I have decided to be Jessica Rabbit for Halloween.

If that doesn’t keep me honest about the gym over the next five months, I don’t know what will

I love just about everything there is about healthy eating and fitness. That doesn’t mean I don’t also love everything there is about Cheetos and my couch. Because of this unfortunate (and yet totally normal) dichotomy, I find myself often needing to set goals to keep my Cheeto and couch consumption in check.

It took a wee bit of trial and error, but over the last few months I have figured out that my normal gym routine couldn’t work with the increased responsibility of my work life. Taking two hours off in the middle of the day to get to the gym, workout, and shower seriously dipped into productivity. I have learned that if I keep putting of the gym until I’m done working for the day I will not go, and I have learned that despite what my inner-monologue says I am actually capable of getting up at 5:30am and going to the gym.

I’m not saying that I enjoy it, just that I can do it.

And doing it I am, because when I don’t go to the gym I’m a big cranky monster.

If you also struggle with an unfortunate lack of time in the day and night time motivation, here are a few of my less-than-novel ways I get my groggy arse out of bed:

• Put your alarm somewhere you can’t reach it. Getting out of bed is the hardest part of waking up.   This works especially well if you sleep with someone that will be super-duper mad at you if you press snooze over and over again.
• Sign up for things you have to pay for ahead of time OR meet a friend. Nothing motivates me more than having already paid for something or the possibility of disappointing someone else. Convenient? No, but nothing about getting up before the sun rises is convenient. I’ve been signing up for classes in the morning, prepaid classes. If only I could find a friend interested in crack of dawn jaunts around the weight room this whole endeavor would get a bit cheaper.
• Gym clothes at the ready. I used to sleep in my gym clothes when I wanted to get to the gym early, but that wasn’t particularly comfortable. Now I like to keep them where they’re staring me in the face. Guilt, it’s what’s for breakfast.
• Tall glass o’water.  Before bed.  What’s more intimidating: alarm clock or potential for bed wetting.  I down a bottle of Poland Spring before bed each night in case I sleep through the alarm.
• Suck it up and do it daily. The idea that it takes 21-days to form a habit is a really cruel myth. Recent research has shown that it’s more like 66-days. For two months it will really suck getting out of bed every morning, but little by little your body will acclimate to the early mornings. Two months in the grand scheme of things is nothing compared to a lifetime of not worrying about fitting in a run between work and your night out with friends.

Early risers, how do you get out of bed in the AM?

Breakfast

Egg white omelet with mushrooms and lite Swiss cheese
Strawberries

Snack

I finally got one of the many checks I’ve been waiting on and hit up the grocery store. I usually buy Greek yogurt, but this was on sale and I’m trying to learn frugality. After years of eating Greek-style normal yogurt seems so thin!
Vanilla yogurt with trail mix

Lunch

Not my greatest creation: hot and sour soup with egg, tofu, baby corn, water chestnuts, and bamboo

Snack

Mango

Dinner

When in doubt roast a whole bunch of random plants
Zucchini, onion, sweet potatoes, carrot fries, and polenta

Exercise: 4 mile jog

Kim