Tried it, hated it.
 

Grrr, maybe it's something I have to get used to... But getting up in the am to work out is the pits!

To you folks who get up early to burn a deficit---- how DO you do it?

Yesterday I had the morning to myself, got 45 mins in. Today, set my alarm, barely made it past 15. :?: AND THIS IS WITH COFFEE

...But you still did 15 minutes! That's better than nothing!

You might have to get used to getting up early and work your way up to a full 45 minute workout. Or maybe 15 minutes is all you're going to get...you can accomplish a lot in that time :)

Maybe you need to switch up the type of exercise you're doing. I could NEVER drag myself out my bed to run! Never! I tried for years! I'm a morning person too.

However, when I was teaching, I would gladly wake up at 4:45 in the morning to get to the gym to lift weights. I liked lifting so much better that even when I really didn't want to get out of bed I found myself heading over there.

You just have to find what works for you! I've done it both ways. When my bff went to the gym in the morning with me I was motivated to go and had someone keeping me accountable, but when she stopped it was more hit or miss. DH prefers working out at night so I go with him.

I honestly prefer working out in the morning because then it's over with, I get a nice rush of energy, and I just get ready for work at the gym; however, actually getting my big butt out of bed and to the gym when DH wraps me back under the covers and snuggles with me makes it virtually impossible - so I end up going at night. :lol:

It's a matter of routine and habit. It takes 30 days to make/break a habit. If you stick with it you'll find it easier to get up!

I agree you did 15 and that's a lot baby! My body can't do 2-3 hrs anymore! I go to the gym in the morning and do 1hr 3omins and go back later with mother for 1hr and 30mins.

Eat something food is engry!

I am not a morning person. I don't think I ever will be. I have to work out in the evenings. I workout, take a shower, eat and go to bed. I sleep so much better at night. Getting up early to work out just makes me mad. Haha!

Good luck! We are all different! Props to you for making such a huge effort!

I read an article about the "Best" times to do certain things, and it said for exercising the best time was in the afternoon....go figure lol. Thats usually when I get mine in because its right before I have to get ready for work and when my little ones will most likely be napping. If I can't then I will do it later in the evening before bed. No way in **** you will ever catch me working out in the morning LOL (except when I ran my 5Ks) UGH

I can't do mornings either, even if I wake up early to get a workout in, I normally get really sick to my stomach from not having eaten. I usually workout between getting home from work and eating dinner.

I do my workouts in the evenings. I bring a snack to eat on my hour long commute, so I am not starving. I do much better and get more out of my workouts in the evenings. I also walk at work during my morning and afternoon breaks. Sometimes I will add a walk at lunch.

Well, if you hate it, don't do it. :D But really, like others have said, we all have to find the groove that works for us.

I mix it up quite a bit, but I do try to wake up at least two mornings a week and jog. I have a new treadmill (yay!), so it works for me. I wake up forty minutes earlier than usual, pop in my headphones and hit the start button. I like it because it gets me in a good head space for the day. I feel more energetic and less stressed, and for some reason I tend to get ready faster on those mornings. That leaves me a little bit more time to sit down with my breakfast and watch the news. Plus, I feel like I can relax in the evening.

I work out in the evenings two nights a week with Zumba, but it is a little hard for me to self-motivate when I get home from work. Zumba doesn't start until 7:00 PM, so I can't really stay at work that late. So, I drive home, eat a snack, change clothes, get a little settled, and then I have to drive back to town (I live about 20 minutes outside of the towns on either side of me). It takes up an ENTIRE evening, it seems. I enjoy the class so much, however, that I would hate to give it up.

ETA: sontaikle -I always do any muscle building in the evenings. Somebody would have to come pick me up off the floor if I tried to lift in the morning!

I only exercise at night.

So be proud that you even did 15mins this morning... I did nothing lol

I can only manage to do workouts in the morning if I have been really good at taking my multi-vitamin. Otherwise- I don't have the energy. It also helps when I start doing morning workouts after daylight savings time. LOL.

I already wake up at 5am just to eat breakfast, shower and make it to work on time. I cannot make myself get up any earlier in order to work out as well. I wish I had time to spare in order to do so, but waking up any earlier than 5am is a no-no.

you can also break up your work outs if you are struggling for time- do 15 mins in the morning and 15 mins in the evening. A friend of mine did their PhD on this, and I think she found that as long as you have good intensity each time, its the same as doing 1 x 30 min work out :)

I bought one of those phillips wake up lamps. I find it so much easier to get out of bed in the morning when there's light. I actually do best when my bf has to work in the morning because he kicks me out of bed when he gets up.

It's tough to get going, but I feel so much better once I've hit the pool. My only other option during the week is on my lunch hour, and it's such a rush, I don't want to get my hair wet and I end up eating at my desk afterwards, cutting into my productive time.

So basically, it's the least of the evils for me.

Yet another exercising in the evening person checking in, lol.

I've found that if I exercise in the morning, I'm actually MORE likely to eat poorly and feel crappy that day. It just throws me off balance. Maybe I don't react well to fasted exercise?

The earliest I'd exercises would be like 10am on a weekend (I wake up around 6-7am).

I'm a morning, afternoon, evening exerciser. It took me a good 3 months before exercising in the morning felt ok but I pushed through it and it's routine now. Make sure it's an exercise you like doing! I am so/so with running but I LOVE taking my dogs out so I combine them and run with my 2 dogs and my husband for about 30 minutes in the mornings.

Physically, I prefer to run at around 3:00-5:00 in the afternoon but seeing as I work during those hours, that isn't an option for me. When I get home from work, I force myself to do strength training because I'm usually exhausted.

