Help me change my mindset please.

jharris

jharris

Cathlete
Ok here's the thing I need a complete overhaul. I need to learn how to change from being an am workouter to a pm workouter. Help.:confused:

Since DD has started middle school it has been very difficult to get morning workouts in. The time she needs to get up for school is the time I would normally workout, now I have to push it back an hour earlier. 5am instead of 6am. I know that doesn't seem like much but I'm having more trouble getting up earlier. :(

I tell myself it's no biggie and workout when I get home. Well that plan seems to always fall through.:mad:

All of my excuses kick in. I have worked all day,(I am on feet all day) had an hour drive home, have to cook and clean up dinner. blah,blah, yadda,yadda! I just want to chill on the computer, relax and watch tv. Then it turns into a cycle of feeling bad, feeling guilty, beating myself up.

I have looked at past posts and see there are some late evening workout peeps out there.

With my schedule I would have to workout close to 8:30-9pm.

Have any of you gone from workouts in the early am and then changed to late evening? Was it difficult? Not with sleeping or anything just the whole change in routine. Please help I need a good kick in the rear. :p

Jenn
 
I have switched back and forth from a.m. to p.m. workouts. I find it harder to do p.m. workouts since like you mention, i'm tired at the end of the day. However whether you have to convince to get yourself out of bed an hour earlier or at the end of your day, its all about your mindset and making yourself do it. I find that the more i dwell about how much i don't want to do it the worse it makes it whether its in the morning or night. I just put myself on autopilot and don't think and just do it! That being said, i'm an a.m. workouter (6a.m.) but will be switching to p.m. in january when my schedule changes. I'm not sure this post helped you at all but just know that no matter what time you workout, you have to just do it with no excuses.
 
Ok, I don't mean to be discouraging, but for me, it would be easier to set the alarm for 5am -- that's what I do. The days I tell myself I have time to workout later, it just never happens. Good luck with whatever way you choose.....

-Beth
 
Hi Jenn!

You can do it! Tell yourself you will do it and you will. Start out with 30 minute workouts and see how you feel; 30 minutes is better than none. I've had to make some changes with my schedule and it was a challenge at first but now I'm in a groove. Develop a schedule for yourself and stick to it. You'll feel better! :D
 
bitmover said:
Ok, I don't mean to be discouraging, but for me, it would be easier to set the alarm for 5am -- that's what I do. The days I tell myself I have time to workout later, it just never happens. Good luck with whatever way you choose.....

-Beth
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i agree with you. for me, 1 hr less of sleep is so much easier than doing it at the end of a long day.
 
hi there,

would it be possible for you to work out after you get home, but before dinner?? that's the habit i've been in for the past several years. i'm tired from a long day, but being home and out of the work environment usually gives me the energy i need. i guess the problem would be that your family would be eating dinner later, so it may not work for you.

good luck,
carrie
 
oh, jenn. ((((((((((big hug)))))))))))
you know I normally WO at night. I simply can't wake up esrly either. NOw that the baby has arrived I don't know WHEN I'll work out! For now I'm just enjoying NOT working out! LOL! Never thought I'd say that!

One thing that helps me to make time to WO at night is that we don't have a TV. so it's WO or do chores....easy answer!

In the AM think about which WO you'll be doing. ITA with Shirl's advice too! How about walking during your lunch hour?

good luck!
 
Shirluvs2bfit said:
Hi Jenn!

You can do it! Tell yourself you will do it and you will. Start out with 30 minute workouts and see how you feel; 30 minutes is better than none. I've had to make some changes with my schedule and it was a challenge at first but now I'm in a groove. Develop a schedule for yourself and stick to it. You'll feel better! :D
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That's what I do...then, I always get my 2nd and 3rd winds...

Can you workout during your lunch hour? Even it is 30 minutes of cardio?

Good luck - it is tough to change workout schedules...but you CAN do it!
 
I know I'm always going against the grain here, but I don't believe you should ever feel stressed about working out, or ever give up sleep or anything else that is important. And I think TV watching is important. I have been doing 2 songs from Power Hour each evening before dinner. It only takes about 15 mins. So one night I do abs and squats. The next night I do chest and back, etc. Then I do my cardio on the weekends when I'm relaxed, and do a 1-hour full body WO. Honestly, it's all I seem to need to stay in good shape. We're not body-builders, just women who want to stay healthy and fit. And I'm finding that it doesn't require a huge time commitment to stay healthy and fit. Just my two cents worth. In my case, maybe one cent, since I'm in a tiny minority here. I don't live to work out. I work out to live. ;)
 
I am NOT a morning person, so I can completely empathize w/not wanting to get up any earlier to work out. I changed back to PM workouts a couple of months ago after my little one was potty-trained. I now workout from 8/8:30 -9/9:30 sometimes even 10pm depending on my workout schedule. Now that she is a little more independent-play minded, I am able to get my time in w/little disruption. I prefer evening workouts anyway!
Good luck!
 
nancy324 said:
I know I'm always going against the grain here, but I don't believe you should ever feel stressed about working out, or ever give up sleep or anything else that is important. And I think TV watching is important. I have been doing 2 songs from Power Hour each evening before dinner. It only takes about 15 mins. So one night I do abs and squats. The next night I do chest and back, etc. Then I do my cardio on the weekends when I'm relaxed, and do a 1-hour full body WO. Honestly, it's all I seem to need to stay in good shape. We're not body-builders, just women who want to stay healthy and fit. And I'm finding that it doesn't require a huge time commitment to stay healthy and fit. Just my two cents worth. In my case, maybe one cent, since I'm in a tiny minority here. I don't live to work out. I work out to live. ;)
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EXCELLENT POST!!! I guess LESS is MORE?
 
