How To Lose Weight With A Busy Schedule: 10 Top Tips To Help You Succeed

Trying to lose weight with a busy schedule is tough. In fact, it can feel an impossible task. But with the right strategies you can lose weight, build muscle, and achieve the body you’ve been striving for.

Whether it’s work, family, social life, or all of the above, your busy schedule can get on top of you. Time slips away. And trying to find time for diet and exercise quickly drops to the bottom of the list.

After all, there’s so much to think about. From what, when, and how much to eat, to what to do in the gym. It’s a headache you could do without. So trying to lose weight with your busy schedule stays in the “too hard” box.

However, with the 10 strategies you’ll discover in this article, you can turn your fortunes around.

So if you’re struggling to lose weight and find time for exercise in your busy schedule, read on for the potential solution.

And if you’d prefer to listen to the audio version of “How To Lose Weight With A Busy Schedule: 10 Proven Strategies”, click the play button below.

Plan Your Busy Schedule

With a busy schedule, planning becomes more important than ever. Time is limited, so you need to use it wisely.

A good plan not only helps you structure your week, it also removes the need to make lots of decisions. Having to constantly think about nutrition and exercise will grind you down. Eventually, you will get to the point where trying to lose weight feels too much like hard work.

So make it easier on yourself by planning. And here’s the approach I suggest to my online coaching clients.

Plan Your Week.

Take one day at the end of the week, typically Sunday, to plan the next 7 days.

What does your work schedule look like? Are there any obvious days and times where you can get to the gym? And are there any business meetings or family events on the horizon that could throw a spanner in the works?

Once you have structure, it becomes clear what is (and isn’t) achievable. So there’s no chance of unrealistic expectations.

Review Daily

“No plan ever survives first contact with enemy.”

Basically, shit happens! And you need to deal with it. Your plan will always need adjusting. So don’t panic when you’re not able to execute it with military precision. Take 10 minutes at the end of each day to reflect on the last 24 hours. If something threw your plan off, what can you do to bring things back on track tomorrow?

Make a tweak or two and move on. Don’t hit self-destruct and ruin the rest of the week.

Keep Things Simple

Nutrition and training can be complicated. But most of your progress will come from simple action.

So if you’re trying to lose weight, but your busy schedule makes it difficult the time, keep it simple.

Creating a calorie deficit is the most important consideration for weight loss. So make this your priority. Start by calculating how many calories you need to achieve your goals. Then use an app such as MyFitnessPal to track and monitor what you eat. Other aspects of nutrition are important, but you can build on these over time.

And if tracking calories seems too much, concentrate on 1-3 simple behaviour changes that encourage a calorie reduction. For example, you might choose to skip breakfast, reduce carbohydrate intake in main meals (p.s carbs aren’t bad for you), or reduce portion sizes. Choose behaviours you feel are simple and would fit seamlessly into your life.

Build On Existing Behaviours

You might think your efforts to lose weight have been a waste of time up until now. Whether you blame your busy schedule or some other aspect of life, you’re demotivated by it all.

So get back on track by building on the positive things you’re already doing. Because, even though it might not seem like, I guarantee you are doing certain things well.

And if you don’t believe me, try this technique.

Rate your diet / fitness regimen on a scale of 0-10.

It’s unlikely you gave yourself an absolute zero, right? And why was that the case? If you scored yourself a 4, why not a 3, 2, or 1?

More often than not, it’s because you don’t think your lifestyle is a complete dieting train wreck. So force yourself to focus on these positives and build on them.

Be Efficient In The Gym

Working out is often the biggest hurdle. Spending hours in the gym simply isn’t going to happen. So you need to maximise your time and be as efficient as possible.

This is where copying unnecessarily complicated training programmes works against you. Contrary to popular belief, you can make great progress with simplistic workouts lasting no more than 45 minutes.

If you can get to the gym 3 times a week that’s more than enough to see results. And even if you can’t make it this frequently, something is better than nothing.

Choose 4 exercises per workout, focusing on compound movements and basic movement patterns. For example, squat, hinge, vertical press, vertical pull, horizontal push, and horizontal pull. Execute these well, train hard, and focus on trying to get stronger. Do this and you’ll make progress.

And if you want a free training programme built around these principles, click here to download the Lean Life Kickstarter Pack. In it you’ll find a 4 week training programme, plus free guides to help you take the first positives steps to a leaner, healthier life, for good.

Increase Your Step Count

Sometimes getting to the gym is genuinely impossible. With a busy schedule, this will happen from time to time. So it’s important to have a base-level of activity that helps you stay active and healthy.

One of the best ways to do this is increasing your step count. At first, you might scratch your head as to how you can do this. After all, you’re stuck behind a desk for the majority of the day. So increasing steps by 1,000 per day seems like fantasy talk.

But when you break it down, it’s not as hard as you might think.

Talking in very rough numbers, walking 1-2k steps might take about 15 minutes. Therefore, is it conceivable you could go for a 15 minute walk every day? If not, how about 3 x 5 minute walks spread throughout the day? A leg stretch after being sat down for a considerable period of time is something you should be doing already. So plan these in every 1-2 hours. Soon you’ll see your step count sky-rocket without much effort.

