Must...

Every night I set my alarm to 5 am....so I can run at 6. Every morning the alarm goes off and I go back to sleep. 

I really want to exercise in the morning because I simply don't have time later in the day. Plus I hate getting ready twice. 

My weight loss has slowed down a little bit--as I suppose it should, I was losing weight pretty fast before (like a pound every other day!). I know if I could make myself exercise not only would I feel better (endorphins!), but I would also start to lose weight faster, and keep my metabolism up. But when that alarm goes off oh so early in the morning I just can't do it! --Plus I hate running...

Does anyone have any motivational techniques to force yourself to exercise?

I've always been a morning person and I wake up around 4am to get myself to the gym around 5 before I have to head to school at 7:30.

However, my little brother hates getting up in the morning (especially since it's for school!) and he's come up with a few tricks to get up.

- try putting your alarm away from your bed so that you have to get up to turn it off

- have more than one alarm

- as soon as you get up, wash your face - the water will wake you up very fast

- keep telling yourself that 30 min working out is much more beneficial than that 30 min trying to forget your alarm clock

oh, and if you're really having trouble waking up...

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/8f 1a/

lol - I have been having the same problem except that I've been trying to get up a bit later than the both of you and I still can't wake up. I have two alarms going and I still can't seem to get up and out of bed. Perhaps it's because I've been going to bed too late, but I can't get to sleep any earlier. It really stinks. :(

I'm going to have to start doing what I did the last time when I was actually waking up earlier (it was a 5:30 start time then) and just remind myself that I want my body to look smokin' - regardless of how cold it may be getting outside and how comfy my bed has been.

Perhaps that is the motivation I need?

Btw - love the ninja clock!!! I should look into getting it for my daughter who also has 2 alarms and no matter how loud and annoying they are, she will still sleep right through them! :(

I think that alarm clock would make me very angry in the mornings! I hate the sound of alarm clocks, so I wake up to the alarm on my cell phone--and I do put it across the room, but apparently that doesn't do the trick!

The washing your face thing might work, if I could force myself to go to the bathroom rather than crawl back into bed!

I don't know why I've been so sleepy lately, but I've been falling asleep at 10ish and dreading to get up still! I'm generally a morning person, but my body doesn't seem to want to get up quite that early. 

I'm going to try again tomorrow. 

Does anyone have someway to trick yourself into actually liking to exercise? (Besides envisioning yourself thin.)

Hm... I don't know many tips for liking exercise but I tend to daydream, so I actually forget that I'm working out!

I guess you could listen to really fast music, and that should keep you moving. And remember, exercise doesn't have to be boring. Change routines, or just become more active..

Just had to ask, how did you lose weight so rapidly? Whats your calorie intake, and how much exercise do you do?

I think lacking the fast music is what's partially in my downfall for not exercising. I used to have an mp3 player with all of my dance/techno music on it, but then my son wanted one and I figured it'd be better to give him mine than to purchase a new one for him...Needless to say, I never did get myself a replacement on, and he destroyed that one (so it's a good thing I didn't get him a new one, lol)...payday is coming up, that's all I have to say, lol. :)

I lost weight quickly only for the first two weeks. My calorie count was around 1200 and I ran a couple of times, but really I think that I lost weight fast because I was 115 for so long.

I read somewhere that if you maintain a weight for a long period of time your body wants to jump back to that weight. So I think that now I'm nearing that number again the weight isn't coming off as fast. 

I'm trying to exercise more, and I think that will help the weight come off faster, but I doubt it will come off as fast as it was before. 

My weight could have come off faster also because the first day I weighed myself happened to be the day I started my period--so the next day I weighed two pounds less...

I don't think I could run without music though. I read a study somewhere that people who listen to upbeat music workout out longer and harder than people who don't. Of course my problem isn't working hard once I'm going--it's actually getting started.

Original Post by kamtastic:

- keep telling yourself that 30 min working out is much more beneficial than that 30 min trying to forget your alarm clock

That made me laugh because I really do waste the time not sleeping but trying to convince myself that I should get up and go walk, and then failing to do so.

I have been meaning to get the mp3 player out and take that with me but I have yet to actually dig through the drawer and get it.

I WISH I enjoyed exercising to be exercising. Maybe the music will help. The dog does help some. I honestly just do not enjoy getting hot and sweaty and in slight pain. Now I do enjoy going skating (regular or ice) going on nature trails at parks, swimming, canoeing.. but since I work 8:30 to 5 every day, then need to make dinner for the family, a fun outing is just not an option on a weekday. Which means I must learn to enjoy exercise at home or at least make myself do it anyway!

During the school year, I got up at 5:30 to make a 6:00 class at the gym twice a week. (I stopped that routine during the summer and haven't got it going again yet.)  It took many attempts with the alarm clock before I trained my body to get up that early.  But once I got used to it, it felt great to get my workout done early and I missed it on the days I didn't go.  The main thing for me was that I really enjoyed the class I was getting up for.  On the days that I decided to do cycling instead (a really intense cardio class which I have to psych myself up for), I often went back to bed. 

I think you have to find something you like to do if you want to get out of bed.  Good luck.

By the way - I hate running too.  I ran a lot this summer because I traveled quite a bit and didn't have access to my gym.  Now my knees and one of ankles is really sore. 

I use multiple alarm clocks too. One of them plays a morning radio news program so when I hit sleep on the bleating alarm clock my brain get more and more curious about the news and...I'm awake.

You might check out "clocky", it makes noise and rolls around so you have to look for it.  www.clocky.net

Original Post by jiffy009:

I use multiple alarm clocks too. One of them plays a morning radio news program so when I hit sleep on the bleating alarm clock my brain get more and more curious about the news and...I'm awake.

You might check out "clocky", it makes noise and rolls around so you have to look for it.  www.clocky.net

 

Yes yes yes!!! This thing would be PERFECT for me! I knew what it was but couldn't for the life of me come up with what it was called. Thank you!

Since going away to school, I've started using my cell phone as an alarm clock. Some days it works, some days it doesn't... but I've become Pavlov's dog with it when my fiance calls... having him spend 15 months in Iraq tends to do that. Maybe I should investigate using his ringtone for my alarm...

I schedule it. I figure I wouldn't miss an important business meeting or a doctor's appointment, so why should I miss my time. Lately, I take a quick 1 mile walk around the block at work on my breaks. I end up doing 3 miles a day when I do it. Then I log the miles (www.favoriterun.com ). It's pretty exciting seeing how many miles  I do in a month. Also, I don't run in the morning, I never get up for it. I jog when I get home from work before dinner. I figure that I'll be hungry when I am done, so I might as jog, then make dinner eat it when my jog is over. Again, it's my appointment with myself. I have also been taking a rest day every week, and try to vary the intesity of my walks and jogs from day to day. Yesterday I jogged more than 2 miles (I only stopped to walk 4 times!), today I want to walk 3 miles. So I think alternating days for me works really well also.  Find what works for you and do it. If you don't like mornings, workout at another time that works best for your body and your schedule. Just a thought.