Revamping the Routine

photo by calloohcallay

I will start with a disclaimer. I am NOT a morning person. I could gladly sleep until 9:00 every morning without any guilt whatsoever. But those days are over (except for the lucky weekend mornings when my wonderful husband takes the early shift.) Baby usually gets up somewhere around 6:30 or 7:00, and the Husband tries to go for a run before leaving for work by 8 or 8:30.

I'm trying to work a little more fit and a little less fat into my life but there are only so many hours in the day. By the time the Husband gets home from work, I want to sit down to dinner as a family, put Baby to bed and relax. My motivation level to work out at that point is hovering somewhere between "never gonna happen" and "I could give a rat's ass about being fit right now." Many people have suggested that I use naptime for working out but how many people go to the gym during their lunch hour at work?? Besides the fact that I don't usually want to use my "break" to work out and shower, there are also plenty of things that need to get done during that precious un-distracted time... like blog :)

Due to my own personal preferences, this leaves the morning as my opportunity for some exercise. As clearly stated above, I am NOT a morning person. But if it's a choice between a little extra sleep and not exercising, the time has come to change up my priorities. Today started an experiment in switching up our morning routine and I have to say that day one was a success. Here's the breakdown:
6:30 - alarm goes off and I'm out of bed
6:35 - my time to exercise (today I did a power yoga dvd in the living room and now feel like a "tight and sturdy structure" - thank you Denise Austin)
*the Husband gets Baby when she announces her presence and gives her the morning bottle*
7:30 - after a shower, I take over and the Husband goes for a run before leaving for work

I went to bed at a decent hour last night and felt good getting up. I also got out of bed as soon as the alarm went off before I could start the excuses and stay in my cozy bed. I recently read this post at Inspired to Action and it definitely got me in the right mindset. If I linger in bed after the alarm goes off, I won't get up. I feel good for getting up. I feel good for working out. I feel good for being in a better mood when I took over with Baby. Instead of the grouchy mama who doesn't want to get up, I was the motivated mama ready to conquer the day. It's nice to do something for myself as a way to start the day. On to day 2...