When I joined the gym, I knew I wanted to take classes in the morning before work. I alternate going in to work at 7:30 or 8:30 every week, so on days when I'm due in at 8:30 I thought it would be more productive to to the gym before work. I attempted this once or twice, but I failed. Well it's my 8:30 - 5 week, so I decided to give it another try.
I'm naturally a morning person, but I definitely need my 8 hours of sleep. (I'm the type of person that sets one alarm and jumps out of bed as soon as it goes off.) Despite this, I was unable to get up for the gym at 5:30 when I first tried so I gave up. This weekend I was going over the class schedule and I decided I wanted to give it another go.
I believe that by preparing everything I needed for the gym the night before, I gave myself the mindset I needed to follow through. I was excited at the prospect of waking up the next day and starting a new routine. So much so that when my fiance's second alarm went off at 5:15, I was pretty much fully awake. I was out of bed by 5:20 and out of my house before 5:40. You may be thinking to yourself that you would never be able to do this, but if you put your mind to it, you can. I know that's cliche as fuck, but it's seriously what I did. Had I not prepped for the gym like I did, I probably never would have gone. I would have stayed in bed and made an excuse up like I did last time I tried.
I'm naturally a morning person, but I definitely need my 8 hours of sleep. (I'm the type of person that sets one alarm and jumps out of bed as soon as it goes off.) Despite this, I was unable to get up for the gym at 5:30 when I first tried so I gave up. This weekend I was going over the class schedule and I decided I wanted to give it another go.
The spin class I wanted to take was at 6, so I decided to set my alarm for 5:30. My plan was to be out of the house by 5:40, so that I could get to the gym with time to spare to put my stuff in a locker and go to the bathroom (once or twice; you'll come to realize I have the worst bladder). To do this, I needed to have a plan.
One of the biggest struggles in the morning is figuring out what to wear and getting everything together. So I gathered up the outfit I wanted to wear to the gym: my shirt, leggings, sports bra, socks, and underwear; and placed them into the top drawer of my nightstand. I also went into the bathroom and put a hair tie next to my brush so that I didn't have to worry about searching for one in the morning. I then made sure to fill up a fresh water bottle which I stored in the fridge. I checked to make sure my sneakers were near by coat and purse, and was set for the next morning.
I believe that by preparing everything I needed for the gym the night before, I gave myself the mindset I needed to follow through. I was excited at the prospect of waking up the next day and starting a new routine. So much so that when my fiance's second alarm went off at 5:15, I was pretty much fully awake. I was out of bed by 5:20 and out of my house before 5:40. You may be thinking to yourself that you would never be able to do this, but if you put your mind to it, you can. I know that's cliche as fuck, but it's seriously what I did. Had I not prepped for the gym like I did, I probably never would have gone. I would have stayed in bed and made an excuse up like I did last time I tried.
I'm sure my new found approach is one that's been recommended time and time again. If you're like me, you've never read into it before because you honestly couldn't give a damn. Perhaps if you have tried this approach before and it didn't go so well, give it another go. I felt so successful when I was walking out of the house that the freezing temperature barely bothered me. I walked into the gym with a smile on my face and was even able to keep up in my spin class. Proof that my endurance is improving because I barely survived my first class that I went to about 4 weeks ago (literally I was doing everything I could just to survive and not drop dead off my bike).
Making it to the gym this morning was one small success. It put me on a track to having a great day, because I left the gym with a positive attitude ready to conquer the world. I'm determined to make this a bi-weekly routine. Achieving small goals, will lead to me achieving my ultimate weight loss goal.
My Goal for this week - Make it to the gym at least 3 times in the morning.
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