How to Find Time for Exercise

As a trainer and nutrition coach, one of the most common obstacles that women face when trying to get in shape is a lack of time.  Women are often struggling to juggle children, a full-time job, and being the primary caretaker of the home.  It’s a ton!  So where do we find the time to give ourselves that much-needed self-care...things like exercise and eating healthy foods?  I’ll give you 3 big-picture items to help you re-think how you can find time.

1. Lower the barrier of entry: redefine what “enough” time is when it comes to working out. I tell my clients to engage in the “better than nothing” workout. Take 5 - 10 minutes a day and do something to further your fitness level. Maybe it’s 50 burpees or doing 5 1-minute exercises like planks and squats. Perhaps it means lacing up your sneaks and sprinting the length of your street and walking back 3-7x. It doesn’t matter what it is, just do something, and each week try to make improvements on your something. You will be surprised at how much improvement you can make in just 5-10 minutes a day!

2. Stop saying yes! I know so many women that are masters of efficiency, however, they literally just have too many commitments. No one could get done all that they have agreed to. Yes, it might sting (momentarily) to have to tell a coworker that you can’t help with a project or a friend that you can’t make her party, but you will not only save the time that would have been taken up with the event, you will also save the anger and frustration that you feel at actually having to do the commitment. Remember “saying no to the opportunity is not saying no to the person.”

3. Sleep 8 hours. Yes, I said sleep more! If Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon and one of the wealthiest individuals in the world) has time to sleep 8 hours you do too! I can go on and on about the virtues of sleep, but I am going to keep it simple. When you sleep more, you are more focused, creative and efficient with your time. And don’t even get me started on the health benefits to your body and weight loss. Most of us run through our days like zombies and it takes us much longer to finish tasks than it should….ever have a task that should take 10 minutes, yet you're still not done in 30? By sleeping more you can accomplish more in your day. And hey, you’ll probably feel a lot better to boot! And don’t just set aside 8 hours, make sure you factor in your going-to-bed-rituals and the time it takes you to fall asleep.

If you’d like more tips, workouts, and help with change, get my  new program #OwnYourTime!  It's a free 5-day program designed to help you focus on what's important and provide you with 5 time saving workouts that are fat-burning focused.

Later!

Amanda