The point is I get up anyway, no excuses.
I don't know anyone who springs forth from the bed all smiles and jazz hands. It's fairly impossible. Your body is trying to wake up, you're slightly disoriented probably colder then you want to be, your heart is warming up to a faster pulse.
Excuses no matter what they are, are self sabotage. You are only hurting yourself with every excuse you choose to give in to.
Before I got into a steady routine I made excuses all the time and it's soooo easy to do when you first start working out. You're sore all the time, probably really badly. You're not use to using the muscles and they pay you back. It's so easy to say "I'm too sore today" because you're sore everyday. I wasn't use to getting up early either, another easy out for my brain. I'd see the alarm and say "I'm too tired today," but I realized getting up that early I'd be tired everyday.
When I first started eating healthy there was loads of temptation. I never cared before about what I ate and now I felt I was being so good and deserve to have a "treat". Then I realized my food choices were not temporary. I choose to eat better for the rest of my life, I don't need reward for that.
Whatever it is that gets you excited about working out and eating right use it. Even if it seems stupid in retrospect.
Today I was crazy tired when I woke up, rain does that too me. For half a second I thought about going back to sleep, then I remembered I had a Bootcamp class with Terri and I wanted to see everyone in class.
I started taking classes because it forced me to get up and go somewhere. What's really great about starting with classes is your with a group of people about to go through the same thing you are. Once you get to know them you watch out of each other and get loads of encouragement. It's also a great change to anything I do by myself which keeps my routine fresh and exciting.
Other things I do to stay motivated:
- Get a new cute workout outfit (something that you feel great wearing even if you are sweating in it) I'm personally addicted to lululemon so it's sort of a treat to buy a whole outfit there. Totally worth the price because I love how it makes me look!
- Keep a workout journal. I use this to see the progress I'm making even if my eyes don't allow me to see it in the mirror. At the end of the month I also get measured, weighed and calipered.
- Doing my hardest exercise 1st! This not only helps me wake-up but I really feel accomplished even if I start feeling tired toward the end of my workout.
- Tuning in to how I feel while I exercise. I always feel amazing and I like to remind myself of it as much as I can so I don't forget why I'm getting up at 4:30!
- Tell myself I'm doing more then what most people do in a whole week. Sounds self-righteous but it's true. Terri and Keith use to tell me this all the time and it always gave me boost in performance.
- Trying on my bikini and lounging around the house (even when it's 16 degrees outside). There is nothing like the reminder of why you are doing what your doing - this works really great when I think I want to eating something really terrible!
- Talking to others about fitness. Believe it or not the more I talk about routines, goals and healthy recipes the more excited I get to do all the things I talked about. I've gone a whole day at work feeling tired and depressed and someone has asked me about my lifting, the second we started talking I was crazy pumped and hit the stack the second I got home.
- Putting my healthy food in fun containers - you just can't say no to raw broccoli and spinach in a happy dancing bunny container.
- Reading success stories of regular people. This might depress some people, but it really helps me. I see all these people who did what I'm doing now and it makes it feel obtainable. People that did something even harder then what I'm doing always inspires me to give my all!
- Being honest with myself. Excuses aren't cool but if I'm really that crazy beat I give myself a break. I think about why I want or don't want something and evaluate the situation. I'm human and I have other things happening in my life you can't be perfect 100% of the time.
Excuses never get anyone anywhere. They just make you ultimately feel guilty because you've let yourself down. I HATE feeling that way, it's worse then to stomachache I get from indulging in foods my body pretty much rejects now.
So if you think you could never ever get up early and hit the gym just know it took me many months of forcing myself, lying to myself, and feeling guilty before I just accepted going to bed at 10 pm and knowing I'd always be up before the sun.
The thing is it's totally worth it, everyday I wake up tired I work the limits of my body and mind and I end up in a shower that feels like the only reason I'm alive. Sleeping in isn't worth more then that feeling to me now.
So if you ever feel down and you just can't bring yourself to lace up those sneakers, just think about me at 4:30 am getting ready and feel good knowing someone is up sweating with you :)
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