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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to try using evenings to fit exercise

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Speaker 1: into a full schedule. You don't need to worry that

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Speaker 1: evening exercise will keep you up all night. Instead, it

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Speaker 1: might make life feel more doable. I know that many

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Speaker 1: people listening to a podcast called Before Breakfast are well

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Speaker 1: morning people. I get lots of letters from people who

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Speaker 1: listen to these episodes while grabbing coffee on route to

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Speaker 1: the gym. I'm a big fan of morning exercise, and

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Speaker 1: for many people, this is the time of day that

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Speaker 1: works best. But that isn't the case for everyone. Maybe

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Speaker 1: you start work at six am and the bedtime required

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Speaker 1: for your five am wake up is already pushing the

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Speaker 1: limits of what you consider normal. Maybe your kids wake

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Speaker 1: up unpredictably. There's little more frustrating than setting an alarm

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Speaker 1: for five am, only to have your kids here that

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Speaker 1: alarm too. Maybe you've got your morning routine down to

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Speaker 1: a science and you don't want to rock the boat

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Speaker 1: by adding something else. That's fine. Evenings can actually be

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Speaker 1: a great alternative. The old assumption was that evening exercise

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Speaker 1: was a bad idea because it would keep you awake.

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Speaker 1: New research has revealed that this assumption is false. People

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Speaker 1: who exercise sleep better than people who don't exercise full stop.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't really matter when the exercise happens. That said,

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Speaker 1: if you've had a tough day at work and then

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Speaker 1: have battled to get your kids to bed, you might

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Speaker 1: not be highly motivated to do much in terms of

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Speaker 1: a hard workout. Maybe there are logistical barriers. You're the

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Speaker 1: only adult at home, for instance, so leaving your sleeping

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Speaker 1: little ones to go to the gym isn't an option.

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Speaker 1: But there are ways around all of this. First, you

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Speaker 1: don't have to exercise daily. Maybe start by aiming for

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Speaker 1: two evenings during the work week. Choose these evenings ahead

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Speaker 1: of time so you can shepherd your energy during the day.

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Speaker 1: Knowing that exercises in your plan for the evening can

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Speaker 1: make it slightly more likely to happen. Second, choose something accessible.

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Speaker 1: If you have a treadmill, stationary bike, or a weight

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Speaker 1: set at home awesome if you don't. Search on YouTube

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Speaker 1: for exercise videos that use body weight, or try a

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Speaker 1: service such as open fit that streams fitness classes as

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Speaker 1: part of that accessibility. Think short. You don't need to

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Speaker 1: exercise for an hour as you're starting out. Thirty minutes

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Speaker 1: is fine, and if that seems daunting, go for twenty

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Speaker 1: or fifteen. Even small amounts of activity turn out to matter.

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Speaker 1: If you live somewhere safe with lots of sidewalks and

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Speaker 1: street lights, and you wear reflective clothing, you could walk

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Speaker 1: or run outside, but I know that's not feasible for

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Speaker 1: many people, and even if it is, sometimes the weather

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Speaker 1: doesn't cooperate, so it's good to have backup options. Third,

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Speaker 1: and most important, when you've chosen a time, just do

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Speaker 1: it before you do anything else. Once you collapse on

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Speaker 1: the couch, you probably won't get up again. So don't

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Speaker 1: put yourself in that position of having to exert extraordinary willpower.

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Speaker 1: As soon as you've gotten home or after you've tucked

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Speaker 1: the kids into bed, get to it. Don't worry if

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Speaker 1: you don't feel like it. We can do plenty of

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Speaker 1: things we don't feel like, especially if we know it

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Speaker 1: will be over soon. Promise yourself you'll stick with it

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Speaker 1: for ten minutes and then you can quit. I'm willing

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Speaker 1: to bet that by ten minutes in you'll be feeling

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Speaker 1: more motivated, and you'll be willing to go to twenty.

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Speaker 1: If you're looking for extra motivation, try watching a favorite

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Speaker 1: show or listening to a favorite album while you're doing

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Speaker 1: your workout. The upside of exercising from say eight thirty

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Speaker 1: to nine pm is that it happens, and then you

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Speaker 1: still have an hour or so to veg out before

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Speaker 1: you need to go to bed. This can be plenty

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Speaker 1: of time to wind down, crack open that beer, read

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Speaker 1: a book, hang out with your partner, or whatever it

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Speaker 1: is you do. Especially if you're only aiming for two

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Speaker 1: evenings a week. This doesn't need to be a huge sacrifice,

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Speaker 1: and now you're the sort of person who exercises with

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Speaker 1: all the upsides that come with that. If you're an

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Speaker 1: evening exerciser, I'd love to hear about it. You can

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Speaker 1: let me know at Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeart media

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Speaker 1: dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. M Hey, everybody,

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.

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Speaker 1: That's b the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.