I commute 3 hrs a day and have little time for exercise. Used to be skinny, now i'm developing a paunch and love handles. What can I do besides watching my diet as I have no time for the gym?
You can start a compressed workout routine. Just some simple pushups or pullups for ten minutes every day or other day can make a difference.
Mike Rowe, from Dirty Jobs, explains his prison workout which doesn't take much time and no equipment.
8 Answers
This is dependant on where you live but perhaps you can cycle part way then take public transit. You get the benefit of a ride in the morning and again on the return home and you're helping to save the planet by leaving the car, resting comfortably in the driveway, at home.
It may sound silly, but a Wii FIT may be a decent thing to get you STARTED. While it isn't a TRUE fitness product, it will make you more aware of what you can do physically to try and stay fit. Try spending 30 minutes a day on it. Even people with ungodly commutes like yours can spare a half hour.
Stop commuting 3 hours if at all possible...
That is just unhealthy on multiple levels. Think about how much of your life you spend commuting at that rate. Is it worth it???
Probs not.
I have found that to keep weight off you must either exercise or watch what you eat. Both take sacrifice.
Really it's simple math, your calorie intake must equal the amount of calories that you burn. If it doesn't you will gain weight.
So if you can't make time to exercise and you don't want to change the way you eat, you might want to invest in some pants with an elastic waist band.
I am a big believer that there are few things worse for the human body than a long commute and a permanent desk job. Our bodies (and more importantly our minds) need a chance every day to burn excess energy... or as you said, we'll likely begin to store it in the form of love handles and fat (and for our minds: stress). I am in a situation similar to yours. A few things to try/think about:
1. Be a "crack of dawn" man. Before you get in the car, get out and go for a 20-30 min run, bike, or swim. You have the most energy in the morning and you can feel good knowing that you've done more before 7am than most men will do all day. If you can, do this with a friend or significant other that will keep you motivated. Don't think you have the energy? I'd wager that you do, and you'll have more of it the more active you are.
2. Take the stairs more frequently, or just go for a walk during your lunch break. Experts say that just walking everyday can be great exercise. Skip the big mac for lunch, pack a lunch, and go for a 20-30 min walk outside for lunch.
3. Be a weekend warrior. Have to ride the desk all week? Ride a mountain bike, learn to kayak, Join a hiking club. Try Meetup.com to find a group near you. Nobody says you can't kick-ass on the weekends, even if you spend your weeks in the sprawl and crawl.
4. Keep it interesting. Nothing is less motivating than a work out that feels like work. No sense being a slave to the commute AND the gym. Get into a new sport that will challenge you, try different running routes, or set a goal that you can work towards.
Well the best thing would be to eliminate the 3 hour commute. That's a lot of time to be cooped up and if it's a driving commute it's going to take a toll on your health in one form or another. Driving simply isn't a healthy activity whether it be the stress/frustration of dealing with traffic or the very real risk of being killed in an accident. 40,000+ Americans die each year in car crashes - that's more than are killed by guns, terrorists, plane crashes and many other bad things COMBINED!
All that said, I'm assuming that moving closer to work isn't really an option and looking for a new job these days is probably not a good idea either. There are other options. For starters, try to walk as much as you can. Park in a spot at the end of the lot instead of near the door. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Get up and walkover to a coworker and talk to them in person instead of calling them on the phone. At night turn off the TV and go for a walk (an especially good option if you have a family since kids watch way too much TV as it is!) Closer to home, use a bike instead of your car for household errands such as grocery shopping.
Next up keep a journal of everything you eat. There are numerous web and iPhone apps to help with this. Chances are you could easily drop 5 pounds just by making some minor dietary changes. You'd be amazed how many calories are crammed into some of the foods we eat - even "healthy" foods like a juice smoothie. Calories are still calories and if you take in more than you burn you WILL get fat. You don't need to radically alter your diet, just meticulously track everything for 2-3 weeks and look at where the calories are at and see if you can cut some out by making simple changes such as leaving the slice of cheese off the sandwich, having a latte with non-fat milk, or ordering a medium instead of a large.
Probably the biggest key to success is to ***NOT*** make any radical changes. That sounds completely wrong but reality is the more radical an exercise or diet program is compared to your current life, the less likely you are to stick with it and the more likely you are to not lose the weight and keep it off in the long run. Suddenly becoming a gym rat who only eats all organic vegetarian non-fat food probably isn't going to work because it's too great a change from your current life. Make small changes and try to lose the weigh slowly - no more than a pound a week. It'll take a while but eventually you'll be back to your old self. You didn't gain that weigh overnight so don't expect to lose it overnight.
Good luck!
You can start a compressed workout routine. Just some simple pushups or pullups for ten minutes every day or other day can make a difference.
Mike Rowe, from Dirty Jobs, explains his prison workout which doesn't take much time and no equipment.