When Do You Workout? Do you fight with yourself to get off y

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When do you work out? Do you fight with yourself to get off your butt? HOW do you get yourself out there when you are not feeling it? What goes on in your mind to motivate you? What do you say to yourself and how do you decide when?




I have this notion in my head that I need to workout in the morning. It would be best for me to workout in the morning because then it would be done, I could come home and relax and spend time with family. I also love working out in the morning.

The reality...I CANNOT get my *kitten* out of the bed in the morning. I am wondering if I should just stop fighting with this ideal I have and hit the gym late in the evening when I have the time.

Anyone else go through this struggle on getting out there? Did it go away for you? You never encountered this? How and when do you get up and off your butt? What motivates you?

Thanks in advance for your opinion and sharing your story!
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Replies

  • deniseearheart
    deniseearheart Posts: 919 Member
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    I do and it sucks even through my workout I am dreading every second of it and then it ends and I feel soooo much better
  • couponsaver79
    couponsaver79 Posts: 51 Member
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    I work out at 5 AM because that is the only realistic time I can fit in working out. I use to have a workout partner who would go with me, but she has decided to go with another option, so now its harder for me to motivate myself to get out of bed and go. I wish I had a better answer, YES I fight with myself and the alarm clock. My husband's negative comments dont help much. It would be nice to have someone to check in with to make sure I go every day, and a reward for getting up and going, because I feel so much better when I do work out!
  • chattychick
    chattychick Posts: 90 Member
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    I have been an advocate of both mornings and evenings at different times. Currently I do most of my running after work (around 4 p.m., except on Wednesday when I do it with my running club at 6). In the past I used to get up at 4:30 a.m. to run bfore work, but lately I like sleeping in. Do what you can do.
  • microwoman999
    microwoman999 Posts: 545 Member
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    Yes I fight it a lot! I used to tell myself get up in the morning and do it to get it over with for the day! I gave up on that a long time ago. I workout at night and yes I do it an hour before bed and still fall asleep just fine. I already have to get up for work early and have to be there at 6:45am so its hard to get up earlier that that.
  • sonyachan
    sonyachan Posts: 518 Member
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    Definitely just get it done when you can. Fit it into your daily routine, then you'll be more likely to stick with it. I personally make long-term goals, like training for a race, to get motivated. I also like following structured workout routines. Just gives me a goal, something to work toward and be able to say I did that. Good luck!
  • Riverofbeauty
    Riverofbeauty Posts: 205 Member
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    I get up before work (6am) and do it - get it out of the way for the day.

    If I do it as soon as I get up I can't put it off.
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    I look forward to my workouts. They have a prime slot in my daytime lineup :wink: . Seriously, they're fun and I feel great afterwards. I think I'm addicted!!
  • themommie
    themommie Posts: 5,012 Member
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    Yes I too have this struggle, it helps me if I just tell myself to do it for 10 mins and after 10 mins I almost always do more. I think you should work out whenever you can work it in. curious to see others answers
  • revadiana
    revadiana Posts: 97 Member
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    I'm having a stare down with my elliptical right now. Ugh.. I might as well get off my *kitten*...
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,449 Member
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    It depends. I used to workout in the evening, but I found I was prone to excuses. ;)

    I have been doing mostly am workouts for the past 6 weeks. It is a struggle for sure. This week, I am off schedule with the time change. Hopefully I can get back on track tomorrow.

    But the best thing to do is have everything you possibly need prepped so there are no excuses.

    When I exercised after work, I made sure I had 2 sets of gym clothes, my water bottle, some powder to flavor my water, and I made sure I had a pre-workout snack available so I couldn't use hunger as an excuse not to go.

    Now I pick out my clothing the night before, I fill up my water bottle, make sure my ipod is charged and put everything together in the same place so when I wake up I can brush my teeth and go. This also makes sure I can wake up as late as possible to go to the gym.

    I target 3 days a week (MWF) and I have done a pretty good job to date. I have done 2 afternoon workouts in place of the morning ones. I completely skipped the gym one week because of work deadlines, but I fit in a little bit of exercise that week too. Not 100% but much better than I was before.
  • AZackery
    AZackery Posts: 2,035 Member
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    Baby steps is the key. Our bodies are lazy on it's own. It doesn't want to do anything, we have to take control over our bodies and make it exercise. Set your alarm clock for the time you want to get up and get up. Don't let your body win. It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier later on.
  • saragato
    saragato Posts: 1,154
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    I work out as soon as I get up. Problem is, I'm not very easy to get out the bed so I tend to stare at the clock and debate another hour of sleep before I finally decide to get up. Sometimes I don't really want to but I tell myself if I don't, I'll just reinforce the lazy half of me and be that much further from my goal.

