I'm in complete awe of so many of you.
You all work out so much, and do so many other things.

I'm wondering -- HOW?!?

I'm an absolute bear if I don't get my 8 hours of sleep, so I've been going to bed at 10 and getting up at 6 to work out. I feel like this is the only time I have to do it, and I only have an hour. This is just with normal stuff like cleaning, cooking, trying to keep up with family & friends (which I do a terrible job of) and maintaining my hobbies (stamping, which is increasingly rare -- maybe once a week). I don't even have kids yet!! I work full time, but I'm not in school.

I really am interested to hear about your schedules -- how frequently and for how long do you work out, what do you do, what else is going on in your life, how much do you sleep, and how do you stay sane?!

Hope that's not asking too much.

Yes, I'd like to know too...

I'm 39, high school teacher, happily married, no kids...and I never feel as if there is enough time either. I marvel at how much working friends with kids get it all done. I know for a fact some of them get very little sleep, but others always seem fresh as a daisy. They must be excellent time managers (they probably don't spend any time on the computer )

I asked the same thing several months ago. For me, I rented dvds from the library for a while until I found one I liked. After I bought it, I got bored with the same routines everyday and bought another one. I go out to my back room and do them in the AM if I get up early enough. If not, then while my DH is cooking dinner, or I've put something in the oven, I'll go do a mile of the WATP dvd. This morning I did 3 miles. Yesterday, after work, I did 3 miles.

Getting up and going to the gym isn't in the cards for me yet. I think I'll have to add it later on because I will need to include weight training and I want some instruction.

Good luck. It's hard. These women amaze me.

OK, well, here is my schedule.

I work 10 hour days most days of the week - 8am-6:30pm, with usually a half hour lunch. A typical day goes like this:

7:30 - up, dressed, etc (I work from home, so no commute - but my days are long regardless)
8:00 - 1:00 - Work
1:00 - 1:30 - Either prep dinner or exercise on lunch break - sometimes i do strength training, sometimes I do a bonus cardio workout, and sometimes i get all of my dinner ingredients prepped and pre-cooked or go to the grocery store.
1:30-6:30 - work
7:00 - 8:00 - gym
8:00 - 8:30 - Finish prep and serve dinner
9:00 - 10:00 - dinner dishes, neaten up, regular "get stuff done" stuff like bill paying, and prep dinner for next day (chop veggies, take meat to defrost, double check we have all ingredients).
10:00 - 10:30 - downtime - usually i read
10:30 - 11:00 - tooth brushing, face washing, get ready for bed, and fall asleep sometime before 11.

Since I am a stay at home mom I have a completely different type of busy. For me I can snatch bits and pieces of time here and there but long workouts are hard unless my 2 year old decides to take a nap. I run super early when DH is home and do weights throughout the day when I get a chance.

Lack of sleep is sometimes a problem for me. I had to get up at 6 the other day to run. It was awful. But usually I get to run closer to 7:30 or 8 and that's ok.

I feel like I'm really busy, but I do manage to fit it in. I always wonder how people with kids do it -- that's what I don't understand!! Like someone else who posted, I'm a happily married high school teacher. Here's my usual schedule:

6:30 get up and ready for work
7:40 - 3:30 -- work (teaching)
3:30 - 5:15 -- work (planning, grading, etc)
5:15 - 6:00 or 7:30 -- workout (this varies -- sometimes it's a quick 30-minute run; sometimes it's a long cardio session plus a bodysculpting class)
7:00 - 7:30 -- commute home
7:30 - 11:00ish -- dinner, hanging out with hubby, loads of work for school, internet time, free time (reading, playing the piano, etc)

If my house gets cleaned (and it doesn't as much as it should), it happens on the weekend. I also work out more on the weekend, throwing in a longer run, a yoga session, another strength training session, etc. Much of the weekend is taken up with school work, however.

Lisa - You must be an English teacher? That sounds like my schedule!

Well I've had 3 schedules. There was when I was working 8 - 5 M-F and I would ride my bike the 1.5 miles to work on good days, then I'd go for a run or hit the gym right after work for an hour. Get home around 6:30 and do dinner and whatever else needed done in the evenings and on the weekends.

Then there was the same work schedule, with an added schooling 5:30 - 9:30 M-W. On school nights, I would go for a run or walk on my lunch hour. I'd also get up 15 minutes earlier and do situps and weights, then do some yoga for 15 minutes before bed.

And now there's the SAHP schedule. And I kinda exercise wherever I can get it in. While he's napping or playing, or I just head out to the park with him in the jogging stroller.

