5 Tips For Women Over 50 To Fit Exercise Into A Busy Schedule [Ep 41]

In this episode, you'll get five practical strategies to help you maintain a consistent workout routine, even when life gets busy. With the holiday season approaching, it’s all too easy to let fitness slip through the cracks. Whether you're balancing a demanding job, family, or a bustling social calendar, these tips will help you prioritize exercising without feeling overwhelmed.

From scheduling workouts like appointments to finding activities you genuinely enjoy, this episode is packed with actionable advice to keep you moving. We'll also explore how small bursts of exercise and accountability can make a big difference in staying on track. Tune in for the motivation you need to stay committed to your fitness goals, no matter how busy life gets!

Episode Highlights
[00:31] Tip 1: Schedule Workouts Like Appointments
[02:01] Example of Scheduling in Practice
[03:04] The Importance of Prioritizing Yourself
[04:46] Tip 2: Find Workouts You Actually Enjoy
[07:13] Tailoring Workouts to Your Needs
[09:02] Tip 3: Make the Most of Small Windows of Time
[10:31] Tip 4: Get Accountability and Support
[12:02] Tip 5: Be Kind to Yourself When Life Gets in the Way
[14:05] Invitation to the Midlife Mojo Jumpstart Mini Course

If you found today’s tips helpful, please follow the show and leave a review!

And mark your calendar to sign up for my free 5-day Midlife Mojo Jumpstart Mini Course that is launching on November 29th to get even more support for finishing the year strong!

Mentioned in this episode: What To Do When You Slip Up [Ep 16]

Thanks for listening!

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Host Lisa DuPree: Hello. Hello. I'm super excited about today's episode because we're talking about staying on track with exercise, especially when life gets busy. Right now we're rolling into the holiday season. And for many of us, this time of year is even busier than our normal busy. So if you're someone who's juggling a career, family responsibilities and everything else that life throws your way, it's hard to stick to a workout routine.

[00:00:31] So today I'm sharing five practical tips to help you stay on track, consistently getting your workouts in no matter how full your calendar is. These strategies are the strategies that have worked for me as well as many women I've coached. So let's jump right in. 

[00:00:52] Tip number one, schedule your workouts like appointments. This is hands down one of the most effective ways to ensure you get your workouts in when you're busy. Think of your workouts as important meetings with yourself. Those workouts are just as important as that meeting that just got requested with a coworker or your doctor's appointment for your annual physical or meeting some friends out for dinner and drinks.

[00:01:17] Working out, granted, may not be as fun as hanging out with your besties, and, it's probably, or hopefully better than getting a mammogram. But the point is, sometimes you look forward to these outings, and you prioritize them. And then sometimes you don't, but they're in your schedule, and so you know you need to do them, and you just do them.

[00:01:40] Sometimes you're going to look forward to your workout, and sometimes you're not. But if it's in your schedule, you've made time to do it. So go do it. Treat it like a non negotiable appointment. When it's on your schedule, it's far less likely that you're going to skip it because it's been put into the structure of your day.

[00:02:01] For me, I know I feel best when I'm exercising in the late afternoon or early evening. And so if I have, say, a strength training session that's gonna take me 40 minutes and then I know I gotta do a cardio session, that's gonna take me about 20 minutes. That's an hour. So I block out an hour in my afternoon and then I buffer that hour with 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after, so that I have time to

[00:02:30] stop work, transition into workout mode, grab my gym bag, get in the car, get to the gym. I have that hour blocked out to workout and then I have another 15 minutes after I get done to wrap things up, get back home, transition back into whatever comes next in the afternoon or evening. If you're someone who is struggling with prioritizing yourself, I want you to remember this, taking care of your health and fitness is not selfish.

[00:03:04] It's really essential. And when you show up for yourself, you will have more energy and be more present 

[00:03:11] When my daughter was smaller, I would feel bad and it felt selfish to take time to go and exercise. And so, I didn't do it sometimes. Sometimes I did, but then I just felt like I shouldn't be doing it. I should be at home with her and it was really interesting because after a while, both 

[00:03:34] my significant other and my daughter realized that I tended to be grumpy after a stressful day or if I just had a really busy day. If I didn't exercise, especially if I didn't exercise for multiple days in a row, then I was just grouchy and grumpy at the end of the day. And so my kid is very intuitive.

