I run 3 miles every morning at first light , except when it's icy. At 60 my legs are fantastic. 40+ years of competitive, running ...ahhh.

Agree, go for the hills! Keeps your bum well-lifted.

All the lazy arses on this board who won't get up for a 5am workout are the jealous ageists.

Anonymous wrote:If I cannot power walk from 5-530 due to weather (then weights another 15 minutes), I clean the house instead. Such a good feeling to have it done already when I get home at 4:30. No way am I driving to a gym at 5am when my workout is front of me at home staring at me.

My neighborhood is full of hills and my legs look terrific (I'm 59, 2 kids in college).

I save myself a gym fee and a housekeeper payment.

Sure they do

If I cannot power walk from 5-530 due to weather (then weights another 15 minutes), I clean the house instead. Such a good feeling to have it done already when I get home at 4:30. No way am I driving to a gym at 5am when my workout is front of me at home staring at me.

My neighborhood is full of hills and my legs look terrific (I'm 59, 2 kids in college).

I save myself a gym fee and a housekeeper payment.

I go to bed at 8:30 and read. I am fast asleep by 9pm. Wake up around 4:45 even though alarm set for 5am.

I think you first need to adjust your clock. Start by just getting up early. Then after you have adjust your circadian rhythms, add the exercise.

1) There is no way you need to spend a full two hours every evening cleaning and tidying your house. Just no. That's nuts!

2) Is a parent actually staying/watching the older kids' activities? We are a household, like yours OP, where kids do a lot of activities, we see value in that, and we make it one of our priorities to support those activities. But during the week this consists mostly of just providing or arranging rides. I don't sit around and watch sports practices or theatre rehearsals or whatever. We have lots of carpools which helps TREMENDOUSLY -- truly the best! Or I drop off and go back home and clean up from dinner or do a small work out. And even on the rare occasion where I have to do both the drop off and pick up somewhere, and it's too far for me to go home, I will then go for a walk or run, weather permitting. (Or run an errand or get work done.)

TLDR - stop all the mopping and get some carpools going.

Anonymous wrote:11 PM.

Too late for a consistent 4:15-:30 wakeup; unsustainable.

NP.So jealous of people going to bed early!

My kid needs a load of homework support. Between sports pickup, homework, and other life demands every night — not to mention any work projects or west coast clients that need my evening attention — I never get enough sleep for a 5am workout at this stage of life. I rarely get enough as it is.

Good luck, OP! It is hard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of answer do you want? We can’t change your schedule for you. Quit your job?

Very helpful thanks!

It’s the only answer. Your welcome.

What I’m really asking is what time most 5am exercisers are going to bed.

9. Occasionally, I can stick to the schedule after a late night, but it's mostly 9. My kids are older, I WFH 3x a week, and I'm not that fastidious of a house keeper.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What in the world are you cooking that requires sweeping and mopping every single night?

Right? Sweeping, maybe, but my floor gets mopped every other Thursday when the cleaning ladies come.

X1000

OP I also work a hybrid schedule, and on the days I go into the office we have EXTREMELY SIMPLE dinners that take like 10-15 min to get on the table and involve very few dirty dishes. I do sweep the kitchen and eating area nightly -- which takes a mere few minutes -- but of course I don't mop every night! Like the PP, that happens once every two weeks when the cleaning lady comes.

Sounds like if you change your dinner/cleaning routine you could find a bunch of time in your day.

What are you simple dinners that make no mess?

DH grills meat and we serve with steamed veggies or salad. One night a week we get Peruvian chicken takeout.

Anonymous wrote:I don't know how serious OP is about finding a solution. Between her judgment of SACC (and by implication, the parents who use SACC), making fancy dinners every single night (mac n cheese made with REAL cheese), all the hours of mopping and cleaning, I'm exhausted just reading it.

I find this to be true of a lot of people who claim they don't have time to exercise. I have an older neighbor who lives alone, have no children and only works 4 days a week from home. She "wanted" to get her health under control and to start walking. Yet every time another neighbor and I asked her to go she always had an excuse. She upset with me when I said "Instead of saying I can't say it's not a priority for me and see how that feels. because if something is a priority you make it happen, if it isn't you make an excuse."

I find that people who can't carve out 30 min for a walk are the same people who somehow find time to watch TV and scroll on their phones.

Anonymous wrote:What in the world are you cooking that requires sweeping and mopping every single night?

Omg THANK YOU. I can’t get past this. Until we had a cleaning lady, months would go by between kitchen floor moppings. Who mops every day?

Anonymous wrote:Op knows damn well how to make a simple dinner. Yet again she just wants to deflect so she can pretend working out and being fit just isn’t possible for her!

It’s not possible because she wouldn’t be able to make HOMEMADE MAC N CHEESE for chrissakes. She couldn’t possibly feed her kids Kraft! What would the neighbors think?!?

Fresh garden salads (nothing prewashed from a bag! All greens must be hand washed!) every night. I mean why have kids if you’re just going to cut corners?

I don't know how serious OP is about finding a solution. Between her judgment of SACC (and by implication, the parents who use SACC), making fancy dinners every single night (mac n cheese made with REAL cheese), all the hours of mopping and cleaning, I'm exhausted just reading it.