Early morning gym goers

trishee13

How do you find the motivation! I've pretty much accepted that if I want to work out the only way I will have the chance is if I do it early in the morning before she wakes up and before my husband leaves for work. But I love my sleep (of course). Help me! I don't know how I can make my ass get out of bed and do anything instead of sleeping for an extra hour

alinic916

I'm having the same problem!!  The only way I'll go most days is early AM but I hate losing sleep!!  Then I'm tired later in the day and want to nap.  

AiramJ

It's hard to start with but once you see the benefits it gets easier and you are more motivated. I'd start with two early days. It being summer helps, too. I rather get up early in the summer when it's light not dark like in the winter months.

BryDienta

Before LO I was an early morning gym person but now I get to work early so that I can get home and spend some time with LO before he goes to bed.  I leave my house around 5 every morning as it is so if I wanted to go to the gym I would have to get up at like 3!  I am now trying to get motivated to work out after he goes to bed since my husband works nights its my two hours of "free" time.

BrooklynBroussard

I too have mourned the loss of my gym time. I can't afford to lose any more sleep! I think one of the most challenging parts of becoming a mother is sacrificing the time you spent on yourself for others. I spend every free moment (which are few and far between, now that she is napping only once a day) on cleaning, cooking, and laundry. I think there are two clear ways of approaching this situation.

One approach I really like is the idea that you cannot be a good mother without taking care of yourself. We teach our children to value themselves by how we value ourselves. (I'm so bad about chronically picking myself apart, and I'm trying to stop so that my little one will never pick herself apart.) If you feel your gym time is important to not only your physical health, but also mental and emotional, I would try to find a sitter a few times a week. Or sacrifice a bit of sleep if you find the benefits outweigh the cost. Your value has not gone down just because you now have a child who needs all your time!

I think another way of seeing it is that your life has changed, and that there are certain things that will never return to how they were. If fitness is important to you, there are other ways of getting in exercise that involve your baby! They may not give you all of what you had in the gym, but that might just become a distant memory! Fitness is huge in my life, and I've been really enjoying finding new ways to workout while I'm with my baby. It's all I can do right now without my family having to sacrifice!

Good luck to you girl! I'm so glad you do care about your health!