GETTING UP EARLY

WhataBroad

I agree with previous posts, you just do it, it becomes a habit and you feel so much better for it. I suggest, if you use your cell phone alarm clock, use something motivational... I've got Eye of the Tiger as my alarm. Until the habit is formed, have it a little further away from you so you actually have to sit up to reach it.

ETA: I'm in bed around 10pm and I am up at 5:15, in my workout room by 5:30 and go for 60 minutes. I work at 8:30.

laurie41565

I have one of those sunlight similator alarm clocks. It slowly lightens my room for a half hour before the time I want to get up. It gets pretty bright by that time and then birds chirp. I like it alot. It really helps in the winter when it is so dark but now I don't need it so much because it is pretty light when I get up now. I set my alarm for 6 and I have my coffee set to go on at 545 so when I get up it's ready. I have a banana for energy and a cup of coffee and then head out to my gym in the backyard at 6:30 and workout for an hour. I eat a good breakfast afterwards. I have to be at work at 8:30 but it is only a 10 min drive so this works perfectly for me. In the beginning it was very hard to get up and workout but now that I've been doing it awhile it just comes naturally. Love waking up and working out now. Gets me pumped for the day and it's nice to have it done early instead of having to do it when I get home from work at 5.

ahviendha

My secret is I go to bed early! That way I wake up about 20-30 minutes before my alarm, and depending on the day, I lay in bed, or get up early and don't have to listen to the alarm clock.

I workout most mornings, so I get ready for that, eat my half banana, and get going.

sailawaykate

I have to be to work at 9am, too (lucky, I know)! I'm a morning type person, but it takes me a while to wake up enough to get into workout mode!

Bedtime before 10:00 (usually more like 9 or 9:30) or I will require too much caffeine the next day.
Wake up - 5:45ish, get myself some water, eat a tiny bit, brush my teeth, just general "waking up" things.
Workout - 6:15-7:00, then start the daily routine!

cincigina

A week or so ago i downloaded the "sleep cycle" app which monitors how deep your sleep is and wakes you up gently when it's at it's lightest. It's really helped me so far! I would definitely recommend it if you have a smart phone

very cool. totally going to try that.

Elegra2006

I've always been a morning person, my alarm never goes off, I'm always awake.

Routine is key, I sort out everything the night before (all food for the day, work clothes, gym clothes etc all laid out). Go to bed around 10-10.30, read for a while til sleepy. Then I wake naturally at 5.30, doze til around 6-6.30, go to the gym if it's a morning work-out day or go to work if it's a day when I'm exercising in the evening.

The (slightly) brighter mornings do help!

jessupbrady

I get up at 6am and do a cardio routine for 30 minutes; then take a quick shower and head out. Of course, I do not have to be to work by 8:30, but my commute is about 75 minutes. Luckily, the last 45 of that is on a train and I get to read.

That's my typical work-day morning.

karrielynn80

it think it's all about developing a habit. once i do it for a wk or two my body doesn't HATE me as much lol and it's routine. if a skip a few days, it takes a few days to readjust - but i tell myself if i don't get up early, i'll be sluggish all day long, plus probably end up late anyway (getting up early to workout, leaves room for any other things that might otherwise make me late).

OH and working out prevents me from getting stuck behind a school bus...

tinapunch

My fiance' and I are morning people. However, as morning people, we are also "early to bed" kind of people!! LOL
M-F our alarm goes off at 4am.
Up by 4:10 (after the first snooze).
We drink coffee while I make everyone's lunch for the day (we have 3 boys and ourselves).
Out the door by 4:50 (the gym is only 5-10 min away).
Back home by 6:10 about the time our middle son leaves for the bus stop.
Breakfast for the rest of us and get the 7 yr old ready for school.
Shower and out the door by 7:20 to take the 7 yr old to school.
At work by 8am.
Home again around 5:30pm.

We are usually in bed no later than 8:30 or 9pm. I guess you can see why.

But, doing the same thing for so long, it is just routine. Even on the weekends we can't sleep past 6am.

It gets easier every day!!

hrshygrl00

I have been waking up at 5.30 AM for YEARS.
I usually get right up with the alarm, extremely rare that I fall back to sleep (like I did this morning for 20 mins lol)

Get up, brush teeth, (I shower at night) get clothes together (if I haven't done it the night before), do makeup/hair, dress, If I'm taking my lunch I'll grab that and out the door. I need to be out of the house no later than 6.40.

bermudamel

I've been working early so long (draw blood so i get the early am fasting folks) that I'm used to being up! I get up at 5am, in work for about 7am. I always get woken up by my cat as my alarm goes off (he knows its always bfast time!), take a shower then take a little while to actually wake up, watch the news, plan my meals for breakfast and lunch, get dressed and I'm out the door!

