Top 5 reasons why I should exercise in the morning.

5.  Exercising early in the morning jump starts your metabolism.  I will end up burning more calories during the day.

4.  When I work out in the morning I tend to make healthier choices during the day.  I don’t want to ‘waste’ my workout by eating crap.   

3.  I don’t have time to make excuses.  If I work out first thing, I am finished.  No excuses when life gets busy later in the day.

2.  Studies have shown that people to workout in the a.m. have a more consistent fitness routine. 

1.  It makes me more energized at work.  I can concentrate better and be more productive.

And… the only reason why I don’t exercise in the morning.

I can’t get my butt out of bed!

I have set my alarm for 5:30 for the past three weeks and I have only actually gotten up to work out ONCE.    I was able to workout in the a.m. last summer pretty regularly.  I know once I get a routine going it will get easier.  I just need to start…

My fitness-filled weekend

I had a great weekend as far as exercise goes.  On Saturday I participated in the Christopher and Banks MS Walk and walked the 4 mile route.  Most of the walk, with the exception of the very beginning was at a pretty fast pace since I was trying to keep up with my teammates that were 10 years younger.  Plus I was pushing a double stroller with both of my kids.

Sunday for Mother’s Day we went for a bike ride around town with the girls in the bike buggy.  We stopped at a park and enjoyed the wonderful spring weather.  We didn’t bike at a fast pace, but we ending up going about 12.5 miles total. 

Then Sunday afternoon I took off on my bike again and went to the library.  It was kind of nice to have some alone time in the library where I wasn’t confined to the kid’s books area.  I pushed myself to go a little faster on this ride for about 10 miles total (5 miles each way).  I will admit – my legs were a little exhausted by the end of the ride. 

Unfortunately, I am sure the crap that I ate Sunday (Starbuck’s latte and donut holes for breakfast, grilled steak with baked potato and sauteed mushrooms for dinner, and don’t forget the rice crispy treats that I munched on all day) erased all the exercise I did that day. 

So I decided that this would be a great opportunity to start another exercise streak since I have been such a slacker in this area.  I set my alarm early this morning and went for a 30 minute walk.  I am sure I should be doing more, but I need to conquer my first battle of a.m. exercise – just getting myself out of bed…

Almost Perfect

I took a walk yesterday evening after the girls went to bed.  It was almost perfect.  These are the kind of walks that make you want to exercise everyday.  I was wearing my cute exercise outfit I received from my DH for Christmas.  The weather was beautiful.  The stars were bright.  I felt strong and walked at a faster pace than usual.  I even jogged a few minutes. 

The problem?  This song was going through my head during my entire walk:

The wonderful thing about Tiggers
Is Tiggers are wonderful things
Their tops are made out of rubber
Their bottoms are made out of springs
They’re bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!
But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers
Is I’m the only one

AHHHH!!! it is in my head again.

Daily Goal update

I haven’t posted my daily goals for a few days (don’t you hate it when your real job gets in the way of blogging?)

Wednesday

Nutrition (Burn to Earn challenges):

• Drank 8 glasses of water
• Ate 5 servings fruits/veggies
• Ate 3 servings of Dairy
• Ate a healthy breakfast

Exercise – I went to the gym over my lunch hour for a lower body strength workout.  My legs were still a little sore from Monday’s workout, but it still felt great!

Thursday
Nutrition

• Drank 8 glasses of water
• Ate 5 servings fruits/veggies
• Ate 3 servings of Dairy
• I did not eat a healthy breakfast today – there were donuts in the lunchroom and I gave in

I think aiming for 5 fruits and veggies a day has really helped my diet. Instead of junk food in the evening I am grabbing a piece of fruit to get my 5 a day.

Exercise – the two monkeys went to Grandma’s house for the weekend so my hubby and I had a night alone. He went with me on my walk/jog. I really enjoyed having his company. I had to yell at him to slow down a few times during our jogging intervals (I jog about the same speed as I walk), but it was still nice to have the company.

Our intervals were 2 minutes jogging and 3 minutes walking with a 5 minute walking warm up and cooldown. Total time = 40 minutes.
Total calories burned = 355.

Daily Update 3/26/07

A new challenge started today at my city’s park and rec dept called Burn to Earn .  It is an 8 week program (totally free).  You earn points for doing cardio, strength, flexibility, and specific nutrition guidelines.  If you have enough points at the end of the 8 weeks you can earn prizes.

This was motivation enough to get me to the gym over my lunch hour for some long overdue strength training.

