How do I loose weight when I haven't got any spare time to exercise ?

[curlyclaz13]

I need to loose weight, around 1 1/2 stone at least. Ds is 20 months old and a year ago I returned to work but have put around a stone back on since (pre baby weight now). I work full time and have no time to go to the gym/run/exercise. (My day consists of up at 6.30 am, get showered and get lunch ready for me and DP while he gets DS ready for nursery, leave house at 7.45. Get home at 6.30, do dinner bath and bed with Ds and finally get time to sit down at around 8.30 pm) I need some quick and easy meals that I can cook for three of us that will fill me up so I don't snack in the evening and lunch ideas as I have fallen back into sandwich/crisps/chocolate everyday and tend to have chocolate or biscuits once DS is in bed. Can't afford to join a gym so any exercise I somehow can find the time to fit in needs to be free !

Stop buying chocolate, crisps and biscuits, for a start. If they're in the house you'll eat them.

Protein is filling. The correct portion size is the same size as the palm of your hand.

And my best tip for losing weight - only eat protein + veg at dinner time. No carbs and no dessert or sweet treats afterwards. It will be hard the first few nights as you're currently conditioned to munch on sweet things after dinner, but if you can distract yourself or just be determined for a few nights you'll break the habit.

And have more sex - its great for burning calories!

Try MuTu - you can get an app, the workouts are incredibly short and on your phone.

6 minutes in the morning before your shower is enough to make a difference, especially if you can fit in something a bit longer at the weekends.

Have no rubbish in the house, none at all. Online shop so you can't sneak things in your trolley. Plan everything you are going to eat the night before.

I wouldn't get too hung up on exercise though - it's great for toning, weights especially, but losing weight is more about food intake, I'd focus on that first. Once that's sorted, do an exercise DVD if nothing else - loads of free ones on YouTube, or get 30 Day Shred or Davina's 15 min/7 min workouts.

Up your water intake during the day, don't snack on chocolate crisps and biscuits (that's where your extra calories are coming from), build exercise into your daily life (walk where poss, take the stairs etc) and in the evening when DS is down, do a quick 30 minute work out a couple of times a week (you can even find the shred on youtube so free to access). At the weekend, let DS and DH have some quality time and go for a run/walk - its free and out doors. Also check the ourparks website to see if they have free group exercise sessions in a park near you - the one nearest to us does a free box fit exercise class on a Sunday morning which looks good.

I've lost a stone and a half in the last 8 weeks (about another half a stone to go) just by healthy eating, which for me, with a sedentary desk job, means a low carb diet. I haven't done any exercise.

Can you go to a couple of gym classes at weekends?
Or even most gyms have classes until around 9.00pm most evenings, and stay open until 10.00pm. A late evening swim a couple of times a week?
How about a brisk 30 min walk every lunchtime?
Now the evenings are getting lighter you could perhaps go for a 20 min jog before preparing dinner while your DH gets your DC ready for bed. You could make a simple meal, salad, fish jacket potato etc, really quick to prepare & use the time to exercise.
If it rains an exercise DVD for the same amount of time.
Yes it's hard but the effort will be worth it :) good luck.

I have a similar problem with finding time for exercise so I got a fit bit which is great for motivating me to move more. I am sure a cheap pedometer would do the same - I don't think there is anything special about the fit bit!

I aim for 10,000 steps a day which means I have to walk into town every lunchtime, run on the spot during breakfast time and bath time and LOTS of walking to the photocopier!

I have successfully changed breakfast and lunch to be healthier but I am struggling with the evening meal. Even changing those 2 meals and moving more and I have lost weight!

You've basically got exactly the same schedule as me.

It's so hard fitting exercise in, I keep promising myself I'll go to spinning but instead I just end up crashing on the sofa and falling asleep!

My tips are : batch cook at weekend for lunches and quick suppers, try and incorporate exercise into your day, have a walk at lunch time, and do activities at weekend such as going to the park etc.

Also, don't have treats in the house, and reduce pasta and bread, makes a massive difference!

You've basically got exactly the same schedule as me.

It's so hard fitting exercise in, I keep promising myself I'll go to spinning but instead I just end up crashing on the sofa and falling asleep!

My tips are : batch cook at weekend for lunches and quick suppers, try and incorporate exercise into your day, have a walk at lunch time, and do activities at weekend such as going to the park etc.

