Losing Weight on a Budget: Workouts for Busy People (Including Free Ideas!)

I completely believe the adage that 80% of weight loss starts in the kitchen and the remaining 20% continues in the gym.

Actually, I might say that 50% of weight loss starts with a positive, patient attitude, 30% eating, and 20% working out.

Technically yes, you can lose weight without working out. But I believe you will have a more positive experience with your journey if you can incorporate some sort of movement from the get go.

Here are some of the benefits of exercise that the Center for Disease Control has identified:

• Maintain weight.
• Reduce high blood pressure.
• Reduce risk for type 2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and several forms of cancer.
• Reduce arthritis pain and associated disability.
• Reduce risk for osteoporosis and falls.
• Reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Beyond these things, I have found that working out has naturally encouraged better eating. And the better I eat, the more I want to work out. The Center for Disease Control even states, “However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity.” WOW! That’s a pretty big statement isn’t it? I bet if you are doing this for the long term – and I sincerely hope that you are – you’re taking note.

The Excuse of Time

I am a believer that you always have time and money for the things that matter to you. I know many of you reading this are busy, and I’ve very much been there, done that. Perhaps you’re a single mom working two jobs. Or a work-at-home parent like myself. Or a new parent. Or a guy who works a high stress job. The first thing I’d like to ask you is “do you agree that making time for exercise is important?” If you answered yes, that’s the first step.

If you truly are a busy person with a crazy schedule, I encourage you to be flexible and realistic about your expectations. When my kids were very small, I remember training for a marathon. While I’d run marathons before, the season in my life was wrong. I was exhausted! One Saturday morning out running a 16-miler, I owned how very tired I was. I needed sleep, not 3 hour long workouts! I decided to quit the marathon.

So the flip side of making time, is understanding realistically how much time you have to give. This may not be the year to train for a half Ironman. Heck, it might not be a good year for going back to Spin, hour-long workouts at the gym, or taking up karate. Sometimes we excuse ourselves from working out at all, because we can’t workout how we’d prefer. 

If you’re willing to manage your expectations a bit and keep an open mind, today I’d like to give you a few ideas, whether you can workout from home, or at a gym.

Working Out From Home

Since the bent of this post is “budget,” let’s start here. There are a number of workouts you can do without a gym membership or even much equipment. A few of the options below are even free. Here are a few of my favorite workout videos and ideas:

• Yoga with Adriene. If yoga is your thing, you must check out this FREE YouTube channel! This gal is super cute and has a yoga workout for everything – back pain, weight loss, morning routine, yoga for beginners, you name it. She’s upbeat and positive and the workouts range from just a few minutes to closer to an hour. Recommend.
• Fitness Blender. Disclosure here: I’ve not actually done any of the workouts here, but still think it’s worth mentioning because it’s free. They offer high-quality workouts tailored to your ability level and what you’d like to do. I have heard many people rave about this resource!
• CrossFit.com. Don’t have the money to go to a CrossFit gym? You can find a WOD posted to the CrossFit.com website. I rarely follow the workout to a “T,” but will modify or use some of the workouts for inspiration or ideas.
• Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred. Among one of my top recommendations for an at-home video is that it only requires simple equipment (hand weights, mat) and the fact that the workouts are just 20 minutes long. (Currently $7.89 for the DVD on Amazon. You may find an episode or two free on a service like Comcast.)
• Bob Harper (Inside Out Method). If you are looking for a workout that’s a bit more challenging and substantial than Shred, I highly recommend Bob Harper’s Inside Out Method videos. I own the Strength, Cardio, and Yoga, and they are all great. While the workouts are about an hour in length, there are 30-minute workout options on each DVD. Or, just turn it off at 20-30 minutes. Trust me, you’ll still get an amazing workout! (These currently run for about $7-$15 on Amazon.)
• Create Your Own Track. I love running (more on why in a post next week!), but it’s not very conducive to head out the door for a 5-mile run when I have the kids to watch. Plus, I always prefer running outside to on a treadmill. Here’s one workout I came up with during the summer: I created my own “track!” Basically, I run down the block and circle back up and down and circle back up. This way I’m always running right in front of my house. Sometimes my kids will join me on their scooters. I use my Garmin Forerunner 15 to track my distance and pacing, but you could also use MapMyRun or a running app to do something similar.

Be creative here! Perhaps you can pick up a couple DVDs to rotate, or buy a jump rope and a kettle bell and do some intervals in your driveway. Maybe you can make a point to find a bunch of free workout videos on Netflix and put them in your queue. Many of these workouts can be done in 30 minutes – that’s less than half of a Bachelor episode people!

Working Out at the Gym

My favorite form of fitness is definitely running, but I have seen tremendous benefit from cross training and strength training, too! But where to start? What to do?

Here’s a tip if you feel clueless and you’re short on time: focus on 5-7 exercises and do each with intensity. To help you get started, I’ve made a fun image for you (feel free to “pin” it to your fitness board!):

For instance, one day you may do:

• 5 minutes of rowing, hard intensity
• 25 sit-ups
• 25 kettle bell swings
• 30 seconds jump rope
• 30 seconds plank hold
• Repeat this, 3-4 times

I love working out this way – it’s perfect if you’re short on time and/or have a short attention span. By doing each exercise at the highest intensity you can, you’ll still feel like you got an amazing workout! My circuit training workouts can leave me more breathless than a 4 or 5-mile run! Sometimes, I will do a workout like this from home simply by choosing activities that don’t involve equipment I don’t own. Easy!

Now it’s your turn: in spite of your busy schedule, how have you managed to workout? Do you have any additional tips or encouragement you could send for my busy readers out there?