Finding Time to Exercise?

When I was in the teens and early twenties, I was very fit and had a good body.

In the past few years, the body has gone from bad to worse. Working as a shoe designer and marketer, I work till 7pm. Between husband and kids, I am just not able to find time to work out.

Am I self justifying this or are there ladies able to manage their time better and work out regularly?

Any practical nuggets that I can use to work out?

- Pooja

Hi Pooja,

Interesting thread...I guess this would be the case with most women married with family and kids :( .

We get more concious, but what's the use, it's just the matter of finding the time.

I look forward to interesting suggestions that I can implement too .

I do agree that finding time to workout balancing between work and family is really hard. But we need to find time to ourselves, especially for such health related activities atleast

Recently I have made it a practice to go for a short walk everyday, may be as part of our daily activity - like going to drop a trash, check post box, etc.

May be good to practice walking, even if not finding time for a typical work out.

You know what...since finding time to exercise is becoming difficult among the daily routines, I go cycling to nearby shops in our locality.
Cycling in the streets within the residential areas is not an issue in Canada.

I read in many fitness books that cycling is the easiest way to burn calories much faster.

Hey Ladies,

You may all want to try some Yoga exercises.
They need not be done for long hours. Just a few minutes daily should do.

Moreover you cant ry yoga while you watch TV too.
It can be done at home grabbing those few minutes you get during the day.

Happy exercising...

Whether you are at home or at work, you can take a few simple steps to increase the amount of physical activity in your life. Whether it is a structured exercise program or just part of your daily routine, all exercise adds up to a healtheir heart.

Swimming, cycling, jogging, skiing, aerobic dancing, walking or any of dozens of other activities can help your heart.

Reduce risk to premature death by routine exercises.

Dear Pooja,

I was working till last December.Now I am a housewife.

What I do is this..My husband comes home around 6.30 pm and takes care of my 2 1/2 yr old son.I go to the gym( since we stay in an apartment,we have a free gym facility attached) and walk on the treadmill for half an hour.I do about 2 miles a day.I think this is more than enough.

I also see to it that I don't spend too much time on dinner preparation,so that I can use that time to work out.

-Sunitha

I received a flyer today from American Heart Association, that had the following benefits listed about daily physical activity.

Though most of us knew this already, I still thought it is worth sharing. Becuase many of us (especially ladies), tend to take physical activity/exercising lightly and keep it at the very bottom in our task/priority list!

The benefits of daily physical activity...

• Helps keep weight under control
• Improves blood cholesterol levels
• Helps control high blood pressure
• Boosts energy levels
• Improves self-image
• Increases muscle strength, thereby increasing the ability to do other physical activity
• Prevents bone loss
• Improves the ability to fall asleep quickly and sleep well
• Counters anxiety and depression and increases enthusiasm and optimism
• Helps manage stress
• Helps delay or prevent chronic illnesses and diseases associated with aging

Happy exercising and stay healthy

Hi ladies,

I hope this is the right place to post this doubt. I cycle on my exercycle and burn 650 calories in the morning. It has a panel to indicate time taken, calories burnt etc.

I find that when I turn resisitance to almost zero, I can do the 650 very fast. But when I turn up resistance- it takes a lot longer.

So, my question is - is it better to keep a moderate/high resistance than none when cycling? Does it have any benefits?

Or is it better to have no resistance and cycle away (burn off) more calories?

Please help out.
cheers
Vidya

Dear Vidya,

First off, this is a very good question to discuss! Thanks for posting this doubt.

I hope I am talking about the same exercise equipment as you are. Here we call it Eliptical or cross trainer (the one where you stand and cycle). I am not sure but you may also be talking about the equipment where you sit and cycle.

Well, I exercise normally at level 8 or 9 or 10 on the cross-trainer. In my opinion(I may be wrong though), resistance building is what one needs more than losing the calories. Gaining lost calories is easier than losing resistance built through resistance training. It sure is tougher to lose off the calories initially, but if you ask me now, I certainly feel that I am better at burning more calories at higher levels than lower levels of resistance. This way, I tighten/tone my muscles as well as lose the excess pounds.

I'd like to know what other ladies who exercise regularly think about this.

-Shal