The Unf*ck Your Fitness Podcast

181. You’re Not Too Busy: Stop Complaining & Start Training

• Kristy Castillo

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I’m just gonna say it: you’re NOT too busy to work out - you just aren’t making it happen. 


I hear so often “I’m too busy to train”, or “Life is too crazy and I don’t have time”. I totally get feeling that way, but you think I haven’t experienced that in my 16 years on this journey?!


Believe me - I don’t have magical free time either, and there’s plenty of things I’d rather be doing than working out. The difference though? I’ve made the effort, and I’ve stayed consistent, because my fitness is a TOP priority.


NO ONE has it easy, and we’ve all got our own sh*t going on. But…how much time are you wasting scrolling, hitting snooze, procrastinating, and avoiding the thing that you say you want most? 


If you’re waiting for life to hand you the “perfect” conditions to start your fitness journey, you’re going to be waiting FOREVER.


I know this is some tough love, but I KNOW you are capable of so much, too. It’s time to stop waiting, stop complaining, and start moving!!


In this episode, we cover:

  • Acknowledging that everyone has challenges & busy schedules, but you can STILL make time for your fitness goals
  • How you can build a strong, healthy body without flipping your entire life upside down
  • Simple + realistic tips to fit workouts into your life, regardless of your schedule


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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Un-Fuck-Your-Fitness Podcast. I am your host, Christy Castillo, and I'm here to give you real talk and cut the BS so you can actually enjoy building a body you love. I'm a personal trainer obsessed with giving you simple action steps to take you from feeling stuck to feeling sexy. Let's go.

Speaker 2:

Hey guys, what's up, welcome to today's short, sweet, spicy episode. Today I am going to be talking, maybe ranting, a little bit about my thoughts on training when life is busy, specifically to those who say I don't have time to work out. I work a nine to five, I work an eight to five, I work an office job, I have kids, I have all the things that get in the way and it's almost like you've been convinced by yourself that you're too busy to train. And I understand. If you're working an eight to five, nine to five job, like I get it, you don't have the amount of flexibility that say I have currently.

Speaker 2:

But we all have a packed schedule, we all have a limited amount of energy. We all have times where time doesn't feel like it's yours. It feels like the morning you're getting your kids ready for bed or for school. You're getting everybody around in the mornings, right, it's crazy. You're getting lunches around, you're getting school stuff around, maybe you're getting your kids ready and off to daycare and then you're getting lunches around. You're getting school stuff around, maybe you're getting your kids ready and off to daycare and then you're getting yourself ready to work, and it's like you're always putting out fires and mornings are hard because it it starts like first thing in the morning you just feel like you're go, go, go and you're behind and then you get to work and then after work you have ballgames or practices or schedules or meetings and all the things right. There's different people in your household with different schedules and it's really hard to get everything done.

Speaker 2:

So I hear the I don't have time. I work an office job. I can't get my steps in, I can't get a workout in, I don't have the flexibility. I have it so bad, poor me, poor me, poor me. And I understand I have it so bad, poor me, poor me, poor me. And I understand. But this also kind of pisses me off because, especially when it's something like your job getting in the way, and while I understand it, there's always this voice in the back of my head thinking there are a lot of people who have a lot worse circumstances Circumstances are a lot worse than mine or yours or ours right that are getting shit done.

Speaker 2:

So I always hear that in the back of my head, regardless if it's me complaining about something, if it's a client complaining about something, if it's somewhere on the internet people saying I don't have time, I don't have time, and you know, it's kind of goes back to that we all have 24 hours in the day bullshit. And we, we do all have 24 hours in the day, we don't. We're not Beyonce, right? Like I titled that episode. Do we all have this? You know, same amount of hours as Beyonce, or something like that. And like, yeah, we all have the same amount of hours, but that doesn't mean that we all have the same amount of stress or the same amount of work to do for our job. We all have different reasons, different excuses. If I'm being honest, we all have different excuses and, yes, some of them are reasons and some of them are straight up excuses, and you have to know the difference. So I hear like, yes, I understand, and these are very, very valid reasons.

Speaker 2:

But then there's this voice in the back of my head that says, but there are so many people that have it way worse off and they're getting shit done. Even I myself have been doing this consistently for 16 years and I hear a lot of hate before I get into the little tips here, I hear a lot of hate about women on the internet. It's just your job to work out. All you do is go to the gym and I'm not saying people really say that about me, necessarily, but it's not true. Like you don't see a lot of behind the scenes things but I won't get into that too much but I've been doing this fitness journey myself not this career but I've been fit and healthy and working on myself and my journey for 16 years. Think of all the things that have changed in my life in 16 years. Like you don't think that I know what it's like to be busy. I hope you do. I hope you understand that. But I just get a little irritated when people say that specifically to me. Like, well, you work from home and you have a gym in your house and you, yeah, I do. But that doesn't mean that in 16 years that I've come across challenges. Okay, I had babies during this journey, I had toddlers, I had elementary, middle school, high school, all the sports, all the events that come with 16 years of raising children. I worked crazy hours at a salon and I didn't, and I still don't, have the time.

