5 AM

 I actually get a lunch break at work now that school is out! WOOHOO! Steve and I normally go home so we can prepare something healthy and also spend time with the pupsters. Recently, I've been addicted to Morningstar's Veggie Burgers. So good, so quick, and packed with good stuff that fills me up. I typically top it with a bit of low-fat cheese and either salsa or tomatillo sauce (above). Throw it with 2 cups of steamed broccoli and I'm set! Takes 10 minutes to make and I'm full the rest of the day.

That being said, Morningstar makes a TON of quality, tasty vegetarian meat replacements. I've found they are both affordable and available at almost all grocery stores.

Also, if you've never had tomatillo sauce, try it! I eat it on everything, including eggs, burgers, and tacos. It's 0 calories and has a nice zing to it!

Last night, I made a sort of pasta primavera. All I did was cook about 8 oz. of angel hair pasta, then in a large skillet mix together a can of cream of mushroom soup and a cup of milk, bring to a boil, then toss in a 1 pounds bag of frozen mixed veggies (carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, red pepper, sugar snap peas, broccoli) along with 2 cups of chopped spinach. I just cooked it on high until the veggies were tender, then mixed with the pasta and topped with parmesan cheese. I'm sure you can season it however you want. It was pretty good. And easy. And quick.

Pasta Primavera

Tasty, alongside miniature homemade garlic bread.

Enough about food though! I weight lift 3 mornings a week at 5:30am. Other mornings I complete my runs around the same time. That gives me a lot of time to think and work through things going on in my life. And I guess the conclusion I've come to is, if you aren't willing to be up at 5am to fit in a workout, you're not REALLY willing to make a commitment to better yourself. I know a lot of times it's hard as hell to run a family, work, go to school, have a social life, etc. But if you really want to become the person you feel like you need to be, then sacrifice is the first thing you have to accept. No one got the body they want by staying out until 2am on a Tuesday then skipping their Wednesday morning run.

If YOU want it, you will make sacrifices. And honestly, I don't even consider them sacrifices anymore. It's what I'd rather do. I live by a schedule and I stick to that schedule, regardless of having a stomach ache or being asked last minute to dinner. Not an excuse. My workout come first, then optional things like dinner or a nap. Our lives are all about choices and priorities, and the only way you will be successful is to correctly organize your life.

Schedule your workouts for the coming week, or month. I sit down every weekend and figure out exactly what the following weeks work will look like. And it makes getting up at 5am for a workout easier. I know what I need to do for that hour and then I'm done. It also makes it difficult to back out. If my gym bag is packed I need to go. Tell your friends, co-workers, Facebook contacts your plan for a workout that day. It holds you accountable and pushed you to do it.

Seriously though, just do it. Do the workouts. Work though that 30 minutes or hour or whatever, just get it done. You'll feel a lot better after you do. Stop the excuses, because no one cares. The people that get the results they want are the ones up at 5am to lift, running on their lunch break, or running to the gym for a quick cardio session in between studying for final exams.

If you're not willing to rearrange your life, you don't deserve to get the body you want. Plain and simple.

So for me, I'll continue to say hello to 5am every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.