Francl27

It's easy if you can go to bed early. I had a job for a while that required me to get up at 5.30am and it was fine, but I was in bed by 9pm, which is absolutely not doable for me right now.

silverinc13

I get up between 4:30 and 4:45am M-F. Get up, pet the dogs, brush my teeth/hair, etc and get on the gym clothes, eat breakfast, walk the dogs and head to the gym by 6. 15 min drive there, workout for an hour or so, back home, protein shake, shower and dress for work, make coffee, feed the dogs nab my lunch from the fridge and head to the office around 8:15! No time to be tired!

Oh and I hit the hay around 10ish every night before waking up early. I function pretty magically well off of a smaller amount of sleep than a lot of people though

Hellbent_Heidi

I am not a morning person but I SO wish I could wake up early...what is your morning rituals? How do you get up early and what time? DO you have any tips for me? I work M-Sat and have to be there at 9am...I have about a 30 minute commute.

9AM would be a dream.

I get up around 4AM, head to the gym (gym bag is pre-packed, coffee maker ready to go, and gym clothes stacked in the bathroom closet ready to put on). I have a 45 minute commute, but the gym is more than halfway to work...I get there around 5 to 5:15AM, work out for approx 90 minutes and then head for the shower so I can get to work by 8AM.

Its not for everyone, but once you make a habit of something, it gets easier.

kevin3344

Wow, I'm the opposite...go to bed around 12 midnight most days. Then again, I'm usually out at a restaurant or bar with friends. I get to work about 9am...they don't care what time I come in as long as I put in my 8 hrs

I always work out after work....I run 3-4 times a week, long runs of 8-10 miles on the weekends. Jillian's DVDs before dinner (mostly)...weights upstairs some nights...I also have a pull up bar.

I've never belonged to a gym....I train for 3-4 half-marathons a year and pretty much watch what I eat. Other than the occasional night out.

ETA: Some lunches I meet friends for a run, shower, and head back to work. But hardly ever run in the morning unless I'm training for a marathon (because it gets hot in NC in the afternoons).

Tme2change

I am not a morning person but I SO wish I could wake up early...what is your morning rituals? How do you get up early and what time? DO you have any tips for me? I work M-Sat and have to be there at 9am...I have about a 30 minute commute.

1. I'm still not a morning person and I have to get up early 4:30am to be exact to be at work at 6am I have a 30 minute commute too...
2. I sleep in on the wkends till about 8am when the kids let me, if not then I'm up at 7am, so I'm up and out of bed.

I get up, I shower, I brush my teeth, I drink my coffee (a must even if I am trying to eat cleanER I cannot give up my coffee), I get moving then I stay moving the rest of the day basically till 11 or 12 depending on the day....

tinak33

I hate mornings. NOT a morning person...

That being said, I have no drive whatsoever to work out in the evenings. After work, I'm tired, hungry, and I want to go home. Or I have something going on with friends. Either way, evening workouts have never lasted long with me...

So my alarm goes off at 4:30 am. I am usually out the door by 5-5:10, and I try to get at least an hour in at the gym. Still have time to get home and not rush around to get ready for work. I have to be out the door by 8, to be at work by 8:30 am.

jfcarlson713

I get up at 4:30 - I'm at the gym before 4:45. Work out an hour back home - relax with coffee for 1/2 hr before I hit the shower. Out the door by 7:15 - 1/2 hr commute to be at work with e-mail checked before 8am. "How" do you do it???? You JUST DO IT!!!

xSCiNTILLATEx79

I leave the house at 7 am and have to get myself and a toddler ready (husband leaves for work before toddler gets up). I wake up at 3:40 and work out. There's no such thing as findign time, you ahve to make time. If you want it badly enough, you'll just do it.

I thought I was the only 3am'er we are rare I think.. I have 3 alarms that go off at 3:35, 3:40, and 3:45...Sometimes my internal alarm will wake me as early as 2:30. I'm a morning person though, so I get so much done this way! I recently started using the sleep cycle app as well it really does work I have it go off a little before these alarms. It helps me wake up so much more refreshed..when I remember to turn it on. I try to be in bed by 8 no later than 9 to make this work. I have to be to work by 7 too.

Jeanniekellar

My one suggestion would be to make sure you are ready before you go to bed. I wear my work out clothes to bed and make sure the right DVD is in the player before I go to bed. I have a two year old who gets up arou 6:30 most days so I get up around 5:30. I have to be at work at 8:30.