    Basically I tell myself if I don't I'm an idiot. Tough love.
  • canroadrunner
    canroadrunner Posts: 203 Member
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    I'm a hypnotist and I teach weight loss seminars. One of the things I tell my clients is that they have to commit to 30 secs of exercise every single day. I don't care if they walk out the front door, down the steps and back in the house but they have to commit to 30 secs. That's their goal. If they get started and do more, great, but they aren't allowed to change the goal to higher than 30 secs. daily.

    The theory is that the hardest part of the motivation is actually getting your butt moving. If you think you have to do 20 minutes or an hour you can find excuses not to do it but if all you really have to do to satisfy your goal is do 30 secs, you will move. Of course, you always find that if you get up to do the 30secs, you end up doing more but it's that 30 sec goal that gets you off the couch.

    I call hypnosis the voice in the back of the head that propels you to do the right things. My little voice literally does say, it's 30 secs, get going, you only have to do 30 secs. By the time I put my running shoes on, I'm ready to do more and I usually do 45 minutes.
  • petreebird
    petreebird Posts: 344 Member
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    I workout when my son get's out of school. My fiance, son and myself all joined a gym so we go together. My son is 16 and is really into fitness, he's a wrestler, and has been training me...:happy: He's quite motivating too!!
  • Denjo060
    Denjo060 Posts: 1,008
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    i love to work out it releaves a lot of stress from the day I mix it up so its always different If I dont work out one day Im lost and feel gulty
  • MissSaraSunshine
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    I usually work out in the late morning/ early afternoon (not as many people at them gym) and sometimes I debate in my head whether or not "I want to go", but anymore it's something that I don't even try to think about... I just make it something that I need to do. Right now what is motivating me the most is that I have went down a pant size, and although I can't see a difference, it is reassuring that my body is changing--- and I want more of that to happen. But the struggle is still there occasionally, but if you at least go for a half hour and give it your all, then it's over before you know it ;)
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    No, because I found something I love to do and look forward to daily.

    Try, perhaps, something nonstandard that still is exercise.
  • katiebythebay
    katiebythebay Posts: 611 Member
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    I attend bikram yoga in the evening because of my schedule - can't do anything in the AM due to the kids' schedules.

    But I fit in elliptical stints, anywhere between 5 to 25 min. here and there, at work right before lunch time and during the late afternoon.

    Someone told me that if you workout before eating, your body burns more calories trying to "calm itself down", thus you'll burn the lunch calories more efficiently than if you were sedentary the entire time.

    ~katie
  • Ceceamanda
    Ceceamanda Posts: 91 Member
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    It varies. Yesterday and today I had work in the evening so I had no choice but to work out in the mornings. Now tomorrow - I'm already starting the motivational talk in my head. I don't HAVE to work out in the morning but I tell myself I know when I get home I'm going to want my couch and to put my feet up. When my one voice says "that sounds amazing" I remind it how crappy I'll feel tomorrow at 8pm when I finish up my daily goals and have no exercise logged. How crappy I'll feel always motivates me. Mix that with reminding myself it is an abnormal 70 degrees here in MN this week - tank top and short weather is right around the corner...now's the time to make the change if I don't want to beat myself up all summer when viewing pics with friends and confidence wise all together. Just doing it feels way better than the other option.

    So you just need to find what drives you. Is it to lose weight so you can do more activities w/ your family? Being healthier just to enjoy your time with your family? Whatever it is....find it and hold onto it. When you hit snooze in the morning it'll be that reason that'll help.

    Oh and as a Jillian fan - sometimes you gotta picture her barging in and screaming at you to get your butt up and moving. LOL
  • lyddsmom
    lyddsmom Posts: 96
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    I exercise first thing in the morning. I have been doing this M-F for just over 2 years now. It is just what I do...my life. I guess it has become a habit. But I started in the morning so I would not have the whole day to put it off and make excuses. It is also great because sometimes I'll workout twice a day when I have the time. If I don't have the time to workout in the afternoon, no worries because I've already taken care of it in the morning. I have come to love working out and miss it when I'm sick or not able to go. On the weekend I have recently started a morning habit too. I'm not as faithful with it though because that is when we get yard work done, or visit family, etc. Sometimes we go hiking or biking though and yard work can be considered exercise too. So many times I am working out 7 days a week at least once if not twice a day.

    My advice is to workout when you will be the most motivated and most likely to stick with it. Just do it and eventually it will become a habit.