To ask what you do 'around' work?

@thenewaveragebear1983 it just made me laugh when I read it. You’ve obviously got an HR team that believes in common sense!

we had a training at work regarding project management and dealing with the stress of deadlines etc.
the trainer said that even on the worst day do not drop an activity that gives you pleasure.

5 years ago I was fitter and would get up at 6 and do an hour's walk every morning or cycle to allotment and do an hour then go to walk. Then I started lying in bed reading mumsnet instead.

I've got fat and high blood pressure so I've reclaimed my mornings before work and have lost a stone. 2 more to go.

I try and go to the gym 3 mornings a week - wake up at 6 - out to gym by 6.30 and back at 7.30 after a class.

Other mornings I'll either do an hours walk - with a hill and back along by the sea. Or potter around the green house for an hour with a cup of tea.

I like that the exercise so if I go out for an hour with the dog in the evening that's a bonus extra and not my main exercise. As watching a small black dog leap in and out of rivers for an hour isn't great exercise.

I used to work out before work. This means getting up extra early or having a partner who does the kids - my friend and her husband used to do alternate days in the mornings.
Tricky when kids are little but a strict bedtime should give you a few hours in the evening too (when older the kids don't need minding as such). I do craft projects. My husband also played bridge regularly and they'd alternate houses to host.
It's a matter of priority. Think to yourself I want an hour each day just for me then see where you can get it. Then use it - whether it's a long bath, a workout, reading a book. If your child is 16 how about if they cook dinner once a week too?

I work at home a lot and it's very busy and completely full on. I can't do anything around work really because I'm working all the time. Tbh I'm exhausted just reading these posts. Feeling exhausted is a feature if my day to day. Some days I'm too knackered to walk to the recycling bin. If I get chance I do various mundane domestic tasks because DP is too lazy to do them, stuff my face with chocolate digestives and Google houses I would buy if I ever won more than £2.90 on the lottery. My idea of meaningful exercise is to dance round the kitchen to the radio whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. Weekends I generally loll about thinking how tired I am and how, given the shit state this country is in, I will probably have to work forever. However I do read many many books, and I am writing a PhD proposal so I'm not a completely lost cause. I love a walk but the weather is awful here, the lighter nights just means I'm more able to see the torrential rain as it turns my garden into a swamp.

Not really sure what you mean by "around work". The days i work from home, the working hours are full, work wise. I save time not having to commute of course, but that time saved just means shorter hours in childcare for the children rather than spare time for me for hobbies. I usually manage to put on washing early in the morning & take it out at lunch.

In summer if i get a quieter day I try to go for a 45 min walk at lunch time.

But other than that, working from home is very similar to working in the office its just the office is inside my house & the coffee is cheaper.

Weekdays:
usually get home around 6. By the time I've had tea and done a bit of work, or ferried kids,it's around 9. I like to be in bed by 930ish, so I get some reading time before I fall asleep.

I do hit the gym once a Week and do a run after work on another night. Never do anything fun on a school night though.

Weekends: home improvements (not through choice!)
Big run.
Occasionally make kids come somewhere.
Occasionally out with friends if any are about.

Regarding weight / food.

I find it helps enormously if I have a proper ‘weekly shop’ with healthy options. If they’re in the fridge, that’s what I eat.

If I don’t, I make bad impulse choices.

walking, overall, is fantastic.
it's proven to improve mental health which in turn enables you to be more mindful of other health aspects.

but unless you walk fast, get out of breath, squeeze you tummy and bum, will not burn much calories.

Can't say I agree with this. Walking has never helped me with weight loss and I do plenty of it as a non car owner. To lose weight you need to do high intensity or weights. And of course eat well.

Kids activities, 2x a week I do amdrams, 1x a week hubby does Boardgames.
During show week, we tend to “forget” we have kids.
I take half days that week, hubby goes earlier and has his charity days. We arrange to have our children cared for by grandparents and so on, but basically don’t see them, because every single day, they come in, we go out, they go to bed just as I’m stepping onstage, and Dad is secreting himself in a corner with a headset ready to call action.
it’s two weeks a year, and our family thrives on it.

great thing about exercise is that you can't eat during it

in adfition for strenuous exercise you better not eat for a little beforehand and you will not feel hungry until properly cooled down.

@ditzzy I have to start at 8.30 instead of 9 to allow me half an hour to pop out to school (conveniently school is 5 doors down from my house!) - it’s all diarised and agreed with HR!