Tamster said:
EXCELLENT POST!!! I guess LESS is MORE?
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I think so, Tammy. Otherwise, you can start to resent exercise, and fall off the wagon completely. As long as exercising remains fun, you'll do it. And doing it is much more important, I think, than how much or how often. In any event, I always gained weight when I worked out too much, and right now I'm at my ideal weight and looking pretty good for a geezer (at least below the neck) if I do say so myself. ;) I hope Jenn doesn't mind that I'm not giving the support she is asking for, but I think we all have enough stress in our lives, and stress is bad for your health and your looks. By giving yourself a hard time about working out, you're just adding more stress to your life. Okay, I'll shut up already. ;)
 
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nancy324 said:
I think so, Tammy. Otherwise, you can start to resent exercise, and fall off the wagon completely. As long as exercising remains fun, you'll do it. And doing it is much more important, I think, than how much or how often. In any event, I always gained weight when I worked out too much, and right now, if I do say so myself, I think my body looks pretty darn good for a geezer. ;)
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Nance...you are da BOMB and you look awesome! I totally agree with you...I also gain weight when I work out too much.
 
I don't know if this would work for you, but I do my workout while getting my teens ready for school. There's no way that I could function if I got up earlier so I just get up with them and have a few stops and starts.

I get up a few minutes before they do, finish packing their lunches, get my shoes on and workout stuff together and then wake them up. I do my workout while they are eating and getting dressed. When they are ready to go, I stop my workout and see them off (two ride the bus, one drives). Then, I finish up. This usually works well for me.

Erica
 
I workout in the evening cause I HATE mornings. lol. I get up at 7:30 everyday. no earlier unless i HAVE to for something. No way would anyone drag me outta bed at 5am. :p and I'd spend the first half of the workout half way asleep and not into it.
For me it is making my scheduled activities work around it. Also planning ahead. thinking about which one I plan to do and how long it is. Then I can sorta "gear" up for it by the time workout time comes. I actually sleep better when I've worked out in the evening.
also my DH is great in that he does most of the bed time activites for our boys. I take care of them all day (homeschooling etc) and he takes over for bath, reading before bed etc and putting them down. I use that time to workout.
 
I've written this on these forums before and I'll write it again.

My solution has been to have my cake and eat it. I work out in the evenings/night time and rather than resent not being able to hang out with my fave TV shows (for me, always on DVD), I do my weight training with the TV on as background, so I lift and listen and watch and I am entertained while I lift, which keeps me lifting, usually for 2 hours at a time.

I'm not a fanatic and I'm not a purist. I'm more like Nancy, figuring out how much I need and when and how it suits me to do it, even if it is unorthodox to others.

If you have worked out with select Cathe weight DVDs even 5 times, you already know it like the back of your hand. You do not need to watch Cathe working out, nor do you really need to listen to her any longer. You know the drill, know the form pointers, know which exercises to do and how many reps, etc. If you are educated about fitness, you can pretty much make up your own set of exercises and rep speeds, weight loads, etc. So, what's to stop you from having the sleep you need in the mornings, having a substantial snack after you get home, changing into your workout gear, putting on your fave shows and then starting your lifting?

If you are disciplined enough to even be working out at all, you are disciplined enough to trust yourself to go it alone.

Also, on a last note, short changing yourself on sleep is the fast track to getting colds and worse.

Clare
 
I work from 2pm till 10:30pm and am not working any overtime right now (which would have me home at around 2:50am!) so I know about struggling to find the best workout time. It was always after work, until I started with the overtime. Then I started working out in the mornings, but I wasn't waking to a chilly house and dreary gray mornings. It's going to be interesting to see what happens now that it's getting cold out. For me, when to do it depends on how many hours I'm working and what the weather's like, so I switch back-and-forth.
 
Thank you for the replies. I'm just going to do tonight no excuses. One day will lead to the next.

I can't do it before dinner as I get home a 7pm.
And I can't do it while getting DD ready because she is very poky and I have to stay on her.
Also it is now cold and dark in here in the mornings which also makes me want to stay in bed. :D

I have a dvr and my shows will just have to wait.

Jenn
 
I'm with Maddiesmum, I frequently watch t.v. with a dvd playing on my laptop. But only for non-step w/o's. I find it really works well with P90X and the Slim Series anything that doesn't have a lot of choreography to it. The boot camps and kick boxing w/o's work well too again along as it's not dancy.

My toddler is 3 and I have an agreement with my DH that he puts him to bed so I can get my w/o started at 8pm. No way I can get up at 5am:mad:
 
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