wishes!

  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    allsturns wrote: »
    Thanks AnnPT77 there's no doubt I want to get fitter now, for too long I couldn't because I was a smoker and that hindered progress, now my weight gets me out of breath!
    I'm just fed up of making excuses for why I can't do something. I need to find what motivates me to get up at 5 instead of 5:30, with results so slow it's a hard sell to myself. Does that make sense?

    ^^ This (bold) IS your motivation. You just need a plan to do it, preferably in small steps that you can manage with your hectic life.
    Have you set up your stats in MFP? Do you weigh ALL your food on a food scale and log it? You could open up your diary and ask for feedback. We have some folks here who are very skilled at reviewing diaries and identifying logging issues. Unless you are very short with little to lose, you should be losing on 1400 if logged accurately. I focus on this because managing intake will help with weight loss, and if you see a little loss I think you will feel more encouraged to work in the fitness part.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    aokoye wrote: »
    allsturns wrote: »
    I need to find what motivates me to get up at 5 instead of 5:30, with results so slow it's a hard sell to myself. Does that make sense?

    In addition to what everyone else has said, some of this is probably going to be how to make it easier for you to get up at 5 instead of 5:30. In my case, I know if it's very cold in my room I'm not going to want to get out of bed. This is a bit difficult to square because I prefer sleeping in a cold room so it's finding that happy medium. Ideas like sleeping in my workout clothes aren't going to work if don't want to get out of bed. It would also end in poor sleep given a. half of the types of clothes I "workout" in (who wants to sleep in bibshorts/cycling shorts? Not me in most situations) and b. my typical sleeping attire or lack thereof.

    You don't have to sleep in your workout clothes. Just have them laid out ready to go. You could even keep them next to your bed and get dressed in bed like we did when we were kids.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    edited October 2018
    lorrpb wrote: »
    aokoye wrote: »
    allsturns wrote: »
    I need to find what motivates me to get up at 5 instead of 5:30, with results so slow it's a hard sell to myself. Does that make sense?

    In addition to what everyone else has said, some of this is probably going to be how to make it easier for you to get up at 5 instead of 5:30. In my case, I know if it's very cold in my room I'm not going to want to get out of bed. This is a bit difficult to square because I prefer sleeping in a cold room so it's finding that happy medium. Ideas like sleeping in my workout clothes aren't going to work if don't want to get out of bed. It would also end in poor sleep given a. half of the types of clothes I "workout" in (who wants to sleep in bibshorts/cycling shorts? Not me in most situations) and b. my typical sleeping attire or lack thereof.

    You don't have to sleep in your workout clothes. Just have them laid out ready to go. You could even keep them next to your bed and get dressed in bed like we did when we were kids.

    Oh I'm well aware of this. It isn't super uncommon that I'll have my clothes next to the bed, as was the case this morning. It also isn't uncommon for me to have everything packed and ready to go and my clothes near my bed so I don't have to waste time getting everything to go - it's just there. There are definitely people on MFP (among other places), however, who advocate sleeping in your workout clothes as a method of taking down a barrier to working out early in the morning. It was mentioned this morning in the most recent "Morning Workouts" thread. That clearly works for some people, it just doesn't work for me.
  • 2baninja
    2baninja Posts: 518 Member
    What is your job? How long a lunch/breaks do you get? Can you eat lunch at your desk "on the clock" and go for a walk or go to the gym at lunch? Maybe park your car a mile from work and walk that mile to/from work? or get off the train at an earlier stop? Ride your bike to work?
  • shrinkingletters
    shrinkingletters Posts: 1,008 Member
    I'm full of excuses, myself. You can't get my butt to wake up any earlier than I do already, and once I'm home, I'm starving (45 minute drive from work to home: I get home at 7 and my last snack is usually at 4:30 or 5), so all I wanna do is cook dinner and then crash.

    My solution is to find ways to exercise at work. At my old job, I only had a half hour lunch, so I would spend that time power walking or accessing the stairs in my building, and I would squeeze in a quick wrap or sandwich on my way back. If you have 15 minute breaks and a lunch, this is the way to go. Now that I have an hour lunch and my gym is down the block from my office, I rush my butt over there and get in a solid half hour work out before I have to rush back to work, where I usually scarf down a salad at my desk while I work. I have NO excuse to miss this. What else am I going to do on my lunch? Sit. Eat. Gossip. Maybe shop? Ultimately I'm saving$ and avoiding getting caught up in office gossip, at worst, and getting a solid workout in at best.

    Find any moment, I promise you have some. Tonight while my chicken marinates, I'll spend that 1/2 hr either walking or doing some kind of simple at-home workout.

    Ultimately it'll come down to when you feel sick and tired of your own excuses and evaluate what you really want, honestly.
  • allsturns
    allsturns Posts: 36 Member
    So I got up earlier this morning and hit my first hurdle, couldn't find a video quickly and gave up that idea. I then downloaded the 7min workout app but found that really hard to follow as wasn't sure when I was meant to move onto the next rep 🤔 all was not lost however as I did manage a whole 5 mins on my stationary bike. Hey it's 5 mins more activity than I would have done right?!
    I'm a manager in an office so my work is very high stress and I'm already eating at my desk with no time to take a lunch break to get my work done. Sadly the option of riding or walking to work is out to as I have to drop and collect kids from the child minder so there's no additional time either side of my Day, my childcare costs are over £16k a year already
    I'll keep at this for a bit longer and maybe try watching the 7min app to see how it works as 7 mins sounds perfect for me 👍
    I think you are right though, it's the lack of any visual change that's getting to me mostly, 1400 calories sucks if you can't still fit into your clothes from a few months ago
  • kdbulger
    kdbulger Posts: 396 Member
    edited October 2018
    Here is the thing - depending on the culture of your office, realistically taking 20-45 minutes three "lunch hours" a week is not going to seriously impact your work flow. Indeed, you might find you are MORE productive on the days you exercise. If you're not going to get in trouble or be looked down upon, I really encourage you to make the time FOR YOURSELF. Be an agent of change for you and for your colleagues that says it is okay to care for our bodies' needs during the day.

    Sincerely, a former HR employee who would never begrudge my employees their legally protected lunch breaks and who uses her lunch hours to exercise.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    If you had the same high pressure job when you smoked did you take smoke breaks?
    Maybe you could take "walk the stairs" breaks.

    Something to think about.... if someone you managed was having the same issue of being too time pressured to take a proper break would you intervene or let it continue with a possible detriment to their well being?

    BTW.
    A lot of people track measurements using a tape measure and take progress pictures, it's really hard to look in the mirror and see changes as they tend to be very incremental and subtle, especially early on.

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