Finding the time to exercise

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If you are anything like me, the hardest part of getting in exercise is finding that perfect time.  You know, that 1-3 hour time block where you have nothing important planned, you have plenty of energy, you aren't too full, you aren't starving, AND you are pumped up to get a good work-out.  Since I started working a 9-5(ish) desk job, This has been like finding a Unicorn in Brooklyn.  It tends to take me a long time to get friendly in the mornings, so I usually wake up almost 2 hours before I have to be at work, just so that I have time to greet the day.  By the time I get off work, I have to drive home and make dinner.  After dinner, it seems like I have no more than an hour or two for relaxing before it's bed time, not enough time to digest food well enough to go sweat.

So when I realized my weight was spiraling so far out of control that most of my work clothes were verging on being too tight, I knew there could be no more excuses.  I knew I had to make a choice about when I would exercise, and that I would have to hold firm with it.  There could be no wobbling.  I decided on mornings, because I was already waking up so early, I figured it wouldn't shouldn't be too hard to wake up just one hour earlier, right?  And that physiologically, I should feel more awake and refreshed throughout the day as a result.  It seemed like the perfect option. 

...There is just one small thing about working out in the mornings for me:  many types of exercise first thing in the morning make me want to be sick.  Not figuratively, literally.  For whatever reason, I get really hot at night.  So then, when the first thing I do is go sweat, I am more likely to have problems.  I knew that this was something I would have to overcome if I wanted to succeed at my plan.  Staying up until nearly midnight just to get everything in is simply not an option for me.

On Thursday, I'm going to be talking more about how to pick the right kind of exercise for you. In the meantime, I challenge you to consider where you might be able to carve out time for yourself. Do you wake up early anyway? Are you a night owl who stays up until 2am? Or are you lucky enough to have the ability to take an extended lunch? Whatever you choose, make sure that you can do it every week, and that you can do it several times a week at the same time. By scheduling your workouts each and every day at the same time, you will be training your body to expect and prepare for exercise. You will feel more energized for having invested some time in your most precious asset: yourself.