Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Good day, Sunshine

I'm a morning person now.

You can stop laughing, because it's true. For one month now, I've had a workout partner and made it to the gym every day except Sundays. This is my fifth week of the new fitness regime and it's going amazingly well, but first, the morning person thing.

Two weeks ago, we switched exclusively to morning workouts. By morning, I mean 5:30 AM, which means I have to be up by 5 AM. 5 AM!! Before the last two weeks, 5 AM didn't exist in my world, except maybe as a bedtime on really extraordinary weekends or a wakeup time when I'm flying somewhere awesome. It certainly wasn't an every day occurrence.

But now it is, and guess what? I love it.

As long as I get to bed by 10 PM (a feat I'm still working on, but it happens sometimes), 5 AM isn't actually so bad. Then, 5 AM, I'm up and dressed and on my way to the gym. I'm back home anywhere from 6:30-7, and then I have time to drink a protein shake, do the previous day's dishes, read scriptures, fold laundry, watch an HBO documentary I recorded over a year ago, shower, dress/hair/makeup, actually cook breakfast, and eat (sitting at the dining room table, natch) while reading an article or two in a church magazine.

At least, that's what I did yesterday morning. The daily details vary (today, no more than dishes to clean, so I'm blogging while watching last night's TV), but the gobs of time is no joke. It's almost like there are two of me - Morning Amanda and Evening Amanda. Morning Amanda does all the chores, prepares the food for the day, and does all the exercise so that Evening Amanda can go out with friends, read, or otherwise enjoy a life of leisure. For all the complaining I do about not having enough time to manage my household and live my life, I'm making quite a bit of progress.

Speaking of progress, the workouts are going amazingly well. A-Money, my partner, and I alternate days of cardio and strength training. I'm also tracking my calories, carbs, proteins, and fats with my LoseIt app. My goal is to lose 30 lbs by my 27th birthday (end of May), which is approximately 2 lbs. a week, and get to 22% body fat.

As of this morning, I'm down 3.6 lbs. and 4% body fat. The weight loss doesn't seem that dramatic, nor is it on track, but it's significant because I've been lifting weights for the first time in ages, so I'm building muscle and STILL losing weight. The 4% body fat is definitely nothing to scoff at.

So, I'm not losing weight, but I'm losing size. My muscles are already more defined (hello calves and biceps), my shirts fit better, and my face is thinning! It's nice to see my cheekbones again. In fact, it was A$ who mentioned the face thing, so I'm not the only one who is noticing all the changes.

Working out with a partner, especially one who works part time as a personal trainer, is literally changing my life. We actually still can't work out together every single day, since sometimes she has clients, but we always check in. I even convinced Cabeza to meet us at the gym three days a week, though he's swimming whilst we're lifting, and calling him on his workout days gets me out of bed that much faster. It's brilliant, I tell you. 

I never thought I'd say this, but I really do love getting up early and working out and I'm really looking forward to a new me!

7 comments:

Cabeza said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cabeza said...

I am not yet a morning person, so I appreciate your and A-Money's support in my efforts.

I'm thinking of trying this.

AmandaStretch said...

You're welcome! Thanks for giving me a reason not to hit snooze!

And the comic is genius.

Giggles said...

I'm convinced I'd be more productive if I made better use of my mornings. But a 10pm bedtime would mean I could get up at 6am. If I wanted up at 5am I'd have to go to bed at 9pm. I'm working on the 6am thing. As it's already getting too hot here, if I'm going to keep exercising during the summer, 6am is the absolute latest I can get up.

Pitt Family said...

Oh man, I am impressed! I babysit a kid starting at 5:30 am. When he gets here, I put him back to bed and go back to sleep myself! I can't help but think "Woah, this is not just 5 more minutes, this is an hour and a half that I can go back to sleep!" I need more motivation. Maybe I will set my bed on fire.

LeAnn said...

This was a fun post. I almost think I could get up early and exercise. I have a few pounds to lose. I am not a early riser. The only times I have gotten up early was when my children were little, when I taught early morning seminary for 4 years and now I work at the temple and at least get up early at 4 am to be at the temple at 5:20 am on Saturdays.
I loved doing this.
I know that if I would get my sleeping and awaking in order; I could accomplish so much more; oh well I am going to ponder on this.
Blessings to you! LeAnn

Belle of the Blues said...

Way to go Amanda! That is awesome. Go you.