How can I fit exercise in my busy day when I get all gross and sweaty??
 

I had this same problem! But now instead of meeting up with friends for dinner or going out, we all meet at the track and go jogging together. I've learned to sacrifice some things (like going out every night) for my health and working in an hour of exercise a day. :)

you could exercise before bedtime, or when you are home for the night..that's what I do.
A lot of people at my work walk on their lunch but I can't; I get sweaty and my face turns beet red. lovely.

I think you either need to find a way to do your hair and makeup faster and fit it in before work (it's so hard for me to workout when I come home at night), or you need to cut back on the going out with your friends/boyfriend. I know it's tough to break your routine, but it's the only way. If you're going out every night with them cut back to three or four times a week and exercise the days you don't. It's definitely an adjustment. You can't expect things to stay exactly the same though.

I realize you are busy but if you want to work out you have to make the time to work out.

I don't mean to come off harsh here - but there are people busier than you that find the time to work out every day. Heck, I found time when I was a single mom to a toddler, working full time and going to school in the evenings.

I live in a hot climate, so I sweat when I work out too. During the cooler months, I change my clothes and walk or run at lunch. I get a 35-40 min workout in, and still have time to clean up (sponge bath in the sink at work), cool down, change, fix my make up and go back to work.

During the summer months when its too hot to go for lunch time workouts, I get up at 5am and work out. Yes - this is HARD! for me to do. We don't normally go to bed until after 11pm. I have to force myself to bed earlier and force myself up in the morning. But I do this 3 days a week.

On my off days, I'll hit the gym in the evening. My hubby knows that I'm going and we just spend time together later.

And then there are my weekends. We almost always do something active on the weekends together as a family. Whether it be biking, mountainbiking, boating or diving, we are active and burn calories together. It may not always be the most energetic or burn the most calories, but its activity and doing it together, so its quality time. In the end, it also makes it easier for the time alone for the other workouts during the week.

Finally - don't be a slave to hair and makeup. Learn to love your natural beauty. Women can look fabulous without spending a ton of time on hair and makeup.

If this is something you want you have to make it happen.

I'm on the "bite-the-bullet-and-get-up-early-to exercise" bandwagon. I get up between 5 and 5:30 on weekdays and exercise before I shower. I've really had to concentrate on getting to bed early enough to compensate for this, but I am LOVING how I feel from getting the exercise. I am only now realizing (at 48) that exercise is a necessary part of life for me. I'll do what I have to do.

Try to find ways to cut back on makeup and hair time and that should help, too.

Not harsh at all, very true! Those of us here with babies, older kids, and other obligations will say the same thing! You have to make time for it and choose what is more important - spending 2 hours with friends (instead of 30 minutes or one hour - or 7.5 hours of sleep instead of 9), or fitting in an exercise plan. You can have it all (yes!) but you have to cut something back.

neveragain - this is a tough one for a lot of us that don't have a close relationship with 5am :) Like some of the previous posters, I've turned a lot of my social time into exercise/social time. Meeting friends after work or on the weekend to walk loops in the park, go rollerblading or running. Even date nights are more likely to be walking to restaurant a few miles away and now my bf actually looks forward to that part. Good luck and let us know how it's going!

If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got. Change isn't always easy.

Let me clarify - I HATE, hate, hate, hate!!! 5am. But with 100 degree temps - its the coolest time to work out. I don't like it, I don't want to be there and I struggle to work out as hard as I would if it were an evening workout. But I'm there and I'm doing it because that is the time I can do it.

So, just because that is when we work out, doesn't mean we like being up at that time. The woman I work out with choses 5am workouts because of her son. She's able to get up, workout and be back home before her son gets up. Her hubby will get the baby up at 6:30 and start the day, and when she gets home and showers then takes back over on the baby duties while her hubby gets off to work. He then works out in the evening while she can spend time with the baby.

Everyone makes sacrifices to work out and fit it into their own busy schedules.

During the school year, my workouts shift back to evenings - as I'm up at 5am to get ready for work, drive the kid to school then go to work. He's at school by 7am, I'm at work by 7:30. I leave at 4pm to pick him up and drive him to his sporting practices. While he is at practice, I go workout somehwere then pick him back up and we go home. Those days we leave the house at 6:10am and return home at 9:15pm. You want to talk about busy! But those are also the days that I'll squeeze an extra workout in at lunch too.

Also, you can get in a decent workout 3 days per week. 3 days per week is all it really takes, adding more is just a plus. You can say "no" to the boyfriend and friends 3x per week, even if it is just for 1 hour each. 3 hours out of 168 hours per week is nothing at all when you consider the benefits of the exercise :)

I hate 5 a.m., too. Never been a morning person at all I just know the benefits of doing this, at least for me, far outweigh the reasons not to.

Another suggestion.....Find something workout-wise that you can do in your own home. That will cut down on time required to get your exercise in each time.

My mama always said "life is like a box of chocolates"... oh wait, no, that was Forest Gump's mom!!!!

MY mama always said "you can have ANYthing you want. But you can't have EVERYthing you want."

So yeah, I agree with others here - if you want to find/make time for exercising, you will. And remember, "sweat equity" is good. ;) :D

What an amazing quote! I love this. I may have to print it out and hang it up. I know it would make my husband happy...

Neveragain, I know you are 19, and I know at 19 I would not have considered 5 am, nor was I a big fan of cutting back on time with friends or bf. Not doing my hair or makeup, on the other hand -- I never mind skipping those. All the moms in my neighborhood run around in ponytails and sweaty workout clothes all day... then again, we also drive minivans. :(

A few months ago I felt like I couldn't fit my workouts into my day, but I've found that by making it my #1 priority, I can get it done, 5 or more days a week. I had to give other things up -- like lingering over my coffee while reading the news. It was a little time-waster that made all the difference -- if I spent that time getting dressed and packing my gym bag instead, I'd be ready to go when the girls left for school and I could work out before my toddler needed to get home to nap. And maybe some errands get pushed off a day or two or we eat leftovers because I didn't make it to the market. That's the way it goes.

What do you do *right* after work? Do you really *have* to go straight to meet your friends/bf? Can't you spare 45 minutes to work out + 45 minutes to primp? Can you streamline your hair and makeup routine? What's the bare minimum you can be happy with?

If being thin and fit were easy to do and didn't require any sacrifice, we'd all be thin and fit. Think about what you really want, and then commit to what you need to do to make it happen...

There's another bonus probably from skipping going out a couple nights a week. And that is, I bet that will reduce your calorie intake. How much do you usually eat & drink when you're hanging out with them?

Personally, I'd rather have the better-looking body (and the clothes that go with it) when going out fewer nights a week.