It’s super hard to focus on your fitness and weight loss journey while having a full-time job.

Assuming you sleep 7-8 hours a day, that leaves you with 16 hours.

If you work 8 hours a day plus commute to work, that’s about 9 hours total. Adding your morning routine, let’s say 1 hour for simplicity’s sake, brings us to 10 hours.

Now, factor in the time needed for cooking and grocery shopping. Let’s call that 90 minutes, or 1.5 hours. We’re at 11.5 hours. Then, add your evening routine, which could be 30 minutes (or 1 hour for most people). Now we’re at 12 hours. We’ll also factor in at least 1 hour for some form of relaxation.

That brings us to a total of 13 hours, leaving you with just 3 hours per day for fitness. That may seem like a lot of time, but suddenly your life becomes all about work and fitness, leaving little room for anything else.

We haven’t even discussed the time it takes to pack your gym gear and commute to the gym. Or the time needed to learn about fitness and dieting. That also takes up a lot of time. Oh, and if you have a spouse or children, those responsibilities add even more to your day.

In other words, it is super difficult to pursue fitness goals while working full-time.

And I know it because I did it. I worked as a full-time lead developer for a year and a half and still managed to lose weight and gain muscle during that time.

Was it hard?
Yeah, of course.

But I already had the knowledge about building muscle and dieting before I started my lead software developer role.

In this article, I’ll discuss the tactics to fit your fitness goals into your hectic, busy full-time job so you can work on your health, too.

Common Challenges

Let’s start with the common challenges people face. These are based on my experience with clients and people I’ve helped at my job (yes, I’ve helped fellow software engineers get fit!).

Here are the most common challenges:

• Lack of time
• Very low energy
• Back pain (from sitting for long hours)
• Irregular eating habits

Priorities

Let’s tackle the biggest challenge of them all, which I’ve foreshadowed a bit: Time.

At first glance, time seems like the issue. But it’s actually the underlying principle that’s the problem.

What is this underlying principle?
You don’t prioritize fitness.

If fitness or health were your top priority, you’d skip Netflix for a workout. But it isn’t—it’s just something you consider “nice to have.” That’s why you treat it as an afterthought.

To make progress, fitness has to be a priority for you to “make time” for it.

And honestly, that concept is ridiculous to me. Why should you need to “find time” for your health and body?

Your body is the vehicle that moves you through the world. People are more willing to buy an expensive car than to take care of their own bodies.

But with better health comes more energy, and with more energy comes increased productivity. Plus, a fit body boosts confidence, and that confidence often leads to greater respect from others.

So, set fitness as a priority, and the “lack of time” excuse will disappear.

For the other challenges, I’ve created three principles that will tackle these issues and ensure you hit your fitness goals while working full-time.

3 Principles for Success

Principle 1: Efficient Workouts

Yes, it’s possible to burn fat and build muscle with just a few hours a week.

If you can, I highly recommend working out in the morning. The reason is simple: you’ll have more energy for your workouts.

After work, you’re usually drained and lack motivation, making it harder to hit the gym or have an effective workout.

It might be tough to work out in the morning at first, but after a few months, you’ll get used to it. Plus, it’s a great way to boost your energy and start your day strong.

How many days should you work out?
To keep it simple, aim for two full-body workouts per week. Pick one exercise for each major muscle group (biceps, triceps, back, chest, and legs) and do 3 sets per exercise, except for shoulders.

Why leave out shoulders? Because adding shoulders will increase your workout time significantly, and the goal here is to stay consistent by keeping it simple and manageable.

So, to recap: two full-body workouts per week, first thing in the morning.

Principle 2: Smart Nutrition

When you’re busy with a full-time job, time is once again the biggest issue when it comes to eating healthy.

How do you ensure that you’re eating well with so little time?
Meal prep.

It’s that simple. By prepping your meals, you control portions, calories, veggies, and protein intake. Google some meal-prep ideas and prepare your meals for 5 days in advance, ideally over the weekend.

If you don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen, search for quick, easy meal-prep recipes—yes, they exist!

Once your meals are prepped, there’s another problem: snacks.
Offices are notorious for unhealthy snacks, which can quickly add to your calorie count and hinder your progress.

Solution?
Bring your own healthy snacks to work. Again, search online for options you enjoy and pack just enough for each day.

Principle 3: Sneaky Cardio

If you want to accelerate your weight loss, cardio needs to be part of your daily routine—especially if you have a desk job.

The human body isn’t made to sit for 8+ hours, and it’s not healthy either.

When people hear “cardio,” they often think of intense treadmill sessions. But do you know what else counts as cardio?
Walking.

You might say, “But I can’t just leave my desk to go walking at work!”

That’s where the Pomodoro Walking technique comes in.

The Pomodoro technique is a proven method to improve cognitive ability and focus. It involves 50 minutes of focused work followed by a 10-minute break.

Instead of using your break to scroll through your phone, why not take a 10-minute walk around the office? This simple habit can significantly increase your daily step count.

While the ideal daily step count is around 10,000, don’t stress if you’re starting with far fewer steps. Figure out your default step count and aim to increase it by 1,000 steps, or even 2,000 if you’re feeling ambitious.

Don’t underestimate the power of walking for weight loss. It’s incredibly effective for me and my clients.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, you have to prioritize your fitness. Don’t let your health and fitness come second.

Although I don’t have children, I understand that many of you have family responsibilities and need to put food on the table. But for me, I can’t imagine putting my job ahead of my health and body. No matter where I worked or what role I had within a company, I never put my work before my health and body. And my actions reflected that. I always worked out before my job started, forcing myself to wake up a few hours earlier to make sure I got my workout in.

A lot of my happiness comes from the confidence I feel, the respect I get from others, and the energy and passion I have for life—all because I take care of my health.

A job is something I can always replace, but my health and body are not.

If you start thinking this way, I have no doubt that you’ll get fit too. But for now, enjoy your weekend—and don’t forget to meal prep! Haha.