It’s an excuse for skipping exercise I hear all the time from friends and clients. I often respond with a laugh and say, “Don’t tell me about being busy. I know busy. “
I’ve got seven kids ranging in age from 7 to 24. I shuffle the younger kids back and forth to lessons, sports activities, play dates, and shopping trips. I work from home, help kids with schoolwork, cook meals seven nights a week, and play the role of doctor, vet, chauffeur, counselor, and more.
I am busy. But I don’t let busy get in the way of eating healthy or exercising. And neither should you.
If you have ever said you don’t have time to exercise because your schedule is too busy, I want to encourage you to find ways to banish that excuse. If I can do it with all I have going on, so can you.
Why is it even important?
It is important because exercise is a vital part of your weight loss experience. Exercise by itself will not do much for your weight loss success, but adding exercise to a healthy diet certainly will.
A few years ago, I took an informal poll of people I know who lead extremely busy lives and still find time to exercise. Fortunately, they were not so busy that they did not have enough time to help me out.
Here are the eight commonalities among my friends and acquaintances who rarely skip exercising.
1. Work Out More on the Weekends
If your weekdays are filled with family and work responsibilities, do not skip weekend workouts. Instead, exercise on both weekend days and take a couple of days off during the week.
2. Exercise Two Times a Day for Short Bursts
I often break up my exercise into two short sessions because I don’t always have a 30 to 45 minute block. But I usually do have two 20 minute blocks of time and I bet you do too.
3. Reward Yourself for Exercising
Save that book you’ve wanted to read or the Facebook game you’ve wanted to try until after your workout. Knowing you have something fun to do after you are done can increase your motivation to fit exercise into your day.
4. Get Creative With Workouts
I understand it can be hard to get to the gym or spend time outside running or walking. I sometimes workout in our living room to a video on YouTube or just run in place.
5. Become An Early Bird
Busy people do not have a lot of free time. I most often choose to forgo 45 minutes of sleep in order to get my workouts done before my busy day gets cranked up.
6. Involve Your Children
Don’t use your children as an excuse to skip your exercise routine. When I was 300 pounds, I blamed my lack of exercise on my three young children. However, once I got serious about losing weight, I often took my children with me on long walks. The two youngest rode in the stroller and my oldest daughter rode her bike.
7. Count Your Steps
A popular way for busy people to make sure they are moving enough is to attach a pedometer to their waistbands. It takes about 5,000 steps to walk three miles. Set a step goal and work up to it. I generally get in 8,000 to 10,000 steps each day.
8. Multi-Task
I often talk on the phone while I am doing stretches, do calf raises while cooking dinner, and workout while listening to a book I want to read but can’t find the time. Become an exercise multi-tasker in the same way you multitask at work to get things done.