I love to exercise!... I know I'm weird. The question you are probably asking is why I am overweight then.

Quite frankly I don't have the time. As many of you probably feel the same way and still manage to do this. I try to no avail.

After work (i'm a teacher) i go home, make dinner, give my son a bath, playwith him, clean up house, put him to bed, grade papers, and maybe talk to my husband for a bit.

I went for a walk with my son last night, but have problems making it a nightly habit. I have an eliptical trainer. I tried using it in the morning. My son gets up at 5:30, so I had to get up at 4:30. I am not a morning person, so that only lasted about a week.

Suggestions?

Good luck all!!
Seesko

starting date 1/5/04

242/238/135

Smile...it makes people wonder what you are up to!

I hear you! Except - I HATE to exercise.

But what I found is working well for me is to cook enough on the weekends to not have to start fresh every night after work. THEN I can go home and change and exercise and only need to reheat dinner instead of MAKE dinner!

That's the only thing that works for me - like you, I am NOT a morning person, so that's out. And I'll talk myself right out of it if everything is not just right.

Give it a try!

Char

Don't squat with yer spurs on!

I hear you, too. I work full time, take 9 hours of college courses, and have a DH and 2 kids to take care of. The way I stopped making excuses about not enough time? I told myself I don't have the time NOT to exercise and take care of myself.

Get creative! Mornings did NOT work for me, either, but surely there is a way to squeeze in at least 15-20 minutes a day to start. After doing that a few weeks, you'll WANT to exercise longer.

I've rallied 2 coworkers together, and we go walk around the neighborhood for 30 minutes during lunch break, and just eat our lunches at our desks. If the weather is bad, we can go up and down the stairs or walk around the parking garage.

For weights, I pulled out my 5-lb. free weights and do 30 minutes of various arms, leg lifts, crunches, squats 2 or 3 nights a week while I'm watching TV. Usually it's after I've gotten the kids into bed before I get the chance. And I can catch up with hubbie at the same time. PLUS, he'll generally grab some weights or do some pushups alongside me!

Rachel in Texas

Valentine's: 220/216/210
Overall: 225/216/135

I was in the same position. I work full time and have a little one and DH at home to cook and clean for.

Well, when I really took a look at that excuse I saw that it didn't really make a lot of sense. DH is a grown up man and is perfectly capable of looking after himself. You know what else...we found he's perfectly capable of looking after DD for 45-60 minutes a day too. So he now does the bathing, sometimes he cooks dinner for the two of them (or orders a pizza) when I'm working out and eating later. Overall it is a win/win situation. I get to do my exercises and he gets to bond with DD without me being around. Then when I'm done my workout I get my time with her. It is a sacrifice (less time with DD and DH during the week), and I am tired, and I can't wait until the weekend but to not do it is no longer an option for me.

Started Atkins 10/27/03
182/152/142

I agree with all the points. Finding time for exercise is difficult. I am a senior in college and that might not seem like a whole lot since I do not have a DH or any children, but I am the president of 2 orginizations and involved in 4 others on campus. While having a job and trying to plan a trip for 33 students to Europe over spring break. I am not a morning person and NEVER have been. On Tuesday my schedule started with me waking up at 6:30 to workout and not having any free time until 11:30 pm. I then had to do my homework and head to bed so I could start it all over again. When I wake up and actually do my workout in the morning and put everything I can into it I am up and ready for the rest of the day. I do not feel sluglish like i used to and even though sleeping as little as I do is not a normal thing, with the exercise I don't get nearly as downright tired as I used to.

So for me finding time for that 30-45 min exercise is a must so I can make it through my day. The first couple of days it's still hard to get up and get going, but once you get into the swing of things for a night owl like me 6:30 isn't all that bad...

Just my theory
Lynda Lou

Oh, man, can I EVER relate!

I have 3 little babes(6, 5 and 3) and I thought it was difficult for so long(hence, the zero amount of exercise I was doing!), but about a month ago I just decided I HAD to fit it in somewhere!
Often times I will get up at 6:30 and go to the gym and be back by 7:30 when dh leaves for work,
I work at night(until 10:30ish), so it has been hard for me to discipline myself to get to bed.
If I happen to not make it in the morning, I take my kids to the "play-care" at the gym. I end up doing that about 1X a week.

I'm so excited that I have actually gotten to the point where I am MAKING it work. For years(I've had the membership to the gym for over 2 years ) I have wanted to, but obviously hadn't given it priority. Now's the time

And I must say, I LOVE going!



Lisa
5/03
5'7"
268/230/140ish

I'm also working full time and taking almost a full load of courses. The only way I can make time to exercise is:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>I also bulk cook meals on the weekends -breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks since I'm often going right from work to school. I have tons of those glad containers and every size ziplock baggies that you can think of and put up everything in single serving sizes. I freeze stuff that's going to be for later in the week or that is going to be part of the next week's menus. The nights I am home for dinner I'm too tired and hungry to have to take the time to fix something.
<LI>I go right from work to Curves without going home. I know myself; if I go home I'm home for good, I'm not going out again.
<LI>I have an exercise partner. My neighbor joined Curves with me and she meets me there to work out. It makes it harder to skip exercising when it affects someone else.[/list]


Always eat your veggies first!
LCE member since March 2002