Gym routine before work?

[Melissa]

Hi all,
I'm starting a new 8am-5pm job next week and am hoping to go to the gym and workout before going to work each morning. I've never done this before and am trying to figure out the logistics of getting out early, bringing work clothes with me, showering there, etc.

Does anyone do this and have any tips to share? Fibromyalgia been my excuse for not exercising regularly for years and I'm feeling well enough to start trying. I really want to succeed at this and don't want my demanding new job to become my new excuse for not doing it.

Thanks in advance from an exercise newbie :o

[mayana]

I will tell you one thing. If it's a small enough gym - the early morning people start to know you. Which makes me more accountable.

As for the shower etc. I would get a "mesh" bag. Put regular size bottles of shampoo etc and just keep everything in it's seperate ziplock bags so you don't end up with stuff all over your car.

The wet towel is the biggest problem - hopefully you have somewhere to hang it.

And your car's messiness might be a problem heheheheh I get yelled at about how dirty I leave the car. But it's hard after not being home for 13hrs to drag everything in every night - since I'm going right back to it the next day!! :p

Good luck - it feels so good to have it done in the morning and you don't have to think about it anymore that day.
Mayana

[RawTruth]

I used to do this, and, for me, the planning the night before was what was crucial and the key to the morning's success.

Here's what worked for me ~~ Lay out your clothes for the next day the night before, pack your lunch, decide what you're taking for breakfast (I got queasy if I ate before I worked out, so I took something to eat afterward), get everything together by the front door that you might be taking (workout bag, clohtse in hanging bag, briefcase, water bottle, etc.--I even had a note that reminded me to get my lunch out of the fridge!), have any child routines handled if you're the one responsible - same thing for him (lunch, clothes laid out, backpack packed).

That way I could avoid what derailed me the most, which was that, despite my best intentions, I'd get up a few minutes late or my child would need my attention or I just didn't feel like going, and, since I didn't have everything in place, I'd just slide on that morning's workout thinking that I'd do it the next morning. And, it'd usually be downhill from there.

Best of luck with it, Melissa. I hope that this job is something you're excited about (sorry, I haven't visited your journal lately) and that it's all good.

[yeahbethany]

I'd say the same things: get your clothes, lunch, gym bag packed the night before. This way it is easier to get up, thinking you already have everything ready to go.

Does your gym provide towels? That is a big plus, not having to carry around a wet towel. If you need to bring your own towels, bring a plastic bag to carry the wet one in, so it doesn't get the rest of your stuff wet.

[Melissa]

Thanks everyone! I knew I'd get some good tips. My gym doesn't provide towels so I'll have to plan on wet towels in the gym bag. I guess I could bring a hanger and hang it out in the car rather than ball it up in the bag all day.

I'm working on changing a major personality flaw: lack of planning and organization. In other words when I try to find something it's generally lost, wrinkled, in the laundry, unrepaired, forgotten in the car, left at someone's house, etc.

In the food department, the organizational demands of eating raw have been a huge challenge for me (much more than the inner discipline aspect, which I usually have.) I'm in awe of people who know on Monday what they'll have for lunch on Thursday and start soaking, sprouting, blending, dehydrating, freezing right on schedule. I'm always left without what I need and that breeds trouble. My style of non-vegetarian, un-raw cooking was always to open the fridge at 5pm and say "Hmm, let's see what's in here...What can I do with this?" Not very efficient but in some weird way it felt like a challenge...As in: Frozen chicken, a can of black beans, a grapefruit and spinach..GO! Like Iron Chef! But that works much less well for vegetarian cooked meals and much much much less well for raw. I think that's part of the reason I really LOVED the Master Cleanse fasting: no anxiety about preparedness and organization.

Sorry to ramble...I'm just coming to grips with how large an issue this has been in my life. It's VERY frustrating and it's time I acquire the planning/organizing skills I need to succeed in the diet and exercise arenas. Is this worthy of a separate thread? "Give me organizational tips?" Maybe.
Anyway, thanks guys! xoxo M.
P.S. Raw Truth, it's a great position (writer/editor) so I'm very excited about it! Just have to be ORGANIZED to make work and home life run smoothly.