Speaker 2:

I have consistently made an effort to make the time and that's the difference. No one and I mean no one has it easy. We lie to ourselves a lot, saying that we don't have time, when we know damn well we spend too much time on our phones, too much time messing around at work, staying after whatever it is right, too much time hitting snooze, too much time procrastinating, too much time not planning, making excuses and, quite frankly, I'm not here for it, like I am here to help you. And I hear this with my clients and yes, this is tough love. And yes, I say these are valid reasons. Right, I don't have time, I have kids, I have an office job. I understand the reasons and those make sense. It's this other stuff of I don't have time and I have it so hard. I don't like that. So we're not gonna do that.

Speaker 2:

You can make the time, just like anyone else, but the longer you stay stuck in that I don't have time, poor me. This is my circumstance mentality. You're right, you won't have the time. So the truth is, you can build a strong, healthy body without flipping your life upside down. You have to figure out this is the time that I have allotted, this is the time that I have available in a day, and these are my goals. And if I want to reach these goals, I have to do X, y and Z and I have to fit it into my schedule. Okay, we're not changing our entire schedule to fit our fitness routine. We're changing our fitness routine to fit into our schedule. So let's talk about a little strategy.

Speaker 2:

I don't even though I just feel like I kind of shamed you. I don't want you to feel that shame if you're feeling that I want you to take that away. What I want you to take that away, what I want you to think about is yes, what is your realistic circumstance? Yes, you have a job. Yes, you work from home. Or, yeah, maybe you work from home, maybe you work at an office job, maybe you have six kids, maybe you have X, y and Z factors, but then think I have a lot of clients who have a lot of really shitty circumstances and they are getting it done, okay.

Speaker 2:

So when I hear people say I don't have time, all these excuses, I think if that's what you want your story to be, then that's what your story is going to be, and I can't even go any further with that, because that's how I feel about it and that's putting it mildly. Honestly, I could go on and on about this, but let's talk about how to fit workouts in instead of complaining about not being able to fit workouts in. And I'm going to kind of go through these quickly. They're tips, obviously, but I think unless you adopt this mentality of I can fit this in and I'm not going to let my job get in the way, then you'll just kind of be stuck. So change your mentality first and then get into these. But I also want to tell you these little tips and things that I thought of so you can think of them and hopefully move on in a great manner and think that you don't have to be perfect.

Speaker 2:

You just have to do a couple things here and there, work it into your life. So, first of all, we have to let go of the perfect routine. I think a lot of times, especially now with social media, I think this used to be easier before social media, when you didn't see these perfect lives and the perfect gym and the perfect routine and the progressive overload and all the things. And all that stuff is fine, depending on your goals. You do need a routine and you do need progressive overload. But if you right now, are just having the excuse of I don't have time and you're not doing shit.

Speaker 2:

To move your body, then you need to start by moving your body. So we need to let go of the perfect routine. That is not a thing. Until you've mastered the basics of being consistent. Three days a week, okay, things are not going to calm down. Things are not going to be perfect. You'll never have a perfect opportunity. You'll be waiting at least 16 years and I still don't have a perfect opportunity to get my stuff done, so you'll be waiting forever. You don't need 90 minutes a day, six days a week. You don't need 45 minutes seven days a week for a workout. You do need to move your body, though consistently, seven days a week for a workout. You do need to move your body, though consistently, but consistency does matter more than intensity.

Speaker 2:

So when to fit in these workouts, think before work a 20 to 30 minute early morning workout is perfect. Think short and focused, not fancy. Maybe. You get up, you have your workout clothes next to your bed, you put them on your body, you go downstairs, you drink some pre-workoutworkout, eat a couple rice cakes and get your ass out to the workout area that you have Designated and you move your body for 20 to 30 minutes. If you need workouts so that you don't have to think about it. That would be genius, because thinking about it takes up half the time. Trying to get on youtube and find a workout that takes longer Than sometimes the workout itself.

Speaker 2:

So join my fit club. It's $35 a month. You have everything that you need that helps, but also a lunchtime workout, a quick walk, a body weight workout, a dumbbell circuit. Put some dumbbells in your car, go out to your car, do a couple bicep curls, do some pushups, squats, go for a jog, go for a walk. Anything is better than nothing. After work, go to the gym really quick. It's okay mamas to say, hey, family, I'm gonna start going to the gym Monday, wednesday, friday after work, so I'll be home an hour later. Figure it out. It's okay to do that, okay. And again, choose a three-day full-body split to avoid that decision fatigue.

