Myth: I Don’t Have Time To Workout

Number one excuse for not working out is lack of time
But that’s a lie.

Don’t believe me? A study done showed that the average American has roughly 4.5 hours of free time everyday.

That’s WAY more time that I thought I had everyday! How is it possible?

Screen time

That’s right, time being spent in front of a screen takes up the majority of our free time. Before you say “I don’t

watch TV” this also includes computers, tablets, and phones. 

Don’t believe me? 

The study excluded essential activities from “free time” which wasn’t taken into account in other studies. So

grocery shopping, showering, child care, commuting, and getting ready for work were not counted as “free time.”

Cooking was counted as part of free time. 

It’s pretty easy to see how fast time flies when in front of a screen. I’m as guilty as anyone for mindlessly scrolling

through Instagram for “5 minutes” when in reality it turns into 20, 30, or even 40 minutes. Or “just one more

episode” is another easy to quickly burn through 2-3 of those hours.

Let’s not even get started on video games. 

So, if you don’t believe you have time for exercise, take a look at how much time you spend watching TV, on your

computer, and on your phone. Nowadays, you can get a report that tells you how much time you spend on each

device or even your app. You can go into an app, like Instagram, and set a reminder to tell you how much time

you’ve spent on it. I have mine set for an hour per day. 

Excess screen time has been shown to have really negative effects on mental health, while exercise has been shown

to improve mental and physical health and wellbeing. 

So here is your action plan. 

Set limits on all of your social media apps and get reminders for screen time on your electronics. An hour a day

for social media is a good start, especially if you have to use if for work. Then set weekly reminders and try to lower

it a little bit each week. Limit TV to an hour per day. You don’t need to watch more than that. 

An hour of social media, and hour of TV, and that leaves 2.5 hours to exercise and cook healthy meals. That is more

than enough time for both of those activities because even on a rushed day, you can get a good workout in 20

minutes and cook a decent meal for a family in 30 minutes. 

If you don’t have time to drive to the gym and have limited time to cook, do one of GST’s virtual workouts and buy

Rachel Ray’s 365: No Repeats which has 365 30-minute meals.