Let’s say you go to work for about eight hours a day and spend eight
hours a night sleeping. Then there’s the time it takes to travel
to and from work, the time it takes to cook and eat meals and the time
you set aside for all of life’s other important responsibilities,
like doing chores and running errands.
All told, you may spend about 20 hours each day doing things you absolutely
have to do. This still leaves you with four hours every day that are yours
to use as you see fit. After weight loss surgery, using this time to stay
active can be a valuable step in improving your health and staying focused
on weight loss.
You don’t need to (and shouldn’t) work out for four hours every
day, but many people feel that they’re simply too busy to exercise,
and looking at your time differently can help you see that this isn’t
true. You only need to spend 30 minutes of that excess daily time on your
workout, so figuring out where this free time fits in your fitness routine
can help you develop a work out schedule that works.
However, the rest of that spare time, and even the 20 hours you spend busy
with other tasks, can be an opportunity to stay active as well. Sure,
a 30-minute daily workout is great, but it will help even more to burn
calories and engage your body at every opportunity throughout the day.
Even if your schedule is busier than the one outlined above, you can start
squeezing more exercise into your daily life by:
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Staying active in spare time. Have a day off or a few extra hours to yourself? Get up and stay active.
Take the kids to the park, not the movie theater. Go for a walk as you
catch up with friends over the phone. Lift weights while you watch TV
instead of sitting idly on the couch.
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Leaving the car at home. The grocery store up the street is just as easy to get to by bike or on
foot. You can turn short errands into exercise by making the way you travel
more active. If you live close enough to your workplace, this can also
apply to your commute.
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Charging up your chores. Time spent on household tasks is never wasted, but you can increase their
productivity by adding a little exercise. Mowing the lawn can be an excellent
workout by trading the riding mower for a push-reel version. Scrubbing
the bathroom will burn more calories if you put some elbow grease into
it, or challenge yourself to finish faster.
When we tell ourselves we don’t have time to exercise after Lap Band
surgery, it’s often a problem of perspective. We become so overwhelmed
by our busy lives that we fail to see a place where exercise can easily
fit. To help yourself get the weight loss workouts you need, take a closer
look at your schedule and think about how much time you really have to
build your fitness level, both inside and outside the gym.