help on becoming a morning person?

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BeautyFromPain
BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
in Motivation and Support
Okay so I REALLY, REALLY hate mornings!
But I have made it a goal to go to the gym before work this year, so getting up either 5:30 or 6 because most the time I work 10 hour days and am just dead afterwards.

Any tips or motivation?

Please help!

Replies

  • Boring2Fit
    Boring2Fit Posts: 182
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    Read this:

    http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Morning-Person

    Hope it helps :)
  • sonjawi
    sonjawi Posts: 46
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    I haven't figured it out yet and I am working for six months now at a job where I have to get up at 4:30. I am coming home at around 3, but I am so tired that it's hard to work out at that point. Probably I should change my morning routine to putting a few minutes of workout in it instead of watching TV....
  • Mommawarrior
    Mommawarrior Posts: 897 Member
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    Just get up and do it. I am up at 4 am if I am gonna get a run and some weights in, everyday. I work on a farm, we start before the sun is up and we don't quit till the work is done.
    If it is important to you, you will just get up.
  • superstah00
    superstah00 Posts: 104 Member
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    I have decided the same thing this year..getting up early to work out. I have given myself a "bedtime" so that I don't sit up all night watching tv or playing on the computer. It's only the 2nd day but I feel better getting more sleep that's for sure! Good luck, you can do it!!
  • JeSuisPrest
    JeSuisPrest Posts: 2,005 Member
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    I think you either are or you aren't....lol I'm up at 6am most days and I am NOT a morning person.
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
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    Getting up early is the easy bit.

    Getting to bed on time to get enough sleep so I bounce out of bed with energy, that is the really really tough part. Travel and dealing with jetlag has helped me to develop strategies.

    My way of dealing with the getting to bed on time issue is to have two alarms set on my phone, one for me to prepare for bed and a final one for "whatever you're doing now isn't as important as getting some sleep" :bigsmile:

    Also, never nap during the day no matter how tired you are - you NEED to be able to get to sleep at night, and also make sure you get up at the same time at weekends. If you sleep late on the weekend, it will break the sleep pattern you're trying to set.
  • EddieG77
    EddieG77 Posts: 185 Member
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    Its all about routine....I get up at 2:30-3am each day to WO but also go to bed very early in order to do so.....it takes time but I have been in this routine for 15yrs....WO in the morning will give you energy throughout the day!!!
  • jfluchere
    jfluchere Posts: 346 Member
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    Get a dog and keep him in the crate all night. It's 4:45 an and I'm being woken...every morning. No going back to sleep now :(
  • countrygirl812
    countrygirl812 Posts: 116
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    I never used to be a morning person because my husband worked 3rd shift for years. He went to 1st a couple months ago, and it took my body some getting used to. I go to bed with him, and I get up in the morning with him. Our daughter wakes up shortly after he leaves so it just works for me. We also live on a farm so I have to get up and check the water and feed supply for our cows every morning.
  • hkulbacki
    hkulbacki Posts: 187 Member
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    Lay out everything you will need and pack your gym bag the night before, so you just put your workout clothes on immediately when you roll out of bed. Have whatever pre-workout food you want ready either on the counter or at the front of the fridge so you can eat quickly.
    And most importantly don't think about what you are doing, just get out the door and on your way to the gym before your body really wakes up and realizes where you're going :)

    I did this for about 3 years where I'd get up, drive about 1.5 miles and catch a bus to work and the nearby gym. I was usually on the bus and most of the way to work before I really woke up. Of course, I did have the extra motivator of limited parking spaces - if I didn't catch that early bus (and go to the gym before work) there would be no more parking spaces at the bus stop and I'd have to drive much farther, but it really helped to not think about what I was doing, just roll through the motions until you get to the gym!
  • grobbygru
    grobbygru Posts: 295 Member
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    bump

    (no advice - but I want to learn too lol)
  • Nitachi
    Nitachi Posts: 142
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    What works for me is to put the alarm clock in one of the other rooms, this forces me to wake up and actually get out of bed to go shut the thing up.
  • gazz777
    gazz777 Posts: 722
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    Bump so I can get enough sleep :)
  • Ashleysh22
    Ashleysh22 Posts: 209
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    do not hit the snooze button! ever! when you hear that alarm, sit up. you can take your time getting up, but always sit up immediately
  • Boring2Fit
    Boring2Fit Posts: 182
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    do not hit the snooze button! ever! when you hear that alarm, sit up. you can take your time getting up, but always sit up immediately

    A good way for it to work is to keep the alarm clock/phone to be as far away from you as possible. Preferrably on the other side of the room :)
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
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    You can get smartphone apps that only switch the alarm off when the phone's been moved a certain distance - waving it backwards and forwards while you're still in bed doesn't work. :D
  • mcguvs
    mcguvs Posts: 49 Member
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    I agree, consistency, commitment, and a sincere desire are the keys to early (or any time) workout regiments.
    I naturally wake up between 2:30 and 3:30 AM. Unfortunately I have to be in bed around 7 or 8.
    My routine will include a cup of coffee with my puppy on the couch, then off to the gym. Sometimes I think I am not even fully awake yet. I could not imagine going to the gym after a days work.
  • alphy
    alphy Posts: 5 Member
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    Wow, this is a hard one. I've got a hectic year of studying ahead of me and want to get into an early morning routine before varsity starts again else there will be no way I'm gonna get around to working out! I have come to realise that I always fidget with silly things in the evenings and need to change those habits to happening in the morning instead - at least until varsity starts ;)

    Better start working on the sitting up in bed as soon as my alarm goes off. sigh...
  • tiffany0127
    tiffany0127 Posts: 378 Member
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    I am not a "morning" person per se but I do get up every day at 4:00 to workout. It is the only time of day that I will actually get a workout in so I know I just have to do it but here are some tips:

    1. Set everything you need out the night before (that way you can just get up and go)
    2. Give yourself enough time to wake up and eat something small (to get your metabolism moving)
    3. Start going to bed with enough time to have a full eight hours of sleep (If I stay up "late" there is no way I am getting up.

    Good luck!!
  • gazz777
    gazz777 Posts: 722
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    I bumped last night so I didn't go to bed too late :)
    1/ Like finances, budget your sleep. For 8 hours sleep and 5am wake, set your bed time at 9pm (NO LATER).
    2/ Trouble getting to sleep ? Write notes to yourself about things that are in your head. Write the negative on 1 piece of paper, when done, screw it up and throw it out when you wake. E.g. unforgiveness, bitterness, anxiousness. Action points for the next day, put in your diary for that day. Positive things, such as a 'thought for the day' ... write it down.
    3/ When waking, pick up the positive notes and read it or think on it ("meditate"), spend time relaxing, breathing, being thankful
    4/ Throw out the negativity you wrote
    5/ Wee, weigh, write --- get your weight down on paper at this time if you really must weigh every day (I am maintaining, so I do that) ... remember, weight ALWAYS fluctuates, many pounds per day.
    6/ Through-out the night toilet visits allowed of course lol.
    7/ On point 6, make sure you drink most of your water well before bed time for this reason
    8/ A splash of water on the face is always a good wake up !
    9/ Also on points in 2, if you wake and things on your mind, write them down. If you are troubled about finances, relationships, an unperformed task, health issues, or concerned for a friend .... there is not much you can do about it for them at 1am !

    Sleep well !

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