I am!! All those essays to read... I always envy my math teacher husband when he just quickly checks his papers. Also, he only teaches one type of class, and he has three classes. I have six classes (block schedule) and I teach three different things, so planning is a beast. Also, it's only my second year so I'm really still working things out. I did corporate stuff for ages -- you know, jobs you don't take home with you every night! I would never go back, though. Never EVER. I'll take a classroom over a cubicle or office any day, even with all the stress that goes with it.

Let me tell you, though -- I NEED my run when I get out of school. Stress relief from dealing with teenagers all day!

I really would love to run in the morning, but I don't want to run in the dark so I don't do it.

I'm a working student so it looks a little something like this:

6:00 - wake up
6:15 - cycle / get bus to station
6:50 - get train to work
8:00 - work
2:00 - train to uni
3:00 - tute
4:00 - lecture
6:00 - waiting at station...
6:30 - train home
8:00 - cycle / bus to gym
8:30 - gym
10:00 - cycle / get lift home
10:20 - make lunch, shower, bed

Yeah, it's a lot of work... but for the moment, I have to make it a priority. I can't expect things to change if I don't put the effort in and my health, my figure - I want them SO BAD. I feel it's a case of "if you want something bad enough, you'll find a way, if you don't, you'll find an excuse".

Definately too much commuting for my liking though! Oh well, it's time to do readings for all my subjects.

I'm married with an 8 year old, I work FT, and I also take classes online. And I am NOT a morning person. Here is a sample of my day:

6:30 - wake up, prepare for work (DH takes DS to/from school, so that's a plus)
7:30 - 6:00 - work (1 hour commute)
6:30 - exercise at home (DVD's) or fitness center in my complex
7:30 - eat dinner (DH usually cooks too )
8:00 - family time
9:30 - school
11:30 - bedtime

Typically:

6am - alarm goes off. Straight up, grab some juice and dried fruit, out of the door.
6.45 - 7am - arrive at gym. Work out until about 8am, change and cross the road to get to work.
8.45 - eat breakfast at work
9 - whenever - work. Go out for a walk at lunchtime.
Monday/Wednesday - eat at work, leave work at about 6pm, go straight to running club, run from 7 - 8.15 or so, go home, relax.
Tuesday/Thursday/Friday - evening at home to do jobs or out having fun.

Oooh ok!

6.45am - alarm goes off...
7am - get up, get ready for work, get breakfast and pack lunches for the day ahead.
7:40am - out the door to work
8:30am - at work
12:30pm - off to gym at lunch for an hour, usually weights with a smidge of cardio. Wednesday is a scheduled rest day, but sometimes I take a different day to rest.
1:30pm - back at work
5pm - finish work and head to kickboxing Mon, Tues, Thurs.
6:30pm (Mondays) teaching kickboxing. Tues and Thurs I do 2 hours from 6pm.
9pm arrive home, have dinner, 10pm-ish go to bed.

Wednesdays are a "free evening" and DH and I will either go to the cinema or just chill out together.

Fridays I finish work at 4pm so go to the gym after work. From after Easter I will be taking another kickboxing class We shall see how that fits in with everything. If that takes off, then I may end up reducing my Thursday training if DH gets mad, or if I can't keep up!

Then the weekends are usually free/recovery days. Although I'm going to try and get in some long runs on Sundays now.

I'm exhausted just reading my schedule and I realise that actually DH and I don't spend much time together I guess that's why we always do a lot of fun stuff together. Lawd knows what will happen if we have kids! I'll probably have to at least halve the amount of training I do!

I think senorita used a great word: priority. I never figured I had enough time to exercise and eat well until I made it a priority. Now I will put other things further down on the list (TV, computer time, house cleaning, making my grading last longer than it should, or even some sleep) to do things that are healthier.

Some days I do feel like all I do is work, shop/cook/prep food, exercise, sleep, repeat. But what was it before? More TV? I can do so much more and feel so much better that it's worth it. I also find I can work exercise into my life in ways that are more fun and make me feel that I'm the kind of person who DOES this now.

Finally, even though I don't always WANT to exercise, I acknowledge that it's a great stress relief and I often feel better afterwards. Plus, I'm putting myself first everytime I do it. I am worth that, I just didn't believe it before.

Thanks Wyllenn.

And also just because you are placing exercise higher up on a priority list doesn't mean you need to exclude other activities like TV or reading. I love to combine them when on the cross trainer or stationary bike! If there are only 24 hrs in a day, may as well pack in as much as I can, I reckon.