Also, don't have treats in the house, and reduce pasta and bread, makes a massive difference!

You've basically got exactly the same schedule as me.

It's so hard fitting exercise in, I keep promising myself I'll go to spinning but instead I just end up crashing on the sofa and falling asleep!

My tips are : batch cook at weekend for lunches and quick suppers, try and incorporate exercise into your day, have a walk at lunch time, and do activities at weekend such as going to the park etc.

Also, don't have treats in the house, and reduce pasta and bread, makes a massive difference!

You've basically got exactly the same schedule as me.

It's so hard fitting exercise in, I keep promising myself I'll go to spinning but instead I just end up crashing on the sofa and falling asleep!

My tips are : batch cook at weekend for lunches and quick suppers, try and incorporate exercise into your day, have a walk at lunch time, and do activities at weekend such as going to the park etc.

Also, don't have treats in the house, and reduce pasta and bread, makes a massive difference!

You've basically got exactly the same schedule as me.

It's so hard fitting exercise in, I keep promising myself I'll go to spinning but instead I just end up crashing on the sofa and falling asleep!

My tips are : batch cook at weekend for lunches and quick suppers, try and incorporate exercise into your day, have a walk at lunch time, and do activities at weekend such as going to the park etc.

Also, don't have treats in the house, and reduce pasta and bread, makes a massive difference!

Sorry for the repeat posts!

Exercise is only about 10% of weight loss.
The other 90% is eating less

How do you get to work?
Could you build some walking or cycling into your commute?
Do you get no time away from your desk all day?
Can you eat lunch at your desk and go for a walk at lunchtime instead?
Do you have 2 days off a week, and could you go for an hour walk each of those days?

Get a lift to work but not really possible to get dropped earlier and walk because of nursery times. Can go for a walk at lunch time though. Two days with no chocolate this week, not much but a start! Now the weather is improving hopefully I can get out on my days off for a walk but Ds wants to walk quite a lot so probably won't be far or very quick!

You have the same schedule as me.

I run two or three times a week in my lunch break (four or five miles) and also run home from work most nights. On days when I'm workig further afield I get the bus til I'm around two miles away from home, and sprint from there.

I do bodyweight stuff in the evenings (plank, sit ups, push ups) when I can be bothered, and try to do a long run and a gym class every weekend.

It's just about making the most of the time you do have - your schedule is very normal for most working people and there's loads of time there to exercise, if you want to.

Good luck.

I agree with the poster who said weightloss is more about diet than exercise. Don't have the snacks in the house. Have a close look at your portion sizes. Eat plenty of protein to fill you up.

Just stop eating biscuits, crisps and chocolate.
If you need to snack take carrot and celery sticks to work and bags of sunflower seeds.

It's true that losing weight is about 80% diet and 20% exercise. This means you should be able to start losing the excess weight by eating more healthily.

But, once you've lost the weight, maintaining it does rely on exercise. People tend to eat quite restrictively when losing weight as it becomes quite rewarding to see the scales change and the inches go. Then you reach goal weight and the restrictive diet becomes harder and harder. Old habits die hard and there's a reason more people regain the weight than keep it off. This is one very good reason why exercise is good because exercise tends to keep the weight off.

Exercise will also help with your health, well being, positivity, mental health, motivation, energy levels, sleep etc.

Everybody can fit exercise in. Whether it's getting up earlier and fitting in a short DVD, doing a DVD in an evening, going to a gym in an evening or at weekends, cycling to work, parking further from work and jogging in, using your lunch break, taking up a new hobby, walking, swimming, dancing, climbing, hiking, chasing the dc round a park/pool/forest. The possibilities are endless.

Is there any exercise you particularly fancy?

Don't buy snacks or do any dessert. How has it become the norm to give babies thru to toddlers dessert anyway?

No potatoes or carbs with dinner. Substitute lots of veg - swede is good pot substitute with lower calories/carbs, you can us cauliflower as rice.

I have a skipping rope lying around. Was building up stamina but then got the lergi so need to get back into it. But it's good fun and very fast exercise! Just do a couple of minutes every now and then as you're on your way between jobs!

Get up,earlier and do an exercise DVD

Don't do low fat products. They usually have more carbs.

I always thought low carb was another faddy diet but it really does help to stop u feeling hungry.