Why 3:00 in the morning ?

When I mention to people that I workout in the mornings before work , the inevitable next question is always …… “what time do you get up???” When I tell people I get up at 3:00 am (actually 2:45 am, but I sometimes press snooze until 3:00) they tell me one of two things…….. it is either “you’re really dedicated ! ” or ” you are really nuts !!”

There are many reasons for this insane hour :

• I am a firm believer that the body can get used to anything
• My body responds best to fasted AM workouts
• Working out in the AM cuts out all possibility of excuses I would normally have later in the day
• When I get out of work my motivation is NIL
• I love the satisfaction of knowing that it is accomplished
• It sets the tone for my day

In January of this year I thought long and hard about what I wanted out of the year ahead. I had been working on this weight thing for a long time and getting nowhere. How badly did I really want it if I wasn’t willing to do ALL the work that it entailed to get it ? I knew I had to commit to something.

The pressure of losing weight wasn’t coming from my Husband, he fell in love with me heavy and watched me get heavier , and he never really cared. He always told me that he didn’t fall in love with what I looked like, he fell in love with me. He also always told me that all he wanted was for me to be happy ……. and the truth of the matter was , that I wasn’t.

So I had to decide if I was ready and willing to do this for myself. To make it my priority. To do whatever it took to get where I wanted to be and stay there. I had 2 choices. Either accept myself as I was, and stop beating myself up over it. Or I could just buckle down and do the work.

I decided to do the work. That is where 3 am came into play. I had to figure out a way to do this that would fit into my life. I had to find a strategy that worked for me.

The first few months were hard. But , as I knew would happen, it little by little became easier. And at this point, halfway through the year it has become a habit. It’s become ingrained in my head. I don’t think about it anymore ……. I am like a robot. I just get up and do it.

The more progress I made the more excited I got. That excitement turned my motivation into overdrive. I wanted my goal more than ever. It was also great to know that although I’d made this goal my priority, it wasn’t something the completely took over my life. I was doing it at a time where nothing was going on in any sane person’s life anyway!

I’ve made peace with the fact that these early workouts need to be a life long thing. It’s either that , or I will gain the weight back. It is that cut and dry, that ridiculously simple ! I DO NOT ever want to gain this weight back. I never want to be the fat me again. So that is now what keeps me going.

So these days, the reason for 3:00 in the morning is not about dedication or my questionable sanity. It is about FEAR !!!!!!!!!! To let something slip through my fingers that I wanted so badly and worked so hard for it was worth sacrificing sleep to accomplish ,is a horrific thought to me !To risk losing the new found confidence and strength I’ve gained from this experience is unthinkable ! To lose the feeling that I can do anything I set my mind to is intolerable !

I do what I do because it is more important to me than anything in the world. It is how I care for myself. It is my insurance policy for the future. It is my little one hour challenge that I prove to myself every day I can overcome.

You know that movie “He’s Just Not That Into You….” ? If you are not familiar with the premise of this movie, it is pretty much saying that if I guy is really into you, he will move heaven and earth to be with you no matter how crazy busy his life is, not matter what stresses he is under at work or at home. The same holds true with the whole healthy lifestyle thing………….if it means that much to you, if you want it that badly ……. you will find time, no matter what you have to do (even if it means working out at 3 am !) to have what you want !!!!!! And in my case now, what I want to keep !