At the moment, I don't exercise in the morning but it may change with warmer weather once I can walk the dogs (Canuckstan is still in deep freeze, well, almost).

My usual morning routine is as follows:

6:30 alarm goes off, I crawl out of the bed
Dogs go out to do #1
Dogs come in, eat breakfast
Dogs go out to do one more # 1 and # 2
Dogs come in
I put coffee on, hop in the shower
7:00 I settle in front of TV while I have my coffee (or I read a book)
7:30 I pack my stuff for the day (food is usually already in plastic containers
in the fridge), if not, I prepare food for work
I get dressed, throw some mascara on
My time for important bodily functions (LOL)
8:00 Dogs go out to for another pee
8:10 I leave for work

I am NOT a morning person!!! For years I would try to exercise in the morning and it just never happened.

This time around I got smart. I took a long hard look at what had worked in the past and what hadn't...and why it hadn't. I would use ANY EXCUSE imaginable NOT to exercise in the morning. I have accepted that fact and now I don't even try to work out in the morning. Besides I do an hour of cardio and 30-45 minutes of nautilius. plus drive time to and from the gym...I would have to be out the door at 4:00 AM and that isn't going to happen!!

I'm amazed at this... that people can get up in the am early and exercise, I can't move no matter how much coffee, red bull, etc. I just can't. At times I can get on my bouncer and do 15 min of light exercise and then sit on the couch. I have to work out in the late afternoons, evenings. I tried to change, but I wonder if we all aren't programmed differently. I work at home so mornings are just out for work too. Guess I really work 1/2 days... When I'm exercising and eating right I have more energy in the ams, but NOT 5-6-7 am!

I never used to be a morning person at all. I guess once I got into the routine, I was awake early anyway. And what else am I going to do at 5 am? I found when I tried to work out evenings that I always had things come up to keep me from doing it. I exercise at night with a friend a lot, but the morning workout is just another thing I do like peeing, eating, or sleeping.

And working out in the morning really sets me up for the day: Why would I pig out if I've already worked so hard today?

I do think people are wired differently. It's taken years to change into a morning person, but it's benefited me so much. Ever since I've done it, I've never been over 150 lbs once I reached my goal!

I am totally not a morning person but I find myself more tired in the morning if I workout at night. Also, I don't like eating at night and my current weight workout requires me to eat after my workout. It is also easier to push out working out from your day if you leave it until the end of the day. So I'm working on getting up earlier and going to bed earlier.

Add me to the "not a morning person" list. I agree that it's harder to work evening workouts to your schedule, but I do the best I can.

My schedule now is:
6 am - alarm goes off
6:30 am - get up (I love the person who invented snooze :) ) shower
6:45 ish - get breakfast ready. It's the one sure time DH and I have together in any given day
7:15 - hair, dress, gather lunch and snacks from fridge, as well as anything else I need for the day (I'm another no-makeup person, and I can fix my hair in 5-7 minutes)
7:40 - leave for work
7:50 - arrive at work and hope there's more :coffee: made.

I really *want* to be a morning exerciser. I was starting to get a little teeny bit in the hang of it and then I had my daughter and it's been crazy since. She's 9 months old now and I should be able to get it back together. I think I waste too much time in the mornings.
I also have 3 different schedules - commute days (wake 4:45), telecommute days (wake 6:00) and weekends (wake when kids do - usually 7ish).
I'm thinking I should try to condense my mornings as much as possible and then start getting up at a consistent time - like 5 am. I still have to:

*make coffee, begin to function, take thyroid meds - 15 mins
*brush teeth, wash face, get dressed (usually shower at night) - 20 mins
*nurse DD or pump - 20-30 mins but may be weaning in the next couple months
*pack lunch, take vitamins, etc - 10-15 mins
*wake DS, dress him and get him ready for daycare - 15-20 mins
*Sometimes check email/3fc - 10-15 mins

Days I work I have to be out the door by 6:30 to have any hope of making it on time.
I usually don't get to sleep until 10 or 10:30, so you can see I can't move my wake-up time much earlier and still survive. I have cut down to only watching TBL and 1-2 other shows - currently Canterbury's Law and 2 1/2 Men.
Maybe once I wean and then I should be laid off in Aug or Sept. Gosh, it felt good to write this all out though - thanks!

I too really want to be a morning workout person because soon (If I ever tackle the GRE) I will being going to school at night, then it will be mornings or not at all, so I want to prepare now. I can see some commonalities, such as those that do workout in the morning make it the first thing they do, before they think too much about it. It seems everyone prepares alot more then I do, alot of my morning is spent rummaging around for clothes, shoes, keys and such. I have been trying to get up early enough to wake up and have some coffee before I workout and I see most of you go straight to workout. THAT may be what I have to change. Quit thinking about it so much and just wake up, put the time in. This is interesting, isn't it?