The biggest benefit for me exercising in the morning is the fact that it's DONE. I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the day. There are days when I think, "oh my goodness. I haven't done any exercise today!" Then I realize, I did 30 minutes in the morning. D'uh!

Another awesome thing about running in the morning for me, anyway, is that I'm half asleep for about 15 minutes of it. Mentally I just don't check in until I'm halfway done my run and by that point, I have to do the last 15 minutes to get back home in time to get ready to go!

Before you say morning exercise isn't for you, you HAVE to give it a chance. A week of it isn't enough. Try a month or 2 months (3 to truly see results!). Just like weightloss, picking up new routines takes time and preperation. If you really want to get into early morning exercise, you can find a way. Otherwise, just do it when you want to! There's so much anecdotal evidence out there that exercise in the morning is *better* than other exercise. It really really isn't. Figure out what works for you and stick to it. :D

I work out in the afternoon or evening. I don't do mornings.

I can exercise okay at both times but I workout harder in the evenings or in the afternoons on my days off.

I have a hard time in the morning.

Ugh, dude I canNOT exercise in the morning. It does not work for me, at all. If I eat something, I feel sick and tired with no energy. If I don't eat anything, I get low blood sugar and feel like I want to die afterward.

My time is in the evening - and I actually do hot yoga starting at 9:45 pm!

And because I've got it set up that it's right after work so it works with my schedule, I pass by it on the way home, I've set myself up for success, I rarely miss it!

when i had to get up early this summer to work out, i bribed myself to get it done :D i made myself a deal that if i could get up on the 5 workdays and go run at the gym, then on the weekend i could get one of the protein smoothies at the gym that i love...so that kind of mind game worked well for me and i actually LIKED the time in the mornings...getting up early while everyone slept, enjoying the peaceful drive to the gym, and getting a workout in while watching the sunrise through the windows....and then it was done for the day

i also play mind games like this: i usually get up at 6 a.m. for work anyhow, so getting up at 5:30 wasn't all that different, right? and if i can get up at 5:30 a.m., well then half an hour earlier at 5 a.m. isn't hardly any different either right? really an hour's difference isn't THAT much....so this summer i got up at 5 a.m., worked out 5:30-6:30, got ready for work and left the house at 7 a.m. and was at work by 7:30 a.m. :D

I go to the gym after class because it's least busy at that time of day. I'd hate working out in the morning!

That's AWESOME! Way to go! I do similar mind games when I don't feel like working out too. Usually it's when I get home from work. I'll tell myself, you don't have to exercise, just put on your exercise clothes. Then you're prepared if you do feel like it later....then a few minutes later I'll put my workout music on. I still don't "have" to exercise but I'm more than halfway there. Why not keep going and just do the workout? 15 minutes into it, "hey it's not that bad, might as well keep going!". Before I know it, I'm done and sitting down to dinner. :D

Skellig---- you're right... At this point I don't like working out at any point of the day. Guess I need to stick with it for a while to really know.

I can only work out in the morning if I have a day off - so basically I have time to wake up, eat, digest and then take my time working out! I'm not a huge morning person so I can't imagine setting my alarm for 6:30am to workout out *shudder*

Personally I can only work out in the AM. I feel like my AM workouts keep me eating healthy all day.

I absolutely could never work out in the morning. I am barely functional before my cup of coffee. Kudos to you for even getting 15 minutes in!

My workout times vary. Sometimes I go around lunch time after I wake up and eat breakfast (I get up around 9 or 10), sometimes I go mid-afternoon, and sometimes I go in the evenings or at night. I feel like I do best when I go earlier, though, but I feel like the important part is not WHEN you go, it's that you go at all.

Kudos on the 15 minutes!

If I tried to work out in the morning, I'd either eat like a horse the rest of the day and negate whatever good I did at the workout, or be utterly exhausted, go back to bed, and wake up at 5pm. Mornings and I don't really get along.

Night time on the other hand? Say, from 8-12? Bring it on! Helps me sleep. (Except for today apparently, since it's 2am, lol)

Find what works for you. Calories burned at 5am aren't any more special than calories burned at 12pm or 6pm or 11:52pm. The best time to work out is the time that you are most likely to stick with!

I don't really like exercising any time, but I'm trying to force myself to do it in the mornings. I work 8-6 (I'm a resident physician), and often get stuck staying even later, so mornings are the best time to be able to establish a routine and stick to it.

The difficulty is in establishing that routine...... I like sleep!!

I felt the same until a few weeks ago when i gave up coffee cold turkey and moved to caffeine free green tea!

I'm an early morning exerciser 6am if in the gym 7am if at home. i hate the gym in the evening too many people and more importantly too many of the look at me people. in the morning you get people who train hard don't care what your doing but there is a respect that your doing it.

In the evenings i hate waiting around for a bit of kit etc.

yeah I have to admit that for the period of time where I didn't drink coffee (I call these the "dark years") I could get up early and exercise quite easily. :-)

Coffee really is so bad for me, I know it, but I'm not ready to give it up.... yet.

I tried working out in the mornings, but I really hate it!!! Soooo much! To the point that I figured it's counter-productive to force myself to do somehting that is so against my natural rythms... So I don`t do it in the morning anymore, I just don`t even try to force it on myself.

For me, afternoon is best.

I always try to go squish in morning work outs since supposedly they are the best for you- keeps your metabolism kicked up all day! Go to bed early :) I tuck in 1030 at the latest when I want to workout in the AM

Its really practical time wise too..so after work I can just head home!