Morning Workout Motivation

Why oh why is it so hard for me to get up and work out in the morning?!?!?! When I had the Groupon for 10 bootcamp classes I made myself get up, but after a few weeks of that I stopped. Life got in the way, I got tired, excuse after excuse, blah, blah, blah....I read a Women's Day article today with ten tips on workout motivators and it had some great advice and practical tips that will hopefully help get my butt in gear come mornings this winter!

Now I realize that there are benefits to working out in the morning, but staying put in my warm cozy bed with my hubby sounds a million times better than leaving it, especially now that it's getting colder out. I guess I've always known that exercising in the A.M. helps you sleep better, revs up your metabolism and boosts brain function. Getting my workout in early also subconsciously sets the tone for the rest of my day and makes me want to eat healthier because I don't want to "ruin" the hard work I've just done!The biggest bonus in my book in starting my day off with a workout is not having to worry about work/family/friends/social evening plans derailing my workout plans. Despite these checks in the "plus" column for morning workouts, I don't consider myself a morning person and love sleep more than anyone I know, so often the snooze button instead of the pavement.

This article interviewed several of my favorite healthy living bloggers to find out how they get moving in the mornings, and their tips (with my comments) are below:

1. Schedule a Workout You Want to Do - Makes sense to me! If I don't feel like running outside I can hit the treadmill or do a circuit workout - doing even 30 minutes of walking when I had "planned" a 5 miler is better than NOTHING. Sometimes I'm such an "all or nothing" person that I'll do nothing if I can't do it 100% - but with working out, I need to remind myself that anything is better than sitting on my butt.
2. Get Some Sleep - I really need to work on this one...Going to bed at 11:30 and getting up at 5 AM just won't do. I need to get better at going to bed around even 10 PM in order to get enough sleep and wake up to work out in the morning!
3. Buy a Lamp - This one suggests getting a bedside lamp to turn on the minute your alarm goes off instead of hitting snooze, but that would wake Tyge up. Instead I can aim for popping up and heading into the bathroom where my clothes are - see below.
4. Lay Out Your Clothes the Night Before - This one is KEY for me - I set out my complete outfit down to my socks in the bathroom the night before. I've even slept in my clothes (including sports bra) so I have no excuse not to jump out of bed and get moving.
5. Utilize Social Media - This suggests using Facebook, Twitter, etc. as a form of accountability - for example posting that you're running a 5 miler before work in the morning. I don't love that idea, but I do like (and need!) the accountability of having someone know what my exercise plans are and (lovingly!) calling me out if I don't do them. Tyge isn't the best accountability partner for me (for many reasons, but it's hard to call your wife out on a sensitive subject for her!) so I like the idea of telling one of my fitness girlfriends and asking her to text me to ask how my workout was, knowing I'll have to be honest if I skip it.
6. Eat a Small Snack - I usually work out in the AM on an empty stomach, but suppose I could eat half an apple or some PB toast to get me moving.
7. Visualize How You’ll Feel - This one is super motivating for me! If I have a workout planned for the morning but snooze instead, I'll have that extra 60 minutes of sleep which is instantly gratifying, but I'll have guilt all day once I do wake up and skipped it. Getting up may suck for the moment, but once I'm done I always feel awesome, and that feeling lasts throughout the work day! It's especially satisfying when I can sit down to chill after a long day's work or concentrate on making a nice meal (if we don't have plans, which we usually do haha) rather than worry about working out.
8. Create a New Playlist -  I suppose to mix things up this could be helpful, but I don't get sick of music too often.
9. Give Yourself a Break - Doing anything too much can burn a person out, so I think it's important to only work out a few mornings a week and allow myself to "sleep in" on the others. I also usually have early morning meetings for work a few times a week so it's not feasible to get up early all five days.
10. Don't Think About It—Just Do It - This is 100% right - if I let my head get in it, I can justify not working out so I need to get up out of bed and just DO it!

So with this motivation fresh in my brain (and the Thanksgiving food ready to be worked off), I joined our nearest Community Center this week. They have a 5:30 AM strength class two days a week as well as an indoor track I can run on, which will be nice come winter.  I find it easier to get up if I have a class to go to, especially if there are people there I regularly see and would ask if I wasn't there!

My goals are to work out 3 mornings (M-F) a week and 1-2 evening or weekend days, for a total of 4-5 times a week (modified it on my goals here).  I'm not sure yet how I'll post my weekly workouts (maybe a recap at the end of the week) but I want to have it on here for accountability purposes and to refer back to. This is to help get me through the next 4 weeks - they toughest weeks of the year to be healthy! I'm hoping setting this goal will help keep the "holiday fluff" at bay!