The Routine

EXCUSES! EXCUSES! I have 1,001 excuses why I shouldn't exercise.

#1 Excuse: Time

I don't have time to exercise.

I have three little kids that are go go go all day long.

I could do it during Tyler's nap time, but I really don't want to exercise in the middle of the day, get smelly, have to re shower. Carson needs attention during Tyler's nap time because Brooke is away at school. That's a good excuse, right?

Is there any solutions?

Did you read Trainer Momma's post back in October about how much you should exercise:

http://trainermomma.blogspot.com/2009/10/just-gimme-schedule.html

Are you kidding me? Six days a week? I don't even walk up my stairs six days a week! This seemed a little far fetched, and completely not doable. Especially since I could come up with 1,001 excuses not to let it be doable. YIKES!

So I started making it a goal. Eventually I would make it to six days a week. Here is the solution for me: GET UP EARLY! I'm not saying this is for everyone. You might read this and think "no way am I waking up before the sun rises". But, it's the only time. If I don't do it then, 1,001 excuses start to develop.

The alarm rings at 5:45 AM. That gives me exactly 1 hour and 15 minutes to get ready and begin my exercise. The kids wake up like clockwork, everyday, at 7:00.

I don't have a very good attitude when my alarm goes off. I would rather sleep an extra hour, but what's an extra hour, right? The debate starts in my head: get your butt out of bed/no I want to sleep more. As I finally get moving, the only thing I can think about is, "wasn't I hear just yesterday. Haven't I already done my duty of exercising?"
I grumpily (is that even a word? It is at 5:45 AM!) eat my banana

Make sure and start drinking my 32 oz of water.

and pop in my P90X video. I don't like Tony at 5:45, well at least until I'm warmed up, and then the fun begins.

After it's all over, I have energy!

I always have a good workout with P90X.

And most important, I'm ready to conquer my day!

Exercising in the morning is like a 24 hour energy pill.

Even though I don't like getting up in the morning, I feel more energized than if I got that extra hour of sleep.

I am constantly reminding myself: there is no excuse good enough to not get out of bed.

Even if the night has been rough, there is no excuse.

In the end, I feel like a whole new person.

A person I like.

A person I want to be around.


And thanks to P90X, I can finally run again. It's been a long time. I tried for months to ease myself back into running, gradually increasing my running time. But, it was frustrating. I felt like I was getting nowhere. 4 weeks after doing P90X, I could run again, with my mom, which is the most important part.

Exercising in the morning, helps me avoid this lovely temptation. I know that if I binge on junk, my workouts are going to knock me on my back in the morning. I know I'm still a newbie. 8 weeks and counting, but I try not to count, because this is not a temporary fix. This is a lifestyle change.