When Do You Work Out?

For the past few days, I've been working out in the morning. Before that, I'd been working out in the mid-afternoon. Back in high school and college, I'd work out in the evenings...but, at least in college, I think that worked best because I needed the day to sleep off the hangover and saw the workouts as a way to make room for more beer.

I have to say that of the three day-parts, morning workouts seem to suit me best. To be fair, I think the reason that working out in the mornings is easier for me than just about everyone else on the planet is because I don't have kids and I'm self-employed. I don't get up before work. I just get up at the same time as I always have, exercise and show up for work afterwards.

Still, I see the point of working out in the am. It clears your head of cobwebs. You have less time to talk yourself out of it or, to do what I do, guilt yourself into it. Neither are fun and boy do they create a cloud that looms over your day.

Working out in the morning kind of breathes a whole air of productivity and accomplishment into your day. Instead of starting with a blank slate, you start with a check in the "win" column.

Regardless of the timing though, I find that consistency is key. It needs to be the same time of day, every day. Like so many of the bad habits I've worked so hard to break, this good habit has to be reinforced in order to stick.

I guess I've replaced my morning cigarette with a balanced breakfast and an hour of cardio.  Geez. Does that make me a grownup or what?