i got a text from zachary yesterday saying that we should make a trip to san luis obispo. i had zero problems with that. i don't think there's anything i love more than spontaneous, spur of the moment adventures. especially when i'm not the one to suggest them. i felt like a child waiting for christmas as my last two hours of work dragged on. the moment i got home, i rushed to our bedroom, was greeted with some 'hello' kisses, and proceeded to change into something comfortable to wear for a night on the town. then i heard zachary tell me the plan:
"ok, we're going to hurry and work out, shower, and then head up to slo, alright?"
if you ask zachary what my reaction was, he might use words like 'overkill', 'dramatic', 'hullabaloo', or he might even go as far as saying that i threw a downright temper tantrum.
i don't mind working out. i really don't. but when i had it in my head that i was going to have a day off, only to be told otherwise...my mind went into a state of frenzy. we really do try our best to work out most days of the week. i don't say that in a bragging way because hello! look at us. we do not have drop dead beach bodies. and we probably never will. we've determined that both of us have the kind of bodies that need regular exercise just to try to maintain what we have. it's rather depressing, really. but, that's beside the point.
the reason i was so upset by the fact that zachary wanted to work out when i hadn't been planning on it was because i am honestly starting to feel a little trapped. every day, zachary and i go to to work, come home, and immediately get ready to work out. we then work out, cool down, cook and eat dinner, finish up any tasks of the day and before we know it, it's time to start getting ready for bed. i feel like there is no time for us to just go and do the things that we want. i know it sounds cheesy, but i don't want to waste away my life only doing the things that i have to. luckily, i have one very sweet husband that, despite my acting like a five year old, gave the green light to skipping our daily work out and indulging in some weekday fun. thank you honey.
anyway, i've been thinking today about my no-time-for-myself-always-have-to-be-doing-something problem and i've come up with a couple solutions. *ahem*
#1 - stop working out and become a fat lard that sits on my butt all day. not ideal, but hey, i have time to do whatever the heck i want.
#2 - do nothing and keep things the way they are. this will keep me healthy and {somewhat} in shape, but it may end in a nervous break down and lots of crying.
#3 - become a morning person and get my exercise on before i go to work. this will keep the exercise regimen intact, but will still give me the freedom to do as i please in the evenings.
i think the answer is pretty obvious. my only problem? i am not a morning person. at all. i shower at night, so that i can hit the snooze button 4 times, only to wake up 30 minutes before i have to be to work. don't judge. this is where you come in though. what are some things that make waking up early easy for you? do you put your alarm clock on the other side of the room, so you have to get up to turn it off? {death.} do you splash yourself with cold water? {not my idea of a great start to your day, but whatever works i guess.} do you immediately turn on the light? {to wake up your mind while only temporarily blinding yourself.} tell me your ways! i know right now it's easy to say that i'm going to wake up early tomorrow morning, but when that time comes, there ain't nothin' gettin' me outta bed. so, i'm asking you for help. give me some tips and pointers, so i can be successful like you. i am being completely serious about all of this and i know it'll be hard and my body isn't going to like it for the first little while, but heaven knows i need it. thanks for your help!
-sarah
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What if you got up when Zach gets up? Would that be early enough to workout and get ready in time for work? If not I could be your wakeup call... I will gladly call you up in the morning and sing to you a lovely wakeup melody.
ReplyDeleteI like your comment/assumption "so i can be successful like you." Why? because I'm not any more successful than you. I hit my snooze no less then 3 times on a good day...7 or 8 on a normal day. Showers kind of wake me up, but it makes no sense to shower to go work out. I used have the alarm clock in another room--it still didn't get me permanently outta of bed. I have crying kids as an alarm clock that doesn't always work either, cold water is just mean, and I sleep with lights on and dread getting out of bed. I even convince my husband to get up and take a shower before me so I can sleep longer. Moral of the story? I'm still not a morning person and only get up because I have to. I haven't found one great solution for getting up early for things like working out, but I have realized a solution for other things: Don't beat yourself up if sometimes you don't work out, sometimes you sleep in, sometimes you spoil yourself even when you think you shouldn't, and especially not for being human. I hope you do find something that is helpful for working out in the mornings, but if you don't, try something else and don't stress!!!!
