Diet Culture Myth: We All Have The Same 24 Hours

“We all have the same 24 hours in a day!” is a common phrase used to say that a person isn’t sacrificing enough if they feel they are too busy to reach their goals. It’s generally used to justify why a person was unable to stick to a diet or workout plan and is accompanied by, “just try harder!”

It’s also complete and utter malarkey.

While we all have the same 24 hours to live, we DON’T have the same 24 hours to utilize.

If you have a job that requires you to work a specific number of hours a day, you don’t have access to those hours for ANYTHING else.

If you have a spouse and/or children, there are certain hours in the day dedicated specifically to them and nothing else.

Making this claim is harmful and makes the person saying it sound like a judgmental ass.

Take my schedule for example: I have four kids and am a full-time college student. We homeschool (when I say we, I mean my husband) the younger three and the older kiddo is in middle school and plays football. I also run my own business and don’t get paid if I don’t service my clients (keep your minds out of the gutter) appropriately which includes a LOT of hand-holding.

I manage to workout 5 days a week and home cook 90% of our meals. I don’t do this because I’m a magician but because I have a schedule and support system that allows for it.

I pick my working hours and move them around everything else. My husband is the mastermind behind homeschooling. He creates the kids’ curriculum and teaches them all.

We also live modestly. We’re able to survive on my commissions because we’ve set up our lifestyle to accommodate it.

Not everyone can do that.

That does not, however, mean you shouldn’t try to add in some healthy behaviors. It just means you may not be able to do what I do because you are not me nor are you anyone else. You have your own life and responsibilities to contend with and your own 24 hours to divvy up.

You may not be able to develop a solid workout routine with your current schedule, but you CAN work on your nutrition.

A few tips for adding in healthier behaviors even during your busiest weeks:

1. Set yourself up for success by planning out your dinners every week. They don’t have to be anything fancy – meat, potatoes, and a non-starchy vegetable are all you need. Fill about half of your plate with the vegetable, a quarter of your plate with the meat, and the last quarter with your potatoes.
2. Spend an hour cutting vegetables for your meals so you can toss them in a pan or the oven quickly. Chopped onions and bell peppers go with almost anything. You can toss them with oil and seasoning and put them in the air fryer on 400 for 14 minutes or put them on a sheet pan and bake them. They’re also great raw!
3. Use your crock pot! Place the ingredients in it in the morning and have a delicious dinner ready when you get home. If you’re on a different schedule than your kids due to sports, they’ll have dinner ready when they get home as well.
4. Walk during your breaks at work. You don’t have to hit the gym every day to get your blood pumping. Walking around after a meal helps your body digest the food. This also allows more of the calories from said food to be converted to energy rather than stored as fat. Taking even a minute or so to get up from your desk and walk around can help keep your muscles from cramping and allow the blood to flow more efficiently through your body which can reduce inflammation and water retention in your legs and feet.