Morning People

I just set my alarm earlier. The desire to improve my fitness got me up, some kind of miracle.

Swapped the alarm from 6am to 5:45am. Tomorrow may suck.

Try putting your alarm across the room. It's an old trick but it works.

I get up an hr earlier than i need to so i have time to make a cup of coffee and sit for an hr before doing my workout. I need coffee to function in the morning

For me getting my workout done in the morning makes me feel so much better during the day. I like the feeling of having my workout done. Once you get use to getting up early you will wonder how you had not been doing this all a long.

I've been going for a 4 mile walk at 5:30 in the morning. It's tough to get out of bed when I could snuggle up with my hubby for 45 more minutes! But, with the extreme heat we've been having, there is no other time of day that I could walk. That has been a great motivator for me. And now...I'm getting used to it and actually look forward to my walks.

i 'converted' by using multiple alarms (a clock and my phone). i put my phone across the room and have the clock beside my bed. i set the alarms to go off in 3 minute intervals alternating between the clock and phone. the clock will do 2 alarms per day and my phone will do as many as i set. also my brother struggles with getting up even with the alarms, so he has me call him about 30 minutes before we meet at the gym every morning

It wasn't easy, that's for sure!

I had to get into a night time routine that would enable me to get to sleep sooner and sleep well. This included no screens (TV, computer, phone) 30 minutes prior to bed, taking melatonin most nights, and reading or relaxing before going to sleep. I also get up at the same time every morning (though I will sleep in an extra 30 to 60 minutes on the weekends).

The other thing that helped was setting out my workout clothes the night before. I basically roll out bed, dress in my workout clothes and start moving before my body/mind realizes what I'm doing. On the mornings I'm really struggling I tell myself to do at least 10 minutes of whatever workout I had planned and if I'm not in the groove by then, then I give myself permission to quit. So far, every time I've thought this... I've completed my workout. Once I'm in the clothes and working out, I figure I might as well finish! :laugh:

I think the thing that gets me out of bed the easiest is genuinely looking forward to my exercise in the mornings. I've discovered that it's like meditation for me. When I get up earlier than I have to and go for a run, it's the most perfect "me time" at the very start of my day. It wakes me up, clears my head, and makes me feel like I've already had an accomplished and productive day before really even "starting" my day. It makes me feel good to come home when everyone else is just waking up. There's something great about knowing you've done something for yourself while everyone else was just sleeping. It's become the best part of my day.

I was never a morning person either. Loved to sleep in. My husband always joked that I was gonna leave him for a Sealy Posturepedic!

But the morning is the only time that I have to myself so I had to start getting up early. That was 9-1/2 years ago and, believe it or not, I look forward to my morning workouts. It's *my* time and now that I'm in the routine, I even wake up early on the weekends.

To say I'm not a morning person doesn't even cover it. I still don't get up super early by most people's reckoning, but I'm a swing shift worker and I get up much earlier than I would otherwise be inclined to do. The biggest thing for me was to establish a routine. I get up at the same time pretty much every day. My body has become used to it, and I even wake up on my own most mornings now before the alarm clock goes off. I don't even really sleep in on the weekends because that just throws my body clock off.

I'm a morning person once I'm up...it is just the getting up part that ws hardest. My workoutsare about 30 minutes long and allow myslef sometime to cool down so I set m alarm 1 hour & 10 minutes early. By doing that I am still waking up early & I can still smack the SNOOZE button. I also set my Kuerig to start when I start so I can make my ice coffee right after working out.

Edit:
My getting up early means setting the alarm for 5:50 so I roll out of bed at 6:00.

so here's the deal from the "new" sleep study (sorry, can't find it online, but i've been doing it for 3 months and it works like a charm):

your body/mind goes thru a 90 minute cycle of light to deep and back to light sleep. seems most people need 4 to 6 of the cycles. yes, could be less or more, up to you to figure out.

so work backwards from when you want to get up.

i love it, at bed at 9 and up at 4:30 and running by 5.

for me i found the routine of a regular bed time and rise time works best, but variations work well too.

hope that helps.

(qualifier, i am a morning person and a former marine. HOWEVER, i do find the 90 minute cycle to work great!)

Not a morning person, but I get up at 4:15, don't hit snooze, don't think about what you need to do, just do it. I joined a class that helps keeps me motivated and is fun. We meet 6 times a week. My alarm didn't go off this morning so I missed class. Working out before work helps keep me focused and on task with my eating.