Speaker 2:

Follow a plan, or at least know exactly what you're going to do. It doesn't have to be a plan that you purchased on the internet. It can just be something that you want to do. Maybe you go Monday, wednesday, friday and you just walk on the treadmill for a while just to get into that routine. There's nothing wrong with home workouts either. So if you bust home and you have something planned for a pre-workout little snack, chug your pre-workout, change your clothes and get out to that workout space after work.

Speaker 2:

It either has to be before, at lunchtime, or after work. You guys, there's no other time. People are like Gwen I work an office job nine to five and I have to commute. When am I going to work out? Literally before, during or after. There's no other magical time that I can create for you. So I love before work. That would be my option because everything goes. So.

Speaker 2:

Workouts that work for busy women, busy men too, but of course I'm talking to women just because that's who I usually talk to and that's the. We are the ones that are like I don't know what to do. I put everyone before myself. Well, kind of stop doing that. But full body three days a week or upper lower split four days a week, keep a few staple movements and just rotate the progressions weekly. So you can come up with three full body workouts prioritize compound lifts, squats, rows, presses, deadlifts, and then add in some bicep curls and tricep dips and calf raises and that's it. Do that for three days a week for six weeks. Yeah, it might be a little boring after a while, but who cares? The point is to just do something and you will see results with compound lifts and then getting into some accessory movements.

Speaker 2:

Ways to do this is to plan your workouts Sunday night, put them in your calendar and do it. Okay, you have to plan ahead. You have to know what days you're doing your workouts. You have to know are you doing it before, are you doing it on your lunch break? Because if you are, you can't schedule meetings on your lunch break. That's your workout time. Are you going to the gym right after, or are you coming home and saying no one talked to me. I'm pretending like I'm at the gym. I'll see you in an hour. Put your AirPods in and get to work right. So use workout clothes like change before you leave work and come home, or change before you eat dinner. Eat your dinner, make sure it's a light dinner and then go straight out for a walk and a workout.

Speaker 2:

Keep two to three go-to 20-minute no-excuses workouts right on your phone, screenshot them, put them in an album. That's what I do on my iPhone. I have different albums of different workouts that I like, or different things that I see, or different recipes. Make albums on your phone Upper body workouts, lower body workouts, full body workouts. Screenshot them, know exactly what you're doing, copy and paste it to your notes section. It's not really hard, but these are really really simple tips to actually get it done. These planning tips are what can really really save you.

Speaker 2:

So it's Monday morning, five o'clock, your alarm goes off, you're ready to go, you've got it on your phone, you've got your clothes laid out and you're good to go right. So those are some quick tips, since I want to keep this episode short and sweet and spicy. In getting it done, don't overthink it. Those short tips that I gave you are genius. Sunday night, screenshot your workouts these are good for the week. What days am I doing them? What workout clothes am I wearing? Get off social media, get off BlockBlast, christy, and get on your notes section and figure this shit out. No one's going to do it for you. This shit is not optional.

Speaker 2:

So these are the things that you're going to do, and then you're going to turn around and do it 20 minutes three days a week. Come on, come on. You know you scroll your phone for 20 minutes three days a week. Don't sit here and tell me I don't have time. You know damn well you're procrastinating, you're overthinking, you're on your phone, you You're bullshitting around Like come on, you've got to be serious.

Speaker 2:

Like I get asked all the time how do I do this, how do I do this? I can't create time for you. You have to make it. You have to be proactive. With what workouts are you doing? What are you doing? Okay, and if you work all day in an office job, that would be reason enough for me to be like I sit all day long, I have to go for a walk, I have to stretch, I have to do mobility, I have to create some muscle on my body because I sit all day. I have to be actively fighting against that or I'm gonna be screwed when I'm older.

Speaker 2:

Like, this isn't optional. You guys, our lives are so sedentary and yes, that's because of work and yes, that's because of the circumstances of our world right now. You have to fight against that and it's okay to put yourself first. It's okay to say no, I'm actually not doing this and this and this. And going to dinner every single day with my friends after work. I'm not taking my kids to their friends every Friday, I'm going to the gym. I'm going to prioritize myself and my workouts. That's what has to be done.

Speaker 2:

So I love you. Thanks for listening. I hope that this was some positive talk, positive little truth bombs, but I really just I can't stress enough how much it stresses me out to hear people say I don't have time. No shit, like no one has time. I would rather spend my time not working out too. But guess what? The only difference between someone who looks the way they want feels healthy is because they're doing it when you're complaining about it, and that's just facts. So love ya. I hope you appreciate the tough love. I'll talk to you in the next episode.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening to today's show. Go ahead and leave a rating and a review and, of course, follow the podcast so you don't miss out on any future episodes. And I would love it so much if you came to connect with me over on Instagram at Christy Castillo Fit. I will see you next time. Bye.