5 a.m. club

Good morning! It's about 5:30, pitch black out and I'm in my workout clothes and running shoes. I'm part of that crazy club of very early exercisers, oftentimes including parents but also people who work a ton of hours and don't have time to squeeze in exercise later in the day. For me, if it's not happening now, it's probably not going to get done today, unless I want to wait till 8 tonight. Ugh, no thanks.

Recently I talked with a woman who I'll feature in a freelance piece on fitness soon. She's part of our tribe :), hitting 5:30 a.m. boot camp classes each day for things like cardio drills and strength training. Boot camps are the quickest way I've ever gotten into shape and seen results, I love them. I hope to get back to them someday when my little one is older and a bit more self-sufficient in the morning. For now I run and do workout DVD's. (The Biggest Loser's Jillian is waiting for me downstairs to wrap up this post so she can kick my ass.)

Anyway, this woman was great and so enthusiastic about the classes and how they had changed her life. She has always been skinny but never "fit". She struggled to climb stairs and carry heavy boxes and now she's got oodles of energy and is strong. That is a great feeling for a woman.

She told me that if she doesn't start her day with exercise, her day is shot and her energy is low and she will eat badly. I have to disagree. I can't remember where I got this advice now, but it's not over if you skip a workout or eat badly at a meal or two. I think a lot of women are ready to throw in the towel over a hiccup in their diet -- it's like oh crap, I ate a whole pizza, I might as well just keep eating bad since I blew it. Every day is a new day, I've long told myself, with a new chance to do good stuff for my body.

And with that, I'm off to do Jillian's "30-Day Shred" DVD. *quivering*