I had planned on doing 10 exercises, but I ran out of time and only finished 7 since I only have 30 minutes.  I think I am going to have to rethink my workouts and only focus on one area per strength training workout – Upper Body, Lower Body and Core.

After the girls went to bed this evening, I got a 30 minute walk in.  It was a perfect exercise day for me!

I did outstanding on my diet also.  I drank 8+ glasses of water, ate 5+ fruits and veggies and 3 servings of dairy.  The best part?  I didn’t have one bit, piece or taste of chocolate!  And I survived!  It is possible! 🙂

Daily Goals 3/22/07

I am going to start posting my results of my daily goals to keep myself accountable.

I have two goals I am working on:

1. Do some form of exercise
2. Drink 8-10 glasses of water 

Exercise:
I finally made it to the gym over my lunch hour today.  I think it has been 2 weeks since I have done that.  In theory, I could have saved a punch on my gym card and walked outside today, but I didn’t want to get my new running shoes dirty.  So far they have only been inside shoes and I am not ready to break them in outdoors yet.

I walked for a total of 34 minutes on the treadmill including about 4 minutes of jogging (yea!).  And the best part?  I did this all WITHOUT using my asthma rescue inhaler.  The Singular I am taking really does work. 

In the evening, I did another 45 minute walk around the neighborhood. 

I want to start another exercise streak to see how many days straight I can do some form of exercise.  I did this in the fall and it really helped my weight loss.  Today is day 1.

Water:
I think I drank at least 64 oz of water today.  I didn’t really count, but I had 1 1/2 big glasses at work plus another big glass at home. 

Exercise – 3/13/07

Another beautiful day today.  I took my 19 month old for a stroller ride around the neighborhood.   We walked about 40 minutes.  I think I got a pretty good workout in – it was a lot harder pushing the stroller than it was walking without. 

 I think my DD enjoyed it also – she was taking in all the scenery (Dog!  Water! Baby!). 

Today’s exercise – 03/12/06

It was a beautiful day today.  Temperatures were above average and sunny.  At lunch I opted to not go to the mexican restuarant with my co-workers and went for a walk instead.  I decided to go to a park a few miles from my work with a lake.  It is a beautiful park and has a 3 mile path that loops around the lake.

It was a little strange when I drove into the park.  It was probably over 60 degrees and there were still people ice fishing on the lake.  I walked about a 6 minutes down the path and noticed there was a section that was flooded.  I probably could have walked through it, but I really hated to get my nice walking shoes wet.  So I turned around and went back to my car.  I figured I would have time later tonight anyway.  Total time:  12 minutes.

This evening after dinner we enjoyed being outside and playing basketball with the girls.  Then we came in for baths and getting ready for bed.  By the time the girls were in bed I had talked myself out of walking and had a hot fudge sundae instead.  I even had my workout clothes on – all I had to do is get out the door!  Needless to say I am very dissapointed in myself.  If I am going to lose the weight – I am the one that has to put in the effort.  No one else can do it for me.  NO MORE EXCUSES!

Exercise last weekend

Exercise last weekend. 

I took advantage of the warmer weather this weekend and went for a walk outdoors on Saturday and Sunday.  The only downside is that with all the snow that melted the last few days made a few puddles on the sidewalk.  It was drier on the streets, but even though I only walk in residential areas, I don’t feel comfortable walking on the road. 

Saturday:  Walked about 45 minutes.  If I remember right from last fall, this route is just under 3 miles.
Sunday:  Same route, but I did this at 8:30 at night after the girls went to bed.  There were some extremely dark areas without street lights.  I may have to rethink my route if I am going to continue to walk after dark. 

I feel great financially about walking\exercising outdoors – it doesn’t cost me anything except the equipment I already have.  The gym I belong to has a punch card system – you pay for as many punches as you want.  The punches don’t ever expire (I purchased 100 punches a few years ago and I am still using them).  I think I am getting closer to the end of my punches – so anytime I can workout outside instead of going to the puts off this purchase another day.
 

3/8/07 – Today’s exercise

I went to the gym over my lunch hour today again. I didn’t go yesterday. I need to find my mojo on staying motivated to workout during the day. If I can’t get up in the morning to do it and don’t want to leave my family in the evenings to workout -this is my only option. At least when the weather shapes up I can take walks outside after the girls go to bed.

Anyway – today’s workout was 33 minutes on the eliptical. I can’t remember my calories burned, but I am pretty sure it was over 300.

Tomorrow I will weigh in and see what the damage is. I am definately doing better with exercise – I have worked out three times since sunday. However I feel my snacking is out of control.