I disagree about the gym- if you want to lose weight it’s diet and calorie counting (to an extent). You’d be better spending time meal prepping healthy food. However exercise is so beneficial for physical and mental health.

I crochet and knit as my hobbies. I love theatre but logistics mean I don’t go as much as I’d like to.

I run parkrun on a Saturday morning before teen ds is awake, and I run one lunchtime in the week.

I wfh four days a week so usually try to spend another lunchtime pottering in the garden or watering the greenhouse. It's brilliant for stress. Other home days I put washing on before work and then hang it out at lunchtime so no washing at weekends means more relaxing time.

I do a martial arts class at the weekend.

I run/swim/cycle/go for walks/do Pilates and I’m about to upgrade my swimming membership to a full gym one as I miss lifting.

DH is a morning person so he usually takes the early slot for exercise and I’ll use the evenings. If we’ve got a busy evening, he’ll get up at 5 or before to train before I do.

I WFH one day so use my ‘lunch break’ to swim (my job has set hours to some extent but my boss is quite happy for us to take a long lunch and start early/work late).

I try to cycle to work and back (about 25 miles total, off road/mountain biking) once per week.

I have one running club night per week (and DH coaches another evening) but if it doesn’t fit in, I skip it and run another time. I try to do around 3 runs in the week. I often run home from something we do as a family (going swimming or a walk somewhere or whatever) at the weekend.

Pilates is just a hastily squeezed in Move with Nicole YouTube video.

If all else fails and I feel knackered, I just go for a brisk walk after the kids are in bed which is much nicer now it’s getting lighter!

I’m bloody lucky that DH runs a business and does most school and nursery runs.

not much tbh

I go to a sports class with colleagues after work once a week.
exercise on my own or with teens the other day.

my work is very full on, I need down time to recharge myself.
if I didn't exercise I would sit on the sofa eating junk and

I wfh from 0830 to 5 as well - but not one of these mythical wfh jobs where I can do the school run at 3.15 🤣

Sorry, that’s not intended meanly, but your comment really really made me laugh.

We have to pay for after school clubs (still cheaper than commuting!) so that I can wfh without impossible interruptions and I usually still end up having to log off early and go back later in the evening to finish off.

I’m reading this for ideas, I’m trying to get out in the fresh air more at the moment, but still struggling to juggle things to get the free time people are talking about.

I walk the dog
Read
Do puzzles
Quizzes
Watch tv
Listen to podcasts
Visit family
Watch films with family
Play board games together

Occasionally I
Meet friends or adult children for coffee or lunch
Go to comedy shows
Go out for a meal with dh
Go out for a few drinks/dance

Weekday evenings I do a mix of yoga, audiobooks, therapy, pub with DH, occasionally meet friends for a meal.

I freelance around my FT job to pay for “extras” and have complicated caring responsibilities for family members.

Around that, I potter in the garden, try to do one structured exercise class a week, read and go for a quick walk after work everyday. I’m a fan of little and often when it comes to anything needing free time.

I also spend an excessive amount of time overthinking things, which is unproductive and unhealthy. I’m working on this!

Reading

Crafts - at the moment I’m into diamond painting but I also enjoy watercolour painting and cross stitch. It’s very therapeutic and I always listen to a podcast when crafting

I have a 9-5 job, office or wfh.

As DD needs to leave the house at 7.30am, we are all up and running by 7am, have breakfast together and I start on things like laundry, paperwork, puting a bread on, putting dry washing away. Some days I will sit down and read a book.

One hour lunch which I should start using to get out of the house again and then I log off at 5pm, have some me-time before I sort out dinner and do whatever is needed.

DH uses the time before starting work doing Scout stuff (he is a leader) or works on the backlog of paper files we are digitalising.

No.
Walk the dog for an extra walk each day and you will loose weight. That is a much better and cheaper start- 1 hour at the gym could be 1 hour walking the dog. You can do it while waiting for your children at various places ?

I (mostly) stopped watching tv in the evenings, unless we're all watching something together. Instead I go for a walk and listen to a library audio book. I try and move chores around so I get out whenever the weather is half decent. I also try and walk for 20 mins before sitting down to work on wfh days.
I find that being outside in daylight makes a massive difference to my mental health. And I can't snack constantly, which I tend to do when watching tv.