[00:03:56] And she really encouraged me to exercise, because even as a child, she noticed that when mom was exercising, it made her evening and bedtime so much more enjoyable for her. So not only was I getting my exercise in, it helped me alleviate some of that kind of shame

[00:04:21] and feeling of being selfish because I knew that I was going to show up in a better mood. I was going to have better energy and I was going to be more present with her when I was spending time with her of the evening and in, going through her bed time routine. And that was important.

[00:04:46] All right, tip number two, find workouts you actually enjoy. You know, the honest to goodness truth is if you hate your workouts, you're not going to stick with this. I see this time and time again with the one on one clients that I work with. They want to, Increase their fitness or 

[00:05:04] they want to lose some weight, whatever their goal is almost invariably if they're not doing it, they're saying I know this is what I should be doing. I should be doing this type of workout or I'm supposed to be doing this type of workout to get this result. But they don't like those type of workouts.

[00:05:21] And so they're not doing them. It seems like a no brainer, but you gotta find a workout that you're gonna do and you gotta do it. And then you make adjustments as you go along. You're just not gonna make a workout or exercising and physical activity a priority for you if you don't enjoy it because there are too many other things vying for our time and attention that we do value, that we do enjoy.

[00:05:50] It's just gonna lose out every time. So take a few minutes to consider what you enjoy doing and how you enjoy doing it. So if you're thinking about different types of movements that make you feel good and the type of experience you want to have with physical activity and exercise. So what I mean by this is if an important outcome or important result for you with exercise is to boost your mood and reduce stress.

[00:06:29] Then consider modes of exercise that are not competitive in nature and that allow for like a mind and body break. modes of exercise that fit into this area are things that are repetitive, like swimming, walking, even Karate gives you that mind and body break, helps you focus on something.

[00:06:52] Yoga as well. So those are some possible options to explore. If you're looking for social interaction and connection as an outcome and that's something that you enjoy, modes of exercise that offer the opportunity to interact with others. both verbally and non verbally are things to look into.

[00:07:13] You want to look at the ability, of whatever you're doing to engage with others and feel support from others. Options like that could be, dancing, partner dancing, that is one of my go to favorites, like salsa, ballroom, swing dancing. All these are pretty interactive, verbally and non verbally, and you get that support.

[00:07:36] There's a lot of camaraderie there. Walking and hiking groups as well. Playing pick up games of soccer or basketball. Group fitness classes are also good for this. So it funny for me, like I love dancing and I love group fitness classes.

[00:07:54] So I tend to be very internally focused. And both dancing and group fitness allow me to do that. However, I'm doing it with a group of people that are doing the same thing. And so that is connection. That is the ability to interact socially, before or after class

[00:08:16] That is something to think about if social interaction and a connection is something that you would like to get from exercise and that would help you enjoy it and make it a priority. Definitely explore new options if you haven't found your groove yet or you find that as you're really getting busy that you're prioritizing other things.

[00:08:40] So that way you can find ways that and then the last one is to find fitness that fits you and that also fits into kind of what you've got going on, no matter what time of the year or how busy you are. All right, tip number three, make the most of small windows of time and everyday tasks, especially when life gets busy.

[00:09:02] Full workouts may seem just impossible to fit in, look for small pockets of time throughout your day to fit in exercise. So say you have 10 minutes between meetings, do a quick body weight circuit, do some squats, do some pushups off the wall.

[00:09:20] Take a brisk walk around outside. It'll get your mind a little bit reset, but you'll get some activity in. you can also turn every day tasks into workouts. So thinking about taking the stairs, doing calf raises while brushing your teeth, stretch while you're waiting for your coffee, those kinds of things.

[00:09:42] These little bursts of activity keep your momentum going and help you stay active no matter how packed your schedule gets There's Newton's law that comes to mind, like the first law, I believe, relating to inertia. It's something about a body that's at rest stays at rest and a body that's in motion stays in motion.

