It was ANOTHER morning when my alarm went off at 3:50AM and I was like, "Nope!"

When I did wake up, I did straightaway climb aboard the elliptical and watched a Travis Browne fight followed by a Mark Hunt / Ben Rothwell tussle. At 30 minutes, I didn't put in as much cardio as I would have liked which is the chief issue of squeezing into instead of carving into a schedule.

I examined this morning as to why I've been doing this. I was clockwork earlier this year, so it's not a general disposition against scheduling or mornings. Is it chiefly due to my ability to effectively squeeze cardio throughout my day? If on some level, I don't perceive a need, do I need it?

Yeah, my resistance is getting relegated to the background, but even consciously, I recognize that at this weight, it's not a high need for me beyond it's ability to burn those calories. Yes, long term, it's a great daily investment—it's why I want to do it in the first place—but I have a singular focus of being a furnace.

While I do get my daily work in, I do want that resistance element because of some compelling research.

But again, maybe I just think all of my sweat equity during the day is enough?

I need something more. One element that is challenging to bring into my day is a moment to read and research subjects. I'm unable to adequately squeeze that into my day—not in any sufficient, uninterrupted amount anyway. And since what I do is driven by research AND...

Mornings are for coffee and contemplation.

—Jim Hopper, Stranger Things

...I value forethought, spinning complexities in my head for the possibilities, I NEED mornings. So not only am I going to meet 3:50AM awake and vibrantly ALIVE, I'm getting up earlier!

Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee...
...Good morning, America, how are you?
Say, don't you know me? I'm your native son
I'm the train they call the City Of New Orleans
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done

—Arlo Guthrie

I'm finishing up the second week of my reignited weightloss routine. I'm in rhythm now; my appetite has shrunk and I no longer need romaine lettuce as a stopgap measure for the night. Consequently, I'm now in the 16:8 intermittent fasting groove.

While my workouts aren't making similar strides—I canceled 4AM because of a late bedtime. I still got up before 6AM and handed in a 64 minute cardio session and there will be more to come later in the day including what I hope to be a resistance one. I'm putting in the cardio work, but the schedule and the resistance just isn't there yet. Perhaps this warrants further consideration: lately, cardio is fun for me, but the joy of returning to resistance eludes me.

Again, I will tout the motivational effectiveness of my FitBit. It keeps me on my feet more and I'll do extra chores just so that I can tally up the steps. I find it propelling to hit streaks for the hourly goals and I like the challenge of competing against my high score for daily steps.

Despite all the bustle of a workout, the crux of of a weightloss approach is the diet.

Throughout this time, I've maintained a vision of the future and work toward that goal. That is key.

While earlier this year, I used Sundays as a day of rest with my 6-day regimen of training, I've decided that I'd add 16% more production to my training by adding another day. What is the biggest risk really—burning out? I'm so efn on fire I'm burning!

...it's purely a cardio day and as my heart and lungs never have a day off, why not?

...yeah, I'm sore, but that's par for the course. If I'm not sore, I'm not pushing hard enough.

...as long as I spend most of my time on an elliptical, it's minimum impact.

I find watching my DVD collection of UFC fights as I train to be significantly motivational. It connects me with those years ago...

I ate an hour of cardio for breakfast and another for a late lunch. Now it's dinner time!