I Wish I Could Find The Time
By Chris Boothe
Messenger Sports
Last week I spoke a little on how seriously losing weight is more than just diet and exercise, but a lifestyle change. By lifestyle change, I mean making full changes. One of the biggest reasons people fall off, is the time commitments to losing weight. It’s hard to find the time and availability to work out, but it must be done to make the changes.
Life happens. Believe me, I get it. My wife and I both work full time, and we have two kids at home. Whether it is preparing students for competition, or taking care of a sick kid at home, timing is difficult. Then there are the days where we just aren’t feeling it. Days we would rather put our feet up and watch TV with the kids instead of getting dressed and driving to the gym.
That’s the difference though. To make those changes. The effort to get healthy physically means getting healthier mentally. It means holding yourself responsible, and making the time to workout. Everyone has a different system that works for them. My wife is a morning person. She can get up at 5:00 am and go for a run or hit the gym. Me? I prefer my sleep and take a little bit to boot up in the mornings.
On a weekend, she will get up and run in the morning when I am getting up and moving, and more importantly, making sure the kids don’t wake up and burn the house down. When she gets back, either I run or help with errands and then run in the afternoon/evenings. But weekends, are easier for many people.
It is the Monday-Friday that trips people up. That is when life is at its busiest, and makes it harder to work out.
My suggestion? Schedule workout time.
Seriously, schedule a time and make it your workout time. Go to the gym. Go for a run. Go play basketball or something. During that scheduled workout time, go be active. Me? Tuesday and Thursday are my workout days during the school year. My wife takes Monday and Wednesday. Friday is for the kids, and the weekends are for running.
Obviously things happen, but just give it a try. Making a time where I have to go work out made the biggest difference in the world. It helped me break through at initial wall of soreness and reluctance, and has eventually turned it into a habit. I even find time to work out when I am traveling too now. Later this month I am taking students to our state competition in Dallas for three days. If the weather works, I will try to slip out for a run, but if I can’t, then you will find me in the hotel gym. It’s because I schedule the time and have made it a habit.
It sounds silly, but it works. Make a reminder in your phone. Tell a friend or family member so they can hold you accountable. Heck, find someone to workout with you, and you can hold each other accountable. It is much harder to start working out if you go alone, maybe finding a partner, and scheduling time with them would help.
Time is the easiest excuse in the world to get out of working out, but we all know what excuses are like and they all stink. This isn’t making time to workout, this is making time to better yourself. This is time to make yourself better physically and mentally. So, is 30 minutes really too much to set aside during the day?
