Lose Weight: How to Exercise and Burn Fat on a Busy Schedule: The "T" Word.

In my fitness consulting business, I get the opportunity to talk with women especially from all walks of life about their health, fitness, and weight loss goals (amongst other things).  Whether their goal is to lose weight, gain muscle, stick to an "eating strategy" ), or program, improve their cardiovascular health, or simply to maintain their current fitness level they all have one common enemy---TIME.

For most of us, the #1 challenge in the quest to stay in shape and/or lose weight is not exercising itself but being able to actually fit an exercise program into our busy schedules.

So how do you do it? How do you balance the demands of family, career, important errands, relationships, organizational responsibilities, and working out? I have found that there are five keys that will help you to be able to fit a consistent workout plan into your already hectic life.

Commit to a specific schedule

As they say: the BEST workout routine for you to do? Is the one you will STICK with.

When you fail to plan you plan to fail. Don't try to haphazardly fit your workouts into your schedule without any rhyme or reason. Don't think you're guilty? If you've ever told yourself "I'll workout as soon as I get some time”, you’ll know what I mean :)

In order to set yourself up for success, you will need to take the time to literally write your workouts into your weekly schedule - your appointments WITH you. Circle them in red to keep them sacred. Non-negotiables if you will. In order to be effective, you will want to be following your exercise program at least 3 days per week.  Anything less would be kidding yourself.

Therefore, right in the midst of all of your appointments, "to-do" lists, etc., should be a written plan for your weekly workout routine, so that you will never be in the dark as to when you committed to yourself to go.

Keep it short.

Work smart with the time you DO have. Here’s what I mean: often people can think they don’t have an hour to do ANYthing so they do NOthing. When in fact it’s about doing SOMEthing. This is how I roll myself and how I help my Clients. Don’t have an hour? But do have 5, 10, 20, 30 minutes. Then use it! Get on the floor and do 5 minute’s of planks, pushups, burpees and situps….You’ll be sweating more than you know! Have 30 minutes? Maybe mix cardio bursts up with strenght.

IE, Get Creative! Want results? Use every time slot out there!

Utilize the weekend

Take advantage of the fact that it only takes 3-5 days per week to have an effective, results-producig workout. One trick to help you pull it all off is to workout on the weekends. One of the benefits to this course of action is that your schedule is more flexible and under your control during this time.

What it also means is that when the hectic weekdays roll back around, you will only be responsible for working out 1-3 days during the work week.

Keep your workouts as a high priority

One of the biggest mistakes that even many people who have scheduled a workout program into their schedule make is allowing it to be bumped off of their schedule too easily.

Although things will occasionally come up that will cause you to have to reschedule the workout you had planned, you must be vigilant in making sure that only true emergencies will take you off this track.

In the event that one of those important emergencies does happen and you can't make it to your workout, reschedule with yourself to make it up on the next possible day that you are available to do so. Physically put it in your calendar; make it real.

If your own health, fitness, and efforts to lose weight are not a priority to you, they certainly won't be so to anyone else.

Gather others into your goals

Don't go at this alone. Let the important people in your life know what you are up to. Your spouse or love interest, parents, children, co-workers, and close friends will often pitch in and help you to meet your fitness or weight loss commitment to yourself if you make them aware and ask for their support.

Utilize these relationships so you can delegate some of your normal responsibilities

...or even allow you to shift appointments that you have with them as you restructure your schedule for your workout.  If any of them are into exercise or trying to lose weight themselves, don't hesitate to form a buddy system with them; nothing like being committed to your bestie to have that walk on a Sunday or weight train on without talking yourself out of it!

Don't beat yourself up

No matter who you are, there will be times in your workout program that you just aren't able to keep it up as you would like due to outside demands and unforeseen events. Don't be too tough on yourself when that happens.

Remember that it is what you do consistently over a long period of time, not what you do in spurts, that truly counts. Just make sure that you get back on the horse as soon as you can and continue to press forward, doing your best with what you have.

No matter what goals you have for health, fitness, or weight loss, you CAN fit an effective exercise program into that hectic schedule of yours and be amazingly successful at getting the exact results that you want.

And truly? If your todays....and future days mean ANYthing to you, this will be (you will be) at the top of your priority list.

Need help with this? BE it physically training/ yoga or.... utilizing my Coaching services both health and lifestyle - to help you created this for yourself, reach out to me today!

30+ Years Carolyn has been in the world of health and wellness. Her PASSION is helping others and being a woman; knowing the challenges that can come with this and women's health, she is focussed on helping women truly SHINE before, during and post-menopause. She is on a mission to help change how women see this time as not a dreaded event but one worth EMBRACING! Since they have so much to offer.

An Executive ADHD Coach as well as an engaging speaker, she is a certified Health Coach, Life Coach, Personal Trainer, NLP-certified and has her Yoga 200 HRT. She has specializations in: BEHAVIOUR change, nutrition and weight management. She can help you ACHIEVE! Body, Mind, Stress, Lifestyle...you name it, she's got you covered.