I lay out mine and my son's clothes the night before. I get up around 4 a.m. and exercise until 4:45 or 5. Then hit the shower. I get my son awake while I'm getting ready then I get his clothes on him and we're out by 6:15 so I can get him to pre-school by 6:45 and me to work by 7:30. It's quite a drive. This means I get to bed by 8 p.m....9 latest in order to get my rest. This means I got a DVR so I can watch American Idol. LOL

Yep. Also not a morning person. When I was in college, I used to workout in the mornings... but then morning meant 8 AM. I'm slowly trying to get back into it, because it's so easy for something to come up at night and keep you from doing it.

However, I am awake and to work in an hour or less everyday. Then again, I also live a mile from work. (I'll start walking when the weather gets better.)
Some of my get ready quick tips:
- I cook a big breakfast on the weekends and dole it out over the course of the week. I'f I'm not coming home for lunch, I make sure to do my lunches the night before.
-Hot rollers! I have really long (probably 4 inches longer than in my avatar) hair, that's very thick. I was my hair the night before so that it's mostly dry by morning. Then, roll it up and it's much faster that actually doing my hair.
- I switched my makeup. I never wore a lot, and still don't. But, I switched form liquid foundation to Bareminerals, and the powder is so much easier for me to do quickly. And, I don't mess with eye makeup much, just liner and two different shadows to choose from (I only wear one at a time)
- I use a key hook and purse hook and shoe rack to keep everything organized. And, I only rotate through a few work outfits- probably mainly because I don't have an immense amount that fit, but it works out great for convenience.

This morning, inspired by everyone I managed to get up at 5:30 and workout


WOOOO HOOOO!

Granted I only did 20 mins, but hey, it's a start!

Hey ladies,
This thread has inspired me to come out of lurkdom and participate. I'm definitely a part of the not a morning person club but for the past year I've had to get up at 5 am every day. My fiance and I live about an hour to an hour and a half (depending on traffic) from our jobs and he works in construction. In the morning, on average we leave around 5:15, get coffee at Tim Horton's (coffee for him, diet coke for me) and I'm at my office by 6:30.

My office "technically" doesn't open until 9 or 9:30 so I have most of the early morning to be miserable by myself. There have been times when I've gone so far as to lay under my desk and nap from 6:30-8-my cube has a door so this is possible.

Our wedding date is May 22, 2009 and I really want to look fantastic in my dress. I've got the dress picked out, but I want to try to get my weight loss started before I order it so I can order a more appropriate size. I'm not talking about ordering a 6 with the hopes of being a 6 in a year. Right now I'm at a 10 in the dress I want (10/12 street size) which I'm happy with. I just want to order what's appropriate.

Anyway, that was long. So my company's building is in downtown Boston and we have a gym in the basement. I've always had an aversion to exercise and the gym so I was resistant to joining. I just joined about 2 weeks ago and started going consistently (4 days) this week. I get there around 6:45 or 7:00 and work out until 8. I get ready for work in the locker room. So my schedule is now:

Night before-get gym clothes together (I keep a big bag with my shower stuff, sneakers, etc at my office and just bring fresh clothes with me.) and pack a lunch.

To bed between 8 and 10-usually around 9 (I LOVE MY DRV!!!)

Get up at 5:00-no snooze button allowed here, I have a sadistic fiance who likes to turn the light on and pull the covers off me to get me out of bed.

Throw on clothes while still asleep and out the door by 5:15

Coffee and breakfast on the way-I just have something little so I'm not starving when I'm at the gym

Between 6:30-76:45 at the office, drop purse and lunch, grab gym bag and head downstairs.

Gym time from 6:45-8:00 (including shower and getting ready)

8:00 back at office, breakfast time (usually egg white and fruit or cottage cheese and fruit).

That's what seems to work for me at the moment. I'm a HUGE procrastinator and I'm lazy so it's easy for me to push off going to the gym. That's why I'm making myself go in the morning.

Congrats ckatgo! That's awesome!

I've never been a morning person much. I tried to go out for walks in the morning before going to work when I first started this...didn't take. However, I know how much I NEED my exercise now, and I know how it wakes me up and makes me feel so much better/stronger for the rest of the day. So I MAKE myself get up and do it. I have about an hour drive to work, plus the time it takes to go the back road to my son's daycare and get him checked in. And with getting him AND me ready in the morning, that means I gotta get up at a really awful early time. But knowing how so worth it it is, I just had to adjust my sleeping and go to bed a lot early, prepare myself for it, and argue with myself to do it. Since I only work 3 days a week out of the house, I just have to muddle through those 3 mornings, then I can exercise later in the day the rest of the time. ;)