I'm a mom with 2 kids and made the switch to the morning workout a couple of years ago. My alarm goes off at 4:45am. Yes, it's on the other side of the room. Like a PP suggested, I wear most of my workout clothes to bed. My gym bag is prepped and the water bottle is in the fridge.

If you like rewards, you could give yourself a treat for getting up 3x in one week--say a pedicure or getting music on iTunes or a book.

Definitely go to bed. Make 10pm your new goal and work it back to 9:30pm.

Could you exercise after the kids go to bed? Or,, depending on when you are your husband get home from work, could you work out while your husband handles making dinner a couple of nights per week? And then you could work in longer/more intense workouts on the weekends.

The only thing that ever worked for me was paying for an early morning class or boot camp. I hate to waste money, so once i have paid $100 month to be somewhere at 6am, i will get my moneys worth.

Anonymous wrote:You should get one of those alarm clocks that you have to chase.]

That is fantastic!!!!

You should get one of those alarm clocks that you have to chase. Like this one.

This is OP - thanks for all the responses! I have tried having an exercise buddy in the past but after the first few weeks, I started getting up just to text her that I wasn't coming today I have never tried the alarm clock across the room, maybe that will be the trick? My guess is that I'll just get up and go across the room, then get back in bed. Basically, my sleepy brain that wants to go back to sleep overrides everything else. As for what kind of exercise I'm trying to do, I was hoping to do exercise videos at home. I have several that I have used in the past and really liked. And what I need most right now is tone and muscle, not really the aerobic/weight loss part (I walk to work a little over a mile each way and am a healthy weight, just have no muscle). I try to leave the house at 8am, though it usually ends up being closer to 8:15. I was thinking even a 30 minute exercise video would be plenty but I just can't even make myself get up 30 minutes earlier right now. (PP who said I need to go to bed earlier is probably right...)

What kind of exercise were you planning on doing and what time do you have to leave your house for work? To start, I wouldn't plan on doing anything everyday - you could start with a couple of days a week, add a day on the weekends and see how that goes. What worked for me was to find something that interested me (or at least was different) to get me out the door. When I started the early morning routine (13 years ago now), it was an outdoor bootcamp. Like you, I had a demanding job and two small kids and needed to do something before the day started. I discovered pretty early on that I really, really liked the whole "done with exercise" thing before most people woke up! I would leave for work amazed at how good I felt and that I had already gotten in my workout. I laid out my clothes the night before and basically set my alarm for the latest possible time I could get up and still get out. I can't say that I love getting up at 5:45, but do love the feeling I get when I'm done and that becomes the addicting, habit-forming part.

You may be different than me, but while I can make myself get up earlier to go to work, I cannot work out first thing in the morning. My body is just not ready. The few times I have done it, I felt horrible the rest of the day. I mean, just plain bad. I've been told I look horrible also.

But I can make myself get up early, go to work, and allow myself a long enough lunch break to work out. I can also make myself work out after my son goes to bed (if I don't make it to the gym over lunch). The trick for me getting out of bed early (to allow time to work out) is basically to lie to myself. Tell myself "oh you can skip today) and then let the caffeine and stress kick in.

Anyway, my point is, if you truly are not a morning person, you may want to consider night exercising instead.

Just wanted to give you encouragement. The only way I will exercise is if I get up early. It's hard in the cold, but it's only miserable for the first five minutes. One thing I do sometimes is sleep in my workout clothes.

It's not the snooze button. You need more sleep than you are getting. You fall asleep at 11:30 and are tired when the alarm goes off at 6:15, which is less than 7 hours.

Go to bed earlier, or spend your last hours doing things conducive to sleep so that you aren't lying in bed awake for so long. No computers/tv/bright lights. Get to sleep earlier.

I'm in the exact same boat and trying to do morning exercise at least a few times a week.

Here's what I have tried -- literally twice - but so far so good. I have decided I need to start small. I usually get up at 7, so I've gotten up at 6:15 and gone downstairs and exercised at home. I just got Kinect Fit so I'm doing that, and we have a treadmill too. If you don't have it, you could try a workout video or something. I am hoping that I can get used to this routine and eventually work up to being able to do runs in the morning once or twice a week too -- maybe in, say, April!

But for me, the idea of getting up half an hour or 40 minutes earlier is so much easier to handle than the hour and a half it would take to get to the gym and back. Even if I'm only getting in a 20 minute run and 10 minutes of stretches, it is better than what I was doing before!

Baby steps.

The only thing that is a given for getting me out of bed for a workout is knowing that my friend is going to meet me at the gym. Accountability is HUGE. Do you have a friend who could be your workout buddy?

I got out of the snooze habit by placing the alarm on the other side of the room. I must get out of bed to turn it off.

I work full time and have two young kids. I have not been able to figure out when to exercise after having baby #2. I know intellectually that getting up early and exercising before work every day is the only way that I'm ever going to be able to consistently exercise. The problem? I am a chronic snooze-button user. I have been pretty much my entire life. I currently set my alarm at 6:15 but don't actually get out of the bed until 6:45 or 6:50. I generally get in bed between 10:30pm and 11 and am asleep by 11:30. DH is similar in his approach to the snooze button. When I have an early meeting or a plane to catch or a "hard" deadline, I am able to get out of bed when the alarm goes of but if there's any wiggle room, I snooze. I have told myself countless times that I'm going to get up early and exercise but my sleepy 6am brain always, always hits the snooze button instead. FWIW, I am very punctual and am never late to meetings, appointments, etc., even if they are in the morning. I just always have less time to get ready/do the morning routine that I would like.

I realize this sounds a little bit silly but does anyone have any advice on how to break the snoozing habit and actually get up early to exercise? I'd love to hear from a chronic snooze-button abuser like me who was able to reform. I'd also appreciate hearing from other working moms who exercise before work to hear how you structure your mornings and who gets the kids ready for the day. Thanks!