Tuesday, January 26, 2010

This Forces Me to Exercise!

I'm not a morning person, but doing my Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred workout video first thing, before my kids wake up, logistically works best for my day.

However, the will-power it takes to climb out of bed and actually do the exercise rather than hitting snooze for the 30 minutes until my toddler-sized alarm clock (that doesn't have a snooze-button) goes off, is huge.

So, I've come up with a little extra motivation for myself.

Before I go to bed at night, when I am in my right mind with all the desire to work exercise into my schedule, I set out my weights, my mat, my shoes & socks.

This serves two purposes. One, things are easier in the morning when I'm barely awake. But the second is more important, it motivates me to get out of bed to do the exercise because otherwise I'll have the disheartening task of putting away the exercise gear later in the morning knowing I didn't actually do the workout!

Seriously, it works! My sleepy, comfy-in-bed mind actually tells itself, "You already have the stuff set out, you have to get up!"


Find more Works for Me Wednesday.

**This post contains affiliate links. However, my product suggestions are unbiased. I do acutally use the Shred exercise video and would recommend it to even my closest girlfriends!**

13 comments:

  1. I bet that works. I can see myself taking that "walk of shame" while carrying those items back to their places in the house. What a great idea.

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  2. Very smart indeed. It seems like I procrastinate things easier if they're not prepared. And when they're ready, like if my hubby washes my bre.astpumps for me, then there's little excuse to put it off.

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  3. HEY, you're onto something there! Great idea!

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  4. This is such a good idea. It's so hard to get motivated in the morning. Thanks for sharing. It's nice to meet you!

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  5. Great tip..going to try that myself.

    I am on my second go around with the Shred. I have to do it in the morning or else I have no energy by the end of the day. It's a tough workout!

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  6. Good work! I liked the Shred video so well that I joined Jillian's site for the 30-day free trial. Let me tell you this: once you join that site and dedicate yourself to the workouts, you'll realize why she's so highly acclaimed. Those are so butt-kicking workouts, but fun and completely transforming!

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  7. I too am Shredding...day 23. Great tip. I started doing it at the end of the day, putting it off, but getting it done. Let me tell you, I did it in the morning one day and it was so much easier! Still hard, but I was not exhausted during it...energized. That knowledge is in my head, but getting up earlier to do it...just hasn't happened yet! I need to go to bed earlier!

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  8. Great tip! I'm sure I could find an excuse not to do the exercise, but it sounds like something that would work for a lot of people!

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  9. Anything to stay motivated right?

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  10. Hey, that's a neat idea! Another thing that works for me when I have to do something difficult the morning after (like getting out of bed, bummer!) is I pray (HARD) to be able to get up. I'll couple that with your method and I'm sure that will do wonders.

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  11. ohhh, getting up in the am to exercise is SO hard! I feel your pain...not sure where you live, but here in Buffalo it is ESPECIALLY hard with the cold snow outside and my down comforter on my bed!! I've tried to mix it up- I go the the gym one morning a week, one night a week and at least once on the weekends...that way no one time a day is too painful...interested to hear how the DVD goes for you-

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  12. I'm not great at exercising in the morning, but laying out all of my clothes (and sometimes breakfast dishes) definitely helps me get going faster when I have to get up early for work 2 days a week!

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I'd love to hear what you think!