"I don’t have time" — what’s the easiest way busy women can lose weight and get in shape?

Personal trainer tips for busy women and moms who have busy schedules

It seems a bit strange that we live in a world where so many things are automated and delivered to our doors, but for busy women in America, having the time to go to the gym continues to be a problem. Women like you, in your 30s and 40s, are working demanding careers while being moms to growing and active children, which can easily cause your own health and wellness to take a back seat. Also, here in El Paso, where Mexican food is king, things can easily become more challenging, especially when you have friends and co-workers are constantly inviting you out to eat.

Woman doing deadlifts with personal trainer

I have a client who came to me because she was tired of feeling tired and weaker than ever. She has three kids, where one of her daughters was an incredibly motivated high school senior who took on just about every imaginable extracurricular activity, which also meant that my client would also have to take on additional obligations and there was even less time for her to keep fit. If you’re finding yourself in a similar situation, the following solutions are for you!

Meal Prep

The food you eat acts both as the fuel that permits you to train effectively and remain productive at work, as well as providing the foundation that allows the body to recover and rebuild after your workouts. Meal prepping is a great way to save busy women like you a great deal of time because it means meals are ready for you to eat, and if you’re the one preparing your own meals, you can customize them to fit your personal tastes. Start by picking a recipe or two that you particularly enjoy, then batch cook the food to extend for a couple of days.

When busy women are short on time, but want to eat more healthy, it would be in your best interest to make sure the foods you select are those that are easier to prepare. Using pre-chopped vegetables and easy to prepare meats can greatly reduce the amount of time to cook your meals. Ideally, recipes that take about 30 minutes or less may be the best option to suit your schedule.

Smoothies are excellent opportunities to help you increase your produce intake in an easy to consume format, as well as a good way to increase your daily protein. The great thing about smoothies is that you can experiment with different fruits and vegetables to find the mix that you like best, and these days, most protein powders have excellent flavor options that should appeal to you (I’m a coffee-holic, so Dymatize Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and Optimum Nutrition’s coffee-flavored protein powders are my favorites).

Rapid Workouts

Mark my words — you don’t have to spend two or three hours at the gym to be healthy, and as a busy woman with a career and kids, that’s not even a possibility. The fitness influencers that are telling you that you need five minute rests between each set are totally detached from your reality as a busy woman in the modern era, so try staying away from them. Start with a quick power walk or jog (5-10 minutes) that gets your muscles loosened and body warmed up, then follow it up with arm and leg swing dynamic stretches. If you intend to train at home, investing in bands can add a lot variability to your workouts and save you money as well. Exercises that train the large muscles, such as squats, rows, deadlifts, and chest presses, work multiple muscle groups, thus saving you more time.

It can be easy to lose track of time at the gym, which is the last thing busy women like you would want to happen when you don’t have a lot of time to begin with. You should still be friendly with your gym buddies and the staff, but understand that it’s not rude to inform them that you’re short on time if they’re trying to chit chat with you. Also, to further streamline your day’s workout, you have to be sure that you have a training plan to follow, instead of wandering about on the gym floor. To save time, using a HIIT-style workout that employs less weight and higher repetition counts doesn’t require you to rest between sets for very long (30 seconds to 1 minute may suffice).

Habit Stack

How does habit stacking help busy women in their 30s and 40s? It allows women like you to fit more exercise activities into your day without taking you away from your obligations. Simple things like bodyweight squats as you’re brushing your teeth and parking in the back end of the lot at work are great. And if you have a dog at home, I hope you realize that a short 10-20 minute walk around the neighborhood may seem basic for you, but it’s the greatest thing ever for your four-legged buddy.

For the time where you’re kind of being forced to wait for something, such as during commercial breaks and waiting for food/coffee to warm up in the microwave, you can use that time as an opportunity to squeeze in more exercise. See if you can hold a plank for the entire duration of the commercial break or try to do as many mountain climbers as possible. When you start taking a closer look at your daily routine, even as a busy career woman and mom, you will find that when it is all added together, there’s actually a good amount of time where you’re in limbo, so just use it to your advantage by doing a simple bodyweight exercise.

Outsourcing

When you're a busy woman, you need to take every opportunity you can afford to get some help when needed. In that case, hiring a personal trainer can help speed up your workouts and prioritize what muscle groups you would like to target, more specifically. As for the meals, check out meal prep companies in your town, which often feature expansive menus and take the cooking portion out of the equation, thus saving you even more time.

Conclusion

Busy women and moms deserve their chance to reach their fitness goals, but understand that if you’re trying to lose weight and get in shape without a plan, the chances for success become much smaller. Be strategic about your approach by adding meal prepping to your regular routine, planning out quick workouts that you can get done in 30 minutes or less, and squeezing in a few exercises where you’re forced to wait on something. When busy women like you implement these strategies to your lives, you’ll find that it is still possible to lose weight and tone up even when you have a crazy schedule.

About the Author

Julio Lopez is a Navy Veteran, former collegiate athlete, and personal trainer with a Master’s degree in Nutrition. He is the founder of 365 Physique Personal Training and Nutrition, where he specializes in helping women in their 30s and 40s build a healthy lifestyle into their busy schedule. You can find Julio training his in-person clients at Versatile Fitness and sharing practical tips on social media.

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