ReplyDeleteFirst I think you should certainly pat yourself on the back for how much you do already! You're doing so great. I had two thoughts... the latter probably being the most realistic. First thought: perhaps having days for morning workouts and days for nights whether it be every other day or part of the week. But it seems since you aren't fond of mornings it would just be teasing you every other day. Second thought: jump right it.perhaps have a little motivational card or sticky note by you're alarm clock other some words reminding you why you are waking up so early, because lets face it, its hard to remember why when those covers are oh so comfy. And maybe a reward system. 10 weekday mornings of working out equals something special. Hopefully you can find a routine that works for ya! One last thought... a quote I heard a long time ago. "Miracles happen in the morning." It was referring to Scripture study but I think this works too. Setting your goals for something hard yet worth while will inevitably bring blessings into your life. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know about you, but my body needs a good 8-9 hours of sleep (STILL, I thought it would lessen over time, but time has proved otherwise). So if I were you, and wanted to "become" a morning person, getting up at 5 to work out, get home and be showered, I'd literally have to be in bed by 9pm every night. If thats the time you go to bed, then I'd say getting up at 5 should be ok. The hard thing about getting up earlier is you have to go to bed earlier without making yourself completely exhausted throughout the day. How much time do you normally work out when you two go together? Perhaps you could cut your calorie in take and alternate what you do each day. Like change it up often... interval training, legs, arms, abs, don't do it all, all the time. Maybe you already do this and my comment is completely not helpful at all (in which case, I apologize). Just make sure you guys work out at least 4 days a week. Thats how it has been for Ty & me. Or you could always do Jillian Michael's 30 day shred and run 3X/week. :)
ReplyDelete@Arika A. That's actually a fantastic idea Urika. I'm going to have him help me get my butt out of bed from now on, except for when he has an early ride. There's no way I'm getting up at 5. Haha P.S. I wouldn't mind that wakeup melody still...how about you record it and send it to me, so I can set it as my alarm ringtone. Haha...I'm being serious.
ReplyDelete@Sarah Merrill Thank you for that pep talk Sarah! Seriously. I really needed it. I'm glad I'm not the only one that struggles with it!
ReplyDelete@erin morgan The morning/night workout thing is such a good idea! That way I'm not burning myself out in the mornings, but I'm not busy working out EVERY evening. Smart thinkin' Erin! And I've heard that quote about the miracles in the morning before and loved it. I know this post was about working out, but I actually want to start reading my scriptures in the morning too, to get my mind in the right direction, so thanks for the extra motivation! :)
ReplyDelete@Mrs. Boojwa I'm the exact same way! Zachary and I have determined that I need at LEAST 8 hours of sleep, if not more, or I am a tired grouchy pants the next day. Haha We try to go to sleep around 10:30 every night, so waking up at 6:30 is pretty realistic in my book. Right now, I'm eating 1300 calories a day and we usually run for 20-30 minutes and do the 30 Day Shred afterwards. In a good week, we will do this 5 or 6 days, in a bad week we'll do it 2 or 3 days. Today was a success though, so I'm hoping things will start looking up and that I can stop being lazy and be able to get up and going earlier!
ReplyDeleteA couple of things that have helped me set early workout habits - getting up together with Jon, like someone said. planning my morning so that I'm actually getting up to read scriptures first, and then going to workout - somehow it's harder for my morning brain to justify not getting out of bed for scripture-reading. and (also like someone said) setting a schedule that's every other day getting up early - that helps me on the days I do get up early to feel like if I do it today, I get a break tomorrow! ... Good luck, it's a good goal, and it really is nice to get it out of the way so that the rest of your day is your own.
ReplyDelete@Cambria The scriptures thing is a good idea! I'm the same way..I would guilt myself into getting out of bed if it was for reading my scriptures. Haha I've been trying to get up when Zachary gets up and I'm hoping that the more I do it, the easier it'll become. Thanks for the tips Cam! :)
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