What motivates you to get out of bed on a cold morning to exercise???

**Sarah Liddle** · 07-06-2006, 09:16 AM

Hi all

I am having to really push myself to get out of bed early and exercise. It is really very cold and I am finding it challenging to keep up my routine in this very, very cold winter.

How do you get motivated to get out of bed on a cold morning and exercise??? I would love to hear how others manage....

**babetteq** · 07-06-2006, 12:01 PM

The donkey starts braying. There is no way you can sleep through it. Once you've fed the donky, you have to feed the horses, which means you really should clean out thier stalls and while you're at it, clean up the shedrow. Now that you're walking back to the house, the dogs need feeding and the little one has run over there to jump in the flowerbed so you have to run after him.... uh oh... the bloody donkey got out....there's more running for you to do.... and that little donkey runs FAST..... back to the barn for a scoop of grain to trick her into coming back because all the chasing in the world didn't get her anywhere near the pasture, so start shaking the grain and calling... if you want you can do squats during this leg of the excercise regime...... there goes the phone... run run run back to the house now that the donkey is properly secured int he pasture this time..... just as you get there it stops ringing so you rest for amoment, letting your heart rate go back down. When it starts again, the phone has been taken downstairs by the 12 year old and not brought back up again, so down the stairs you go... it's work calling... they want to change the schedule... run up the stairs to the calendar ont he wall change it and then we're on to stretchin..... the floors need mopping, the paper under the bird needs changing, the laundry needs swapping, folding adn putting away.....

cooled down now.... time to drink some water.

**slowtypinwoman** · 07-06-2006, 02:47 PM

Background to how I stay motivated:

Four years ago I had lost 50 # and was finally down to a nice size eight. Then my mom died. I put a little of that weight back on. Not a lot but enough that I had crept up to a 10. I mean, nothing beats depression like a Snickers bar, right?
Well, I went home to see my dad last fall. I hadn't seen my sister in a little over a year. She had always battled her weight, even as a kid, and was very heavy.
She had highered a personal trainor and was working out every morning at 4:30. I was very proud of her! Having lost a significant amount of weight myself, I knew what an accomplishment that was. She said she was finally down to a size 12, she hadn't been there since high school.
We went out for dinner one night. My dad, my sister and myself at Olive Garden.
I asked her what she had done with all her old clothing. I mean, after having lost a lot and gain some back I could offer words of wisdom.

She looked right at me and said, " I still have them, do you want them?"

Now every morning, I get up at 5:30 and walk 4 miles on my eliptical machine. Then in the evening, I walk my dogs 3 &1/2 miles on our county road.

That is how I drag myself out of bed on cold mornings. I think of that conversation with my sister.
Footnote:
She did live to see her meal come that night, and I am still speaking to her.
I am happy to say I am back in a size 8.

**frugalfarmwife** · 07-07-2006, 09:40 AM

LOLOLOL Babetteq, I live the same way! But here it's the horses hollering, the cows bellering, the chickens squawking! And yep, run here to get the dog out of the flowers, chase the cow here, there and everywhere!

My mares have gotten SOO obese on this lush grass that I have to lock them in overnight and turn the cows out on their pasture, so at 6AM one of us has to go put the cows in and the horses out, this gets the dogs going so the other one has to start the coffee, take the dogs out and feed the cat.

By this time we're wide awake so it's out to hay the stalled horses, soak the grain, gather the eggs, check the garden for deer damage, back in to make sure hubbies had breakfast and manually insert foot up his rear to get him to work on time (am I the only one that has to do this? LOL). Then it's on to the real fun, graining the horses (lifts there, two 40 pound buckets to carry along), dump and refill waters (more squats and lifts) set up for evening chores, turn horses out, bring horses in (all day long) clean barns, and, and, and, lol.

kj

**PrairieRose** · 07-07-2006, 10:16 AM

The way I stay motivated is to remember how very badly I felt every morning before I started my morning workouts. I'm 46 and with all my aches and pains I swear I felt 66. Now, my day feels incomplete if I haven't had my workout. I don't always look forward to it, somedays I absolutely DON'T wanna do it, but am always so proud of myself when I finish it. I feel good for the rest of the day, even if I'm tired b/c of it. Feeling my clothes (the smaller sizes I've bought lately) getting bigger on me is a real motivator too. You might wanna join us at weightlossmoms.com for more encouragement

**waterlover** · 07-07-2006, 05:44 PM

I'm a morning person and generally don't have hard time getting up except when its cold. I have to psych myself into it. I ease myself into the morning by first having either coffee or tea. I sit around for a bit and then go exercise. I just don't get up and exercise when its cold.

**napswithkats** · 07-08-2006, 04:03 PM

My motivation is one hyper Boxer pup and a Chow mix dog that need lots of exercise! (if I want to keep my furniture in one piece! LOL!) Although when it's really cold outside I have a hard time getting the dogs out of bed!

Do you have to exercise in the morning? I have a friend I walk with on her lunch break. We get to have some quality time together and exercise too!