Resolutioners or Why I get up at 4:30 in the morning

First I want to thank you all for the wonderful suggestions you've left me for Mr. Potts' 35 for 35. He absolutely LOVED the fleece last night - so much so that he put it on right away to "model" for me (I'm wearing off on him!).

Several of you asked yesterday how I get up at 4:30am to go to the gym. Let me tell you, it is hard. And it isn't pretty. I pray every time I get there that I won't run into anyone I know - cause I look ROUGH.

I don't do this every day - if I did, I would me a miserable, mean, grumpy witch. I do, however, make a concentrated effort to do this a few times a week, especially during January, February, April & May (more on why I concentrate on these particular months in a few).

How do I do it? I pick the days that I know I won't go to a group exercise class. I try to make sure I'm in bed by 9:30pm so I can fall asleep by 10pm.

Some days I turn the alarm off & go back to sleep. Others I lay there & give myself a pep talk, "If you don't get up, you'll need to go after work & you had errands to run then."

Again, it is hard. And not for everyone. (I should take a picture to show you how rough it is in the morning - maybe tomorrow)

So why do I do it & why do I concentrate more on certain months? Well, it comes back to people I have dubbed "Resolutioners". You know the ones. The people who make resolutions to lose 5 pounds in two weeks.

Resolutioners are the ones who clog our gyms after work during the month of January and into February. They're the ones who make the wait for the treadmills, the ellipticals, the stair climbers, the free weights and the choice spots in group classes just obscene.

They're the people who want to commit to making a healthy change, but just can't keep it up - most likely because their resolutions were unrealistic.

But what about April & May, you may ask.

Well, they're resolutioners too. They resolve to lose 10 pounds in order to fit into their bathing suits, look good on vacation or to get ready for the lake or the beach.

They're on the fit train. Until they run out of steam (Mr. Potts would groan at that pun!).

They also make the gym a miserable place to be after work. Especially when the gym you frequent is one of the nicer ones in the city. With the best equipment & cardio classes. Located right downtown where most people work.

All of these reasons are why I try to wake up at 4:30am & go work out.

The thing is, I don't resent the resolutioners. Not one bit. Let's be honest. We've all been there. Perhaps not on January 1st, but at some point each of us has taken an honest look at ourselves and how we're treating our bodies and realized that we need to make a life change.

Some of us have successfully made that change, while others are still working on it.

One of these women is a co-worker of mine. She pulled me aside yesterday and asked how I've done it. How did I incorporate exercise into my life & how I've lost the weight I have. She further shared with me that she's lost about 20 pounds by starting a doctor supervised appetite suppressant program, but that she's being weaned off of the pills.

She shared with me that she is scared, but wants to continue losing - she wants to make that life change. In the minute it took her to tell me that, my frustration with the resolutioners went out the window. Most of us struggle with making that kind of change. Here she was asking for help.

I shared with her that it isn't easy and I shared some of what I've learned.

And I offered to take her with me to Cardio Sculpt tonight.

Because, while she's a resolutioner, she's also committed to changing. Just like I did a few months ago.

Happy Cardio Sculpt Day!! I have to psych myself up for that class.