Prep Your Meals In Advance

Meal prep doesn’t need to be an epic culinary extravaganza that takes an entire day. In fact, if you don’t mind keeping things super-simple, you can create a week’s worth of food in under an hour. And if you don’t believe me, watch this…

The trick is to keep things simple. Choose recipes you can cook in batches for multiple servings. Portion them out and freeze them so they stay fresh for day’s in advance.

And if meal prep still isn’t your thing, consider a meal prep service to take the thinking out of the process. Ultimately, preparing at least some meals in advance, saves time during the week. Just think of all the time you’ll save not having to cook every evening. That’s prime time you could spend in the gym instead.

Make Movement A Daily Habit

Here’s one out of left-field for you. If you’re struggling to lose weight with your busy schedule, exercise every day. Yes, every day!

It might seem counterintuitive, but it works.

Making some form of movement part of your daily routine helps embed exercise as an ingrained part of your lifestyle. Instead of working out being something you try to force into your schedule, it becomes a daily habit.

This doesn’t mean you need to hit the gym every day. Simply allocate 10-20 minutes to some form of movement. This could be anything from light stretching, to mobility work while watching TV, a brisk walk, or few push ups before breakfast. On the day you plan to go to the gym, turn your 20 minutes into 45. And if plans go array, revert back to something simple.

Because, let’s face facts. You’re not looking to step on the Olympia stage in the next 6 months. So these small, incremental behaviours will have a positive effect on you achieving your weight loss goal.

Don’t Waste Your Weekends

After a busy week at work it’s tempting to let the weekend turn into the most lazy 48 hours or your life. But you should resist this urge.

Instead, plan your weekends and use the extra time to your advantage. A lie in until 1pm might seem like a good idea. But think of all the positive things you could’ve done to help you lose weight and progress towards your goal. And besides, you’re not 13 anymore, so get the fuck out of bed!

Undoubtedly, a jam-packed weekend will give you sense of achievement and put you in a positive frame of mind for the week ahead. So if you’re trying to lose weight with a busy schedule, don’t let your weekends become a consistent opportunity missed.

Stay Active With Friends And Family

If you have a family and social life that’s as busy as your work schedule, how do you find time to stay active? One option would be to plan activities that don’t involve sitting around doing nothing.

Go to the park with family, or plan days out that keep you on your feet and moving. This will make a healthy lifestyle fun and something you look forward to. Being healthy doesn’t always have to be about how much weight you lift in the gym. You can compliment your workouts with other activities too.

Start thinking in ways that turn the things you enjoy doing into opportunities to stay active.

Learn The Art Of Patience

Finally, if you have a busy schedule and you’re attempting to lose weight, patience is an art you need to learn.

In reality, achieving your goal might be slower than you expect. And it’s certainly not going to be without its challenges. So have a long-term mindset. Your goal should be about establishing habits and behaviours that promote sustainable changes in your lifestyle.

Stay focused on making better decisions around diet and exercise. And over time these will pay off more than you realise.

The Bottom Line On How To Lose Weight With A Busy Schedule

Trying to lose weight with a busy schedule is daunting. With so much to think about it almost feels impossible to get started. But the trick is to focus on simple, incremental behaviour changes that create a healthier lifestyle.

You won’t solve this puzzle overnight. That’s for sure.

There’s no magic fat loss bullet. And there’s certainly no diet supplement that will magically make free-time appear in your diary.

In reality, you need to make a realistic plan of action to maximise your time. Build on your existing habits and behaviours to make positive changes to your lifestyle. And with enough patience, these seemingly small actions will snowball into the positive change that’s eluded you up to now.

What are your thoughts on trying to lose weight with a busy schedule? Has this article got you thinking? Let me know in the comments below, or drop me a message on Instagram (@iron_paradise_fitness).

Here’s The Next Step In Achieving Your Fitness Goals

After reading this article, you’ve got a few practical strategies to help you lose weight with a busy schedule. But what about the other pieces of the puzzle? Maybe you feel my personal 1:1 coaching would help accelerate the process of achieving your fitness goals. And you’d be right!

Through my online coaching programme, The Lean Life Method, I’ll help you lose fat, build muscle, and achieve the body you’ve been striving for. Ultimately, taking the guesswork out of training and nutrition, so you can live a leaner, healthier life for good. 

​With The Lean Life Method, you’ll learn a simple, stress-free way to achieve your fitness goals. And you’ll feel more confident and healthy than ever before.

And there’s no need to torture yourself in the gym, avoid wine and pizza, or kill your social life in the process.

I’m guessing you’ve spent thousands on pills, powders, and programmes that delivered nothing. So you might be wondering what’s different about me?

The simple truth is this… I get results. And I’ll teach you everything you need to know, so you can maintain those results.  So answer me this.

• How much precious time are you spending trying to figure out what’s right, instead of making progress?
• Are you sick and tired of never seeing the results your hard effort deserves?
• How much stress and frustration is your lack of progress adding to your life?

A lack of clarity might be holding you back from living the leaner, healthier life you deserve.

Schedule A Consultation Call

Click here find out more about the results, people just like you, are getting with the programme.

And if you feel like my personal 1:1 support and coaching could be just what you’re looking for, schedule a free consultation call.

So, if you’re even the slightest bit interested, click here for more information.

But for now, all I’ll say is, keep living the Lean Life. And I’ll see you soon.

P.S. If you want to follow me on Instagram, go here.