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!!

But he gets to rest when he gets home whilst you keep scurrying about working. Stop thinking of paid work hours being different from home work hours.

You are NOT being lazy! Instead, I’d say you’re exhausted.
that is not an attractive timetable. There’s no real relaxation time, apart from last thing. How’s your diet? I’d start with that. If it’s full of sugary crap, it’s probably making you feel worse (even if it tastes good in the short term!)

in terms of when, I’d also start really small! Like 3 mins star jumps while you wait for say the coffee to brew!

in time, I’d move the equipment into lounge as pp said and work out while ear hung tv or whatever.

id also give yourself a break, full time job plus small kid is extremely hard. It gets easier!!

final recommendation, also as per pp I think, is - if you want to fit in exercise - I advise first thing, while you have the willpower! This cld mean waking up 20 mins earlier, inevitably going to bed a bit earlier too if you have to. Also involve husband in cooking, so it’s not all “on you”… honestly, your schedule is exhausting!

Watching Tv, not eat hug!

try again. Watching tv, not Ear hung.. give up! Good luck op.

I would try and get out for a walk at lunchtime from work, do half an hour of yoga two evenings a week and try and get out for a walk and/or one exercise class at the weekend. With a very busy schedule loads of high impact exercise will do more harm than good, raising cortisol levels and increasing stress and illness, and I'd focus on the restorative and holistic side and fitting it into your day, increasing steps, and getting your parasympathetic nervous system going to help sleep and rest.

For losing weight you need to focus on getting a good night's sleep and then diet.

Adriene Mischler on YouTube is very good for short yoga sessions and you can see them by time. Here is a Yoga for Teachers session! (30 minutes)

x

Firstly, be reassured that diet is the most important factor in weight loss. (Up to 95% of weight loss is via diet, compared with only 5% for exercise, according to Dr Jason Fung).

But second, where is your DP in all of this? Are you guilty of being a bit martyrish? You say he's up early and out - but really? Up before you at 5.45?!

He can see to the cats and your DD while you have 20 minutes on the Peleton, surely?

He can also cook dinner when he comes home - doesn't need to be anything gourmet, does it? - or at the very least, do the clearing up while you have another 20 minutes, if not more.

I go to the gym really early Sunday morning, I am usually back before everyone else is awake. It's a slog dragging myself up but usually feel better for it.

Think a pp has mentioned this but could you try to incorporate exercise into your day - walk instead drive or get off the bus a couple of stops earlier, stairs not lift, stand / walk whilst making phone calls etc.

I realise it's hard though, I'm in a similar position to you.

This is how I'd tweak your day, @Mindful86

5.45am wake up, ten minutes HIIT on Peleton, shower, get ready for work, get 4 year old up and ready for school. DH feeds cats and supervises DD if/where necessary till he leaves
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 the dinner for all of us - putting mine/DH's portion in the fridge for later
6pm bath time
6.45pm upstairs for bed
7.15pm other half is home, he cooks dinner if not made earlier, and I have 30 minutes on the Peloton
7.45pmish eat dinner then we clear up
8.15-8.30pm finally sit down
10pm bed

Why are you getting up so early if you don't start work until 7.45? I would be absolutely knackered with that schedule, and certainly wouldn't find time to exercise. Do you and your DH both have ridiculous commutes?

You say your motivation for exercise is weight loss however 90% of weight loss is diet so I would focus on this first.

During the week I would try to do exercise snacking e.g. when you wake up and before bed spend 10 minutes doing 50 squats and planks/press ups, during the day always take the stairs, don't sit for longer than 30 minutes without moving, try soleus push ups when sitting etc
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/54mscpFxdQWZMk6jZbq3cWb/don-t-worry-about-going-to-the-gym-shorter-bursts-of-exercise-could-be-better-for-you

At the weekends try to fit in 2 longer sessions preferably including weights.

Why are you getting up so early if you don't start work until 7.45? I would be absolutely knackered with that schedule, and certainly wouldn't find time to exercise. Do you and your DH both have ridiculous commutes?

Gosh, way to show you are completely out of touch @puncheur

When I'm in the office I get up at 5.45am and leave the house at 6.45am, walking to the station and getting the train at 7.05am, and am in the office at 7.50am.

I call that a very bloody good commute, going into London and living in the countryside and certainly not "ridiculous".

It's certainly not ridiculous or unusual to get up two hours before you start work.

@shearwater2 OP is a teacher, not an office worker and most teachers live locally to their schools, especially if their children attend the same school (as OP's do). Most people don't commute into London and the average commute time in the UK is 27 minutes so your experience is very far from the norm.

But in any case, it all comes down to priorities - some people prioritise work over their sport/hobby/leisure activities, which is fine if that works for them. It wouldn't for us.

It wasn't my experience that "most teachers live locally" in either my daughters' primary schools or secondary schools, and not everyone has a free choice of job or home location or role @puncheur

An hour's commute is not unusual across the UK, teacher or not and the OP's is less than an hour anyway. Neither is it unusual to take an hour to get yourself and a small child ready and out of the house, in fact that's pretty good going.

I don't have small children to get ready and am sitting all day, and would struggle to do 20 minutes on an exercise bike and get out the door at 6.45am. It sounds quite masochistic - lots of people do approach exercise that way, but I'd say the OP needs to do the opposite with a busy schedule or she will burn out.

When my DD was a similar age to yours we did a Joe Wicks workout together when I got in from work. She loved it. My workout wasn't quite as effective as it could have been alone but it was a great way of fitting it in and doing something fun together.

When you're cooking your dinner, could you batch cook something for later in the week, which could free up some time maybe twice or three times a week to do, say, a 30 min YouTube workout?

DP can sort his own dinner!

I think one thing to go in the schedule is cooking twice.

My DDs used to have their dinner at the childminder's but she didn't do food, so DD would eat what we had the previous evening heated up.

Also I'm confused about what cleaning needs doing daily when you get home from work? I've only ever done any cleaning at the weekend, never in the week when working FT. I clean as I go when cooking but then DH will load the dishwasher- why are you doing both?

Change your meals. Curry/Chilli/Spag bol/mince and mash/lasagna/enchilladas all re heat really well. Cook them for your dd then re heat with fresh pasta/rice for you and hubby. Cuts down on cooking and work out then

I can't bear batch cooking and don't have a big freezer to store it anyway, so I learned lots of meals that take less than half an hour to get on the table or five ingredients or less recipes. Anything tasty and easy.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/quick-family-recipes

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/five-ingredients-or-less-recipes

That's really what I meant when I said batch cooking. We don't have a big freezer either, but I regularly make things that can be eaten over 2 or 3 meals during the week. It works for us, as I have CFS & Fibromyalgia and get easily fatigued.

Why are you making two dinners? He can make food while you exercise every other day!

I get up at 4.45 to fit it in to my day so yes, you could just get up earlier BUT if you'll be too tired don't do it. You're clearly active and if you're thinking you need to lose weight then a calorie deficit is more beneficial.