How do I fit exercise in my daily routine?

[Halfling]

Please can I ask for some advise and help. I am 43 yo, with two DS (8 and 14 yo). My DH travels a lot for work and I am in a senior high pressure role myself. I have never really exercised previously in my life.

Due to a variety of health issues (obesity, pre diabetes, hormonal imbalance, knee pain) I have been asked by my GP to exercise.

I grew up outside of UK in a country where physical sports and outdoor activities for girls were discouraged, so never really built up an exercise routine or went to gym, pool etc.

I don't have the time or motivation to go to gym due to really long hours at work and DH working away. I try to do some yoga and cardio from YouTube but always end up skipping exercise on most days. Life seems such an endless cycle of work, chores, parenting that I really don't know how other people manage to train for marathons and work out regularly. How do they find the time

Has anyone been like me previously and has now gone on to incorporate regular exercise in their lifestyle? What has helped you to stay motivated? Will really be grateful for any tips and pointers. Thank you.

I'm a LP and really struggle with finding time / motivation etc. Recently bought an airwalker / cross trainer thing that lives at home and try to do just a few mins a day to create a habit. It doesn't matter if I do less than a minute the key is that I do it daily to get the habit going. Invariably I do 10-15 mins and some days I only manage 1 minute. But it keeps me going. I also make sure I have something good to watch on the ipad while I am doing it, something I enjoy! An episode or a short youtube video or something to look forwards to. It has made a huge difference. And once I had that habit going I have now added 1 min of weights to that daily work out - dumbbells next to the machine to use. Same thing - 1 min a day only is the target which makes it completely achievable even on bad days! Somehow it's working.

Also - having the cross trainer at home means no special trip to the gym required, it's always there. It is big / bulky but there's a compromise and it's much more motivating to have it close by than to have to go out in the rain on a Sunday / day off / when it's dark or cold.

What about weekends?

Just reread your most recent post.

Ironically as I'm posting from bed, the best thing you could do for your health is go on a screen diet. Stop using it at say 11pm each night and you might find you start sleeping better.

The other big tip I got is make it a daily habit. Otherwise it’s too easy to say I’ll do it tomorrow

6am strength and condition ing classes
small group 5 people per trainer

Home by 7am

3 times a week

Hate the early starts, love the feeling after

Sleep better, feel better, live better

Exactly that. You hate having to kick yourself out of bed. But the dopamine hit is worth it. I’m really unsporty and dreadfully uncoordinated. But I love the way I feel when I hit a goal. Goals are important - factor them in!

@Halfling starting this thread means you’re already on the journey. Well done! I’ve not had time TRTWT, so apologies if I repeat advice from pps. I would say that if you’re at the point of being told to make changes by your GP, then you owe it to yourself and your family to take that seriously. A 20 min walk is a good thing, and it’s great you feel better, but that’s not going to be enough to move the dial. You need to find a way to commit a proper amount of time on a regular basis, and it won’t be easy (at least to begin with), because all of it will be time and energy that you were putting into other things already.

Despite growing up in this country, I also come from a background in which women & girls didn’t exercise, and in which physical activity in general was not held to be a good thing, so I totally get it. It’s taken me years to change my mindset, and I’d still rather curl up with a book and a cup of tea than go to the gym, given the choice. I just don’t give myself the choice!

And don’t worry about finding something you love. If you do, that’s great. For me, I can’t stand swimming (I get bored and have long hair that’s a nightmare to wash and dry), I can’t run (dodgy knees), and don’t want to do team sports. So I go to the gym, nearly every day. To begin with I tried nearly every class, and found that I almost enjoyed some of them, so I kept going. Even better, people were way friendlier than I expected which made the whole thing nicer. Then I had a few personal trainer sessions to start getting to grips with the equipment. Now, it’s 3 years later, and it’s just a part of my life. It took time, I didn’t love it to begin with, but I miss it like mad now if I can’t go for a few days. And I look and feel better than I have in years! Good luck

I'm sorry I haven't read the full thread so may have already been suggested but what worked for me was having a friend that I would go to the gym & walks with, that way I stuck to it as I didn't like letting her down, so even when I was tired etc I made the effort to go and always felt much better for it

Start with weekends - do an hour at gym on say Saturday

Problem is if you try and fit it in during the week at first you will fail and then feel more hopeless

Start with something you will definitely achieve and go from there

OP, our lifestyles sound similar. a few things have helped me. 1. a running machine at home. Game changer, DH went on and on about one until I gave in. Means I can do 20 minutes any weather and don't need childcare. Sometimes the DC do interupt, but 90% of the time I'll get a 20 minute uninterrupted run. 2. Start small.I started paying attention to my fitness again 3 years ago. I aimed for 20 minutes. That was and is doable. I can carve 20 minutes out of my day almost any day. 30 minutes is harder, an hour harder still, a class almost impossible - 15 mins there and 15 minutes back....I don't have 90 minutes spare most, or almost any day. 3. Get a personal trainer. Havings aid don't go to a class - I found a PT within 2 minutes walk of my house. Once a week I have a PT class. Keeps me accountable.
Good luck.

