Monday morning, it’s mid November. You can hear the patter on the window without even opening your eyes. It wouldn’t matter if you did open them anyway, it’s pitch black! Your alarm has gone off but you swiped out and managed to hit the button the third attempt. You’re now on a 9 minute ‘snooze’. You’re in limbo. It’s now make or break….

Option 1: Stay in bed, stay warm, ignore the snooze and pretