How do you get yourself to wake up early?

kariplz

Hello MFP folks,

I find myself for the past 3 weeks every night going to bed thinking ' i will wake up tomorrow 45 mins earlier so I can do 30DAY Shred'.

I know most of you will say.. you should work out when it's convenient for you, that's the only way it's gonna work but it hasn't been. I commute 2 hours each way to work and after 9 hours of work and then two more hours of driving in traffic by the time I get home, I don't wanna do anything but lay on my couch. I have a hard enough time meal prepping.

What's your advice on getting your butt out of bed to work out? I'm usually awake about 30 mins before I actually get out of bed. I am one of those people that just keeps hitting the snooze button until I have no choice but to get up because if I don't I will be late to work. I seriously wish I was a morning person.

Please helpppp!!

hookilau

I go to sleep early the night before.
Keep realllllllly busy until bedtime & then just knock off. It took a couple of days to get into the routine and I felt like 10#'s of crap crammed into a 5# bag but that didn't last.
Once over the hump, it worked really well....except that I fall asleep around 9pm and rise at 5am now no matter what :blushing: :laugh:

Jericha1992

Do you have an Android phone?

I've downloaded the Sleep as Android app, and it has been awesome!

It uses the accelerometer in your phone to to sense your sleep movements, and subsequently your sleep cycle.
You set your alarm and give it a time window (I set 30 minutes) prior to your alarm time in which it can wake you up. Then, it wakes you up at the lightest part of your sleep cycle, which makes it considerably less miserable to hear that alarm.

You can also set the maximum number of times you're allowed to hit snooze.

Also, there are a number of failsafes against just turning off the alarm that you can choose from. I have it so that to make the alarm shut up, I have to get up and scan a QR code in the bathroom.

I've always been like you as far as waking up goes, but this has helped me a lot.

It has a 2-week free trial, and you can purchase the app permanently for $2.99. Best $3 I've ever spent.

lewandt

I hear ya! I am not a morning person either. And when i do get up, i want to eat first and take my time with breakfast.

Only suggestion i have is to put your alarm somewhere where you have to get out of bed to shut it off.

nikilis

AlongCame_Molly

Adderall XR 20 mg :laugh:

Adrianachiarato

I don't.

MyChocolateDiet

set your alarm clock even 15 minutes earlier. bring a full bottle of water to bed with you. at the first time it goes off drink the entire water. hit snooze and go back to sleep. TRY staying asleep with a full bladder nagging you. In the restroom have a very perky smelly plug in like zesty like berries or citrus or something. invest in a timed coffee maker that you set the night before and filled with coffee. by the time you get out of the bathroom that coffee will be ready, you'll smell it and want it. Extreme alternative for extreme laziness.... have a couple of kids. let them sleep with you at night so that when you get up for that morning tinkle they flow to fill the entire area of your bed like so much water. bam! no place to sleep, coffee's ready, you're UP!

Hauntinglyfit

michable

I have only been doing this for a week (also to do the 30DS). Never been a morning person, but made the decision to get up at 5am on my work days to work out. There are only 3 important things:
1. Make the decision to get up. (This is critical)
2. Go to bed early (7-8 hrs before you plan to get up)
3. Get up when your alarm goes off.

And that's it.

lilred806

Borrow a toddler. My 2 year old wakes me by 6 am every morning. I keep trying to get him to sleep longer but it doesn't work. I can't sleep with him jabbering and making train noises. I get up and ready and I am able to work out early in the day.

suziepoo1984

Have kids! Lol! I have not slept since 17 months and I am yawning all the time. Every morning it's like, I am up anyway! Might as well workout :laugh:

Fit4_Life

I usually set my alarm.. LOL!:laugh:

MysteriousMerlin

Do you have an Android phone?

I've downloaded the Sleep as Android app, and it has been awesome!

It uses the accelerometer in your phone to to sense your sleep movements, and subsequently your sleep cycle.
You set your alarm and give it a time window (I set 30 minutes) prior to your alarm time in which it can wake you up. Then, it wakes you up at the lightest part of your sleep cycle, which makes it considerably less miserable to hear that alarm.

You can also set the maximum number of times you're allowed to hit snooze.

Also, there are a number of failsafes against just turning off the alarm that you can choose from. I have it so that to make the alarm shut up, I have to get up and scan a QR code in the bathroom.

I've always been like you as far as waking up goes, but this has helped me a lot.

It has a 2-week free trial, and you can purchase the app permanently for $2.99. Best $3 I've ever spent.

:O TOTALLY AWESOME. I have a wimpy phone, no fancy stuff for me :explode:

I've always been an early riser. I need just about 6 hours sleep to feel good when I wake up. Even when I don't set the alarm, I'm usually up within an hour of my normal time.

I do workouts after work :flowerforyou:

I feel your pain, 13 hours just for work a day. You're a brave highway warrior!

Ke22yB

I am a morning person who has a feral cat who was taken in years ago but wants to go out to prowl every morning and walks right up my hip and stares into my face and scratches at the covers till I move thats how my days start and once he is out I can get to my run

bunnyklutz

Move your alarm clock to the other side of the room. This worked for me when I had a hard time waking up in the morning. Once I was out of bed it was easier to stay out of bed. Of course I had to put the alarm clock on the whole other side of the room, farthest away possible from my bed. Just make sure its nice and loud. The alarm clock we have for my son is quiet(for an alarm clock) and turns itself off after 5 minutes.

meeper123

I get up and splash water on my face it really seems to help

meeper123

haha that's cool

MyChocolateDiet

I get up and splash water on my face it really seems to help

How do you work up the courage?

meeper123

I get up and splash water on my face it really seems to help

How do you work up the courage?

Oh like how do I get to the point where I am not hitting snooze? My husband is military he has to be up at 4:30 if I don't get up my dog starts barking for me to wake up lol

meeper123

set your alarm clock even 15 minutes earlier. bring a full bottle of water to bed with you. at the first time it goes off drink the entire water. hit snooze and go back to sleep. TRY staying asleep with a full bladder nagging you. In the restroom have a very perky smelly plug in like zesty like berries or citrus or something. invest in a timed coffee maker that you set the night before and filled with coffee. by the time you get out of the bathroom that coffee will be ready, you'll smell it and want it. Extreme alternative for extreme laziness.... have a couple of kids. let them sleep with you at night so that when you get up for that morning tinkle they flow to fill the entire area of your bed like so much water. bam! no place to sleep, coffee's ready, you're UP!

I like that idea

Ophidion

lisa35120

I'm not a morning person AT ALL and I never have been. I work out after I get home from work.

Pete0725

That's one hell of a commute. I can relate as I had a similar commute. Is it possible to go to a gym close to your job after work?

SLLRunner

It's interesting, but when I was younger- my twenties, thirties, and half way into my forties- I was a night person and could not get out of bed early to save my life.

Then, sometime in my late forties, something changed. I am now a morning person and get up at 5 a.m. weekday mornings to work out. It really feels good to do get up early and exercise, but my drive to work is only ten minutes away.

Since you commute so much, I would suggest trying this getting up early to do your exercise one day at a time. Just make yourself get up so you have enough time to do your shred. You can do it!

nikilis

kariplz

Thank you guys for your suggestion! This is dumb but I seriously didn't think about it. I think the best idea is to get an actual Alarm and put it in my bathroom (This is the furthest away spot in my room). Right now using my phone for alarm and I put it right under my head .. lol too easy to hit snooze and go right back to dreaming.

Right now, I'm going to gym for about 45 mins right after the gym, I'm following the C25K program (I go to 1. to avoid traffic and 2. to feel like I'm doing some form of exercise. ) but I feel like I'm never giving it my all and I'm just slugging to it.. Lol maybe this getting used to getting up early will prepare me for kids hahaa

hookilau

omg. it's so freekin cute :noway:

Italian_mom

set your workout clothes the night before so you are ready to go!

piersonj

I have found the best way to get up early to workout is by not getting up early but changing my wake up time. By this I mean, if you are currently getting up at 6:00am and would like to get up at 5:15 three days a week to exercise then get up at 5:15 everyday and use the non exercise day as "me" time. Read the book you have been meaning to get to, do crafts, anything you enjoy and look forward to doing. Also, and maybe the hardest, if you want to get up at 5:15 during the week, don't sleep past 7:00 on the weekends. A steady schedule is an early riser's best friend. Personally I find snooze to be evil, the extra sleep is not helpful and it makes me sluggish all day. When the alarm goes off, I turn it off and get out of bed. That is the hardest change for most of my friend that wanted to "be morning" people.

aneetar

Never could do it on my own the thirty-odd years I've been alive, but a side-effect of wanting to rid myself of the extra kilos has been the arrival of the skylark version of me. I hired a personal exercise trainer; he arrives 7.30 am; the shame of having to make someone wait for a sleepyhead has seen to it that I somehow crawl out of bed about an hour start time. This sure is an expensive way to re-set one's routine. Won't complain - I've seen more beautiful sunrises the last two months than the rest of my life end to end.