Part of being successful in your health and wellness journey is understanding when and how to schedule things in. Is the way you make sure you eat healthy during the week is to meal prep on the weekends? How about your workouts? When is a time that you know you will get it done? This doesn’t always mean that it’s the most convenient thing, or what we really like to do, but in order to make our health a priority sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to.

I’m often asked how am I able to get up and workout so early in the morning. I’ll be honest, I don’t love it. However, it’s the one time of day that I know that I have the best chance to complete a workout. It is hard to roll out of bed and give full effort and really make it count at “o’dark thirty”. For me, it’s the best chance I have for making sure I’m a priority in my own life. I found that if I waited to workout later in the day, it just left too many excuses for me to create to not get it done. I’m too tired from work, I have a headache, or I have errands to run. Plus, working a typical “8-5” job means either dinner will be real late or I’ll be wired after a workout and means going to bed late. One bonus to getting your workout in early, it puts you in a great mood to start out your day!

So, how do I do it? Well for starters, it’s helpful that I’ve always been a morning person. I already have that going for me, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get up at 4:45 when the alarm goes off. In order to be successful, you have to have a plan. That goes for just about anything in life. For me, the plan starts the night before:

1. I layout my workout clothes (top, bottom, bra, even socks and a headband) and make sure my shoes are close by. 

2. I plan what my workout will be that next morning. I decide if it’s a treadmill kind of day, or an online yoga video (I like Yoga with Adriene- she has free videos on YouTube), strength training, etc. If it’s an online video I’m planning to follow, I have it ready to go on my laptop or tablet so I just have to push play. If I’m hopping on the treadmill I make sure I decide if I’ll be listening to music or a podcast or watching a show. (Have your earbuds charged and close by!) If it’s strength training, do I have bands or weights or whatever else needed ready to go? I also have a back up plan. Sometimes, you wake up in the morning with certain soreness or aches and pains and your planned workout may not be the best. I have a notebook of workouts that I can quickly choose from instead of hunting on the internet and wasting time.

3. Set your alarm and go to bed early enough to make certain you get the sleep your body requires. 

4. When the alarm goes off in the morning I only allow myself to hit the snooze button once. This gives me 5 minutes to really wake up. When that 5 minutes is up, I’m getting up. If I linger in bed beyond that 1 snooze, it’s harder for me to get up I’m more likely to say “screw it” and fall back asleep. This is why preparation the night before is vital! The less you have to think about, the easier it is to get up and get to it.

Right now, my workouts aren’t as early since I’m not working (shout out to COVID-19!) however, I still follow most of this plan. I’m up by 6:30am, my clothes are waiting for me, my workout is selected, I’m ready to go! My workout is done first thing in the morning before I do anything else and I have the rest of my day to do whatever!

How about you? When do you find the best time is for you to workout or are you still figuring it out? What ever time that is, just remember that you are important and your health is important. Don’t make excuses and don’t put yourself on the back burner. You deserve better for yourself!

Much Love and Support,

Katie Duran, FIP Ambassador