Do I have time to exercise or am I being lazy?

[Mindful86]

In need of some critical advise here…
I have put on a tonne of weight and desperately need to shift some asap. We have a Peloton tread that’s gathering dust in the garage but I just can’t find the time to use it. This is my Mon-Fri schedule:
5.45am wake up, shower, get ready for work, feed cats, get 4 year old up and ready for school
6.50-6.55am leave for work/school (I work at DDs school)
7.45 start work/school breakfast club
4-4.15pm finish work/school
5-5.15pm get home, sort out cats, clean, make DDs dinner
6pm bath time
6.45pm upstairs for bed
7.15pm other half is home, I cook dinner
7.45pmish eat dinner then clear up
8.15-8.30pm finally sit down
10pm bed

Can I find time somewhere other than getting up at 5am? I’m at a loss with how other mums do it!!

Exercise doesnt need to be long. Especially at the beggining you can fit some 5min workouts

Are you close to a swimming pool. I used to swim 9-10pm when my day looked similar.

Exercise is great but doesn’t make a massive impact on weight loss. Diet is much more important for that.

How old is DD? I have a not too dissimilar to you in the week. I tend to do a 20 minute Joe Wicks on YouTube after I’ve my kids home from school (reception and year 3). I get them set up with snacks and drinks any do it in another room. I cook quick stuff on the days I exercise to allow the time. Also exercise intensively for an hour on each weekend day. You can fit it in if you really want. Focus on calories too and significantly reduce what’s going in.

I exercise in the evenings when the DC are in bed. I do YouTube workouts/ weights. Caroline Girvan workouts are good.

Can you not park further away from school/work and walk a bit more?

Can you stand more at work, i.e. standing instead of sitting? Maybe ask for a standing desk if admin role?

Every little helps. Being a little bit more active throughout the day is better than trying to squeeze in an hour of "proper" exercise.

@DailyEnergyCrisis shes 4. She’s still at the age where she wants my full attention when we get home. A 20 minute YouTube workout sounds like a good plan though

6.45pm upstairs for bed
7.15pm other half is home, I cook dinner
7.45pmish eat dinner then clear up

Your partner could cook when he gets back and you eat around 20.00 (you can then workout whilst he cooks).

For three nights a week you could easily have something quick to reheat, or a tray bake dinner, even a jacket potato.

I don’t like to eat before exercise, but it looks like you have from 19.15 free onwards so there is loads of time to workout and cook and eat dinner.

Im the cook in our house (my husband cleans up after and does bed and bath time), but I tend to work out at 19.30 whilst he finishes up some work and then I cook around 20.30. You can prep food with your child earlier (I do this with my toddler on Fridays as I’m home earlier that day), or you might be lucky enough to have an older child who can entertain themselves!!

Alarm, 5:15, do a ten min HIIT on the peloton, shower, then straight into your normal schedule.

Do this every other day.

Build up to every day once You have every other day established.

I always find exercising helps me stick to mindful eating - so although diet matters, giving your body the exercise it wants will help with those choices IME.

-Alternate eating with DP and eating with DC. The go out and exercise when DH is home and he eats alone.
-DC doesn't need a bath every night. Use this time to work out. When my kids were younger I'd do a workout while they were watching TV (now I can leave them downstairs alone while I do yoga upstairs).
-Start going for a walk or exercise straight after having dinner with DH.
-Fit in a workout before dinner with DH (something in the oven that you made when making DC's dinner or something batch cooked out the freezer warming up). If I wanted to run/cycle I'd do this.

There are options for the evening. (wild horses couldn't get me up before 6am to exercise!)
But as PP said, losing weight is way more about food/diet than about movement so focus on that first.

Start with the weekends - do a workout every weekend, build that habit. Then add a second workout at the weekend. Then think about where you can find 15 mins x 2 on week days to do a YouTube strength workout.

I totally get this

I do not know where people get time to do exercise

Im trying to do walking but it takes me an hour to do 3 miles, and thats not even the number of steps you're meant to do in a day apparently

I find it really difficult to fit that in in between to and from work, work, dinner, bed time, housework, relaxing etc etc.

As for the person that walks everywhere, how on earth is there time to do that?

I have a similar schedule but lone parent.

Hoping to get mine in while ex has child. Can recommend divorce… but if you’re not up for that, the beauty of Peloton is you can do it in tiny bits on your own schedule. Getting up fifteen minutes earlier won’t actually ruin your day that much, but a fifteen minute workout WILL boost your morning.

Do it first thing, as your You Time before daughter wakes up and life gets in the way.

Also: jealous as I lost my Peloton in the divorce and always wanted a tread.

Sounds like you are doing a long bath and bed time every night between 6 and 7:15. And What does DH do between 7:15 and 7:45? Could DD play from 6 to 6:45 you are on the peloton? You put her in the bath at 7 for 15 mins then DP does her bedtime story and snuggle while you make dinner .
Could you batch cook so that dinner prep is 15mins to put on a plate?

When mine were that age, I chose to get up earlier. It's now a routine. It's still hard getting up that early, but I still choose to exercise over not exercise.

I can't exercise after a full day at school. I just don't have the energy.

Do online dumbbell workouts that incorporate loads of HIIT, I do these 3 days a week then walk every day and go to the gym once a week.

If you have forty minutes at home and a small selection of weights you can achieve loads

@LividName we’re not married yet so can dodge the whole divorce scenario!
sounds like you’ve nailed the loan parent thing, wishing you all the best going forward

Cook once or prep yours while doing DD and Dh can finish it off when he comes in ready for you to eat together at 8
or a couple of nights eat separately
you have from 7pm to exercise

I plank every day. Start at 10 seconds or whatever and build up from there. Everyone has a few mins to spare!

Also some YouTube workouts are only 5 mins long. Davina McCall has a great one for beginners but it's 20 mins.

Realistically though it's your diet you need to focus on if you're not a healthy weight.

I am really not very good at finding time to exercise - working full time with two kids, I used to do 6am Sat and Sun. I couldn’t manage weekday slots due to heavy workload and overtime. I regret it!

I agree with pps that cooking twice is a mistake. I only ever properly cook once - I’ve whittled my repertoire down to things that need minimal cooking/heating when dh is home. Usually I eat with the kids - if you did the same then you’d have digested enough to do your exercise once dh is home.

if your dh is out of the house more than 13 hours a day, then it’s hardly your fault there’s no time for quality adult time together!

The peloton 20 min weights workouts are good, 10 min barre and then obviously the tread ones
Even a 10 min stretch makes you feel better

Sorry to be a bit... obvious.
But it's your life, you chose your priorities.
Most have a full on schedule, we're all choosing what to do / what not to do in order to achieve goals we deem to be important to us as individuals.

If you're not finding time to exercise, it's simply because you have a list of priorities and exercise isn't high up enough for you to do.
Sounds simplistic, because it is.

Weight loss is mostly about your diet, not exercise.

Go to bed at 9pm.. Wake up at 5 to exercise

If I was you I would commit to 2-3/week workout after DD is in bed. Utilise a slow cooker, air fryer or batched cooked meals to free up your cooking time for you/DH while
you do this 30 min workout. Top up with a big weekend workout and also, if you can, longer workouts on school holidays if you get those off.