PS - Sorry this is so long!!!!!
Hi all, I need some help, because I'm so close to this problem that I can't see a clear way forward....
My eating has been fine for a while now, but I really struggle to get in sufficient exercise, and without it my weight loss really slows down.
However, I'm finding it hard to make time for the amount of exercise that I feel that I need, and I want some advice from others that have managed to juggle the same sorts of competing priorities.
If I tell you a bit about the things that I have working for and against me you'll maybe understand the problem a little better.
The pros: (some of these are biggies - before you all start shouting at me, I do honestly realise how lucky I am!!!)
1) I have a gym membership, and the gym (which is basic, but adequate for my needs) is mega-convenient for work (it's actually on the same hospital site where I work), but it doesn't open until 6.45am.
2) The hospital itself is LITERALLY a 5 minute brisk walk from a really beautiful sandy beach with a lovely promenade which is well-lit 24/7. There are some dodgy looking characters lurking around there if I get there too early before the usual doggy walkers arrive, but the doggy crowd tend to arrive around 6am.
3) I will soon take delivery of a real honest-to-goodness Spinner Pro bike (yes, a gym-quality Startrac one like they use on the Biggest Loser - I am soooooo excited!!!)...so I have access to one piece of top quality gym equipment at home. I also have some small dumbells and a skipping rope.
4) I have a very supportive husband, who encourages me to get fit and healthy, without once making me feel uncomfortable about my size.
5) I live in a little village that is surrounded by countryside, with signposted footpaths across miles and miles of farmland. I can be out of my house and on one of these footpaths within literally 2 minutes. And it's great cycling terrain too.
OK...so with all these fabulous positives, what could possibly be the problem?
THE CONS:
MY problem is my job....which seems to take up so much of my time!
I'm contracted (and paid) to work 37.5 hours per week, but I'm expected to work considerably more hours than that. I have a very highly paid job, and it comes with a certain amount of expectation that I'll work as long as it takes to get the job finished. Everyone else on my pay band is in the same boat...we live and breathe the hospital and are really conscientious and dedicated - but sometimes it seems to take over my whole life! My boss is the top man in the whole hospital, so I have no one to escalate the problem to, and although he tells me not to work such crazy hours (I work at least 20 hours more per week than he does) he also constantly gives me a hard time for not managing to meet his expectations. He's only been in post for 6 months and he's making quick character and value judgments, and because of this and because of the recession my job is much more insecure than it's ever been before. The boss has a reputation for firing people that he's unhappy with, and he's made it clear that I and my team need to deliver more to 'earn our keep' as he puts it... So I feel unable to really challenge the situation, and I can't afford to lose my job because I'm the only bread-winner. And - to be frank - jobs as well paid as mine are like hens' teeth, and in many ways I'm lucky to have it.
I've tried really hard to cut back on my unpaid hours lately, but it's a rare week when I don't work 50 hours at my desk, and another 10 or 15 at home...and more isn't uncommon. And my boss has started to make snidey comments about me being 'part time' because I leave at 5pm, when he doesn't leave until 6pm...but then he doesn't start until 8.30am and he never works in the evenings....
My usual schedule is as follows:
4am Get up, shower etc.
4.30 Drive to work
5am Park up and walk on the beach for 1 hour
6am Start work
5pm Finish work and go to the gym
6.30pm Drive home
7pm Arrive home and eat dinner
8pm - 10pm Catch up on more work
10pm - 11pm Spend a bit of time with my long-suffering hubby
11pm Bed
What makes this worse is that my husband doesn't work for health reasons, so he spends all day every day on his own...and when I a) hit the gym for 90 minutes before I get home and b) spend a couple of hours working after dinner I feel HORRIBLY guilty about neglecting him.
So what should I do? Do any of you have any bright ideas?
I could cut down on the gym hours (I try to go M-F for 90 minutes each day)...but I can't think of anything else that I can tweak. I already start my day really early so that it doesn't erode my evenings even more than it does already - I figure I can get in my walk and the first couple of work hours before my hubby has even gotten out of bed - but I'm getting really stressed trying to figure out a solution...and as usual, the only solution that comes to mind is sacrificing my gym hours, which I'm reluctant to do.
Can anyone give me some independent advice??????
Thanks!!!!