[00:10:03] So once you're in motion and you built it into your day, it just gets easier. And so even if it's just a quick walk around the block or a short home workout, it all adds up over time. Okay, tip number four, get accountability and support. One of the best ways to stay consistent that I have found for not only myself, but also my clients is finding someone that holds you accountable.

[00:10:31] That could be a workout buddy, somebody that you're meeting to work out with so a workout buddy is a good option. A coach is helping you set your goals, making them Realistic and coming up with a plan for every week and then holding you accountable if I have a coaching client, we're always going to talk about their goals , how successful they were, what did they learn from them?

[00:10:55] And then what are we going to do going forward to make, it even a bigger success. It can even be like being a part of an online community. Having someone that knows what your plan is, knows you have committed to it, and someone you can check in with, or that can check in with you, can make a huge difference.

[00:11:16] So when someone else is expecting you to do the thing, when somebody else is expecting you to show up, It adds that extra layer of commitment. If you're looking for accountability, I invite you to join my free five day midlife mojo jumpstart mini course that's going to be launching on November 29th.

[00:11:37] This mini course is all about giving you the tools you need to feel strong, confident, and energized without the overwhelm. There's nothing like being part of a supportive community where everybody is cheering each other on. Tip number five, be kind to yourself when life gets in the way, because reality, life's going to get in the way we're all going to have bad days.

[00:12:02] We're going to have days where things don't go as planned. Maybe a work meeting runs late, or maybe there's a family emergency that comes up. Or maybe, you're just too tired to work out. You've been going too hard too long. too stressed out and you can't make it happen.

[00:12:19] And that's absolutely okay. The key here is to not let one missed workout spiral into a week or a month or more of inactivity. So when life happens, , remind yourself that it's perfectly normal to have off days. The important thing is to get back on track as soon as possible because longevity, fitness, functioning at our optimal level of wellness and flourishing is a long game, right?

[00:12:56] It's long term. It's not something that you do for a few weeks and then you can check the box and it's yeah, great. I'm fit. I don't have to do it anymore. Moving on. So it is a consistent effort over time. And that's what matters most is that consistent effort over time, so you don't have to be perfect.

[00:13:18] You want to be realistic and so when something comes up and it throws a monkey wrench into your best laid plan, do what you can squeeze and exercise.

[00:13:28] If you can break up your exercise session, if you are crunched for time or if you have to skip it, just get back on track. without giving yourself a lot of guilt and feeling like it's too hard or you can't do it because you absolutely can do it. So for more on that, I did a whole episode - it was episode 16, What to do when you slip up.

[00:13:51]  So I'll put that link in the show notes for you. All right. Speaking of getting back on track, if you're looking to jumpstart your fitness and finish the year strong, remember I've got that perfect opportunity for you.

[00:14:05] I'm offering a free five day midlife mojo jumpstart mini course designed specifically for women over 50 who want to get leaner, stronger, and more energized heading into 2025. Each day is going to focus on a simple, effective strategy to help you either eat better, move more effectively, improve sleep, boost your mindset.

[00:14:26] So you can start seeing results fast. Plus, I'll be hosting live office hours in December for people that have signed up for the mini course. And that is a way for you to get extra support and to get any questions answered that you may have.

[00:14:41] So keep an eye out for the course launching on November 29th. If you'd like a notification when registration opens, just send me an email at Lisa at LisaDupreeCoaching. com or message me on Instagram at LisaDupreeCoaching with the word notify. And I'll send you the link as soon as it goes live. All right.

[00:15:04] So that's a wrap for today's episode on how to stay consistent with your workouts, how to fit them in even when life gets busy. So remember the tips, schedule your workouts like appointments and then make them non negotiable. Find workouts you actually enjoy so that you want to do the workouts and you're going to stick to them.

[00:15:31] Make the most of small windows and everyday tasks. So find small pockets of time that you can fit in exercise or movement, some sort of physical activity, if those big time blocks aren't available to you when you're super busy. Get accountability and support because one of the best ways to be consistent is having someone hold you accountable and check in on you.

[00:16:00] And be kind to yourself when life inevitably happens and things don't go to plan. So if you found today's tips helpful, please take a minute to follow the show and leave a review. Thank you so much for listening. Keep moving. Get out there and keep your mojo rising.