I really like Les mIlls at home. Huge range of exercise classes, good value especially if you subscribe for a year, and they usually have a free trial. Some classes are very short. My favourites are Combat and Core.

If you are new to exercise, do the introductory ones to each class several times until you have got the hang of them.

Get a litter picker and get some steps in with a podcast or radio on. This won't be fast but it will keep you moving and get fresh air too.
Brisk walking at lunch.

Thought of you this morning OP. I was dropping DS off to the gym early so normally I'd walk into the office after, but I have something to do that is better done at home with concentration which I'm avoiding doing atm. But I still decided I wanted to do something, so squeezed in a 2km run before I came home. It's only about 15 minutes, but at least it's something and makes me feel more lively for the day.

Have you got space for a little gym in your home? I put one in my garage and its amazing for time saving sessions. I dont have time for multiple sessions per day every day of the week. But i do have time for 1.30hr 3 x per week and that is enough to do something productive and life enhancing. I do freeweights and have lost 10kg in last 3 months and i havent done a single cardio exercise. You dont have to be experienced. I couldnt squat to begin with and it took me 3 weeks without any weights just to get my squat correct.

You dont even need a PT. There are hundreds/thousands of workouts on line. Get a PT for an hour or so to check your form and then get to it. If you are worried then get one in from time to time to recheck form but otherwise you dont have to have a PT.

You have to be motivated to use it, but i put my music on full blast, exercise and get some time to myself.

To be honest, if you have been diagnosed with obesity and pre-diabetes I think that exercise is a necessity rather than optional! You need to carve out two sessions a week and give it the same priority that you would give a doctor’s appointment. If that means getting a babysitter for the DC well just do that. I find that booking and paying for a class/PT session effective as you are less likely to pull out at the last minute. Give it the same importance that you give to getting the DC to school or their activities. Your own health and well-being is not an indulgence!

My kids both do a martial arts class and the dojang runs a "family class" once a week where parents and kids are taught together - is there something like that near you?

It's got to be about the little wins to begin with, don't force yourself to exercise every day - start out with twice a week of moderate exercise and focus on just walking on the other days.

Get a step tracker so that you can set yourself some goals.

Do you/your DH have health insurance via your job? My company use Vitality and they offer loads of incentives for hitting step goals every week. Currently, as long as I hit my points target, I am getting: free Amazon Prime; 1 free cinema ticket every fortnight (their expiry dates overlap so we use both together); free coffee/hot drink once a week from Cafe Nero; Rakuten codes once a fortnight; and monthly cashback at Waitrose. I can also get discounts off gym membership, sportswear, bikes, etc. It's definitely worth looking into as those benefits added together are probably worth about £40 per month.

I started going on very long walks during Covid. I put my alarm at 5, had a cup of coffee and walked for 5 miles whilst listening to a podcast. It took me 1 hour.
Now I am back at the gym, again at 5.20 . Time to get up and have a coffee.
Find a podcast you like that lasts for at least 1 hour, put your shoes on and walk. Bonus if there are hills.

I work from home and get in 6 miles a day on my homemade treadmill desk. I don't even notice that I've walked that far during the 3 or 4 thirty minute sessions I do every morning while completing admin and writing tasks.

It's been a complete game changer as I don't need to carve out additional time. TBH any additional walking you can do, plus some simple weight training every time you put the kettle on (if you're at home) would be good as long as you adapt your diet too. Very hard to do enough exercise to stave off diabetes without an eye primarily on diet. You can't outrun your fork!

Good luck. 💪

You change jobs and do one that allows you time for exercise. Your health is far more important than your job.

You don't need to do as much as people are saying on here, just fit in lots of walking and a couple of yoga classes. If you need to lose weight, change your diet, as exercise will not help.

I resuscitate children for a living. I have to tell the parents if I fail.

I’m going to say that’s a high stress job.

In the end I got a trainer. Twice a week initially, now three times. The only way for me was to pay for it and then I felt obliged to turn up so I didn’t let him down.

walked for 5 miles whilst listening to a podcast. It took me 1 hour.

Realistically, I don't think many people can walk at 5mph. 4mph would be about my top walking speed before I'd have to break into a trot.
We typically do about that distance (though at the moment my mileage has fallen off a cliff because DH has hurt his foot) but it takes us longer than an hour.

This is a bit random but I listened to a podcast last year all about people who do running streaks. I'd never heard of it so googled it. Basically its a run (or walk) of at least a mile per day every day for as long as you can. One mile takes me around 10 minutes so I decided that if I couldn't dedicate at 10mins a day to exercise there's something wrong. Now some days 10 minutes is all I do, but other days do a lot more. I work full time and so does my husband and we have a 3 and 5 year old so often it means getting up at 4.30am as we leave for work at 6.45am. But it has become a habit and something I have to do so am pleased it's been over a year now. Have a marathon in a few weeks now! Start small!

Could you do a workout from the FIIT app while the kids do homework? There are 25 minute ones too.