We all know that it's easy to work out and eat right when you have most of your days free. The first 7 months of my journey was like that. We had different life plans that were interrupted so we've had to adjust. I have a job now and I have to balance working out/eating well and calorie counting/working/finding a new place to live/taking care of our ferrets. But, I am still making time to meet my obligations and to take care of me as well as everything else. There have been times when I have been more slack than I would have liked, but I am doing my best to be mostly consistent in my efforts and it has paid off. This month, I have lost 6 pounds, which is a great victory considering the month and a half before that I lost nothing. With scheduling, I am making this work. I am very proud. I even found time last week to do a long run of nine miles, six this week.
How do you all keep yourselves on track in the midst of the busyness of the day to day?
Good for you! One thing that helps is being selfish about my weight loss. I make time for healthy eating and make exercise a priority. I have a time set aside for my exercises, right after work. I make time to meal plan at the begining of the week, go shopping and have everything ready to go. I make sure I always have a healthy lunch so I don't have to eat out at work.
I stay on track by integrating it into the fabric of my life - as things I just do, like showering or feeding my kids. Whenever I try to cut out that crucial aspect I suffer for it, so keeping weight management prioritized on my 'essentials' list is very helpful.
It's definitely hard to juggle all the balls. I am a single mom to a 7 year old (and I don't have shared custody or anything so I don't have time to myself, can't go out for a walk or run and leave him at home, etc). I work full time outside the home We leave at 7:15 am and on a good day, we get home at 6 pm (that means I left work on time and didn't have to stop and run any errands).
Like you, I just have had to make a commitment to myself and my health and fitness and squeeze in the time somewhere. I do things like a step program with my Wii Fit while I watch a TV show, so I can multi-task and still get in my activity. But I've also had to make myself realize that if I have to choose between a work out and TV or reading, or sometimes, even cleaning, etc., then it's ok/necessary to put the workout first.
I agree with everyone else that that you have to make "healthy" a priority. With a little planning, you can do it. You have a lot of balls in the air, so some things have to take a back seat once in a while. If putting it off doesn't make it worse (not making the bed, for example, as opposed to not doing the dishes) sometimes I let it slide. Run the sweeper a day later. That sort of thing.
Great job on keeping on plan. It's tough when things get hectic, but just keep the plan in mind and your goal in sight at all time. It sounds like you are doing a fantastic job.
I am busy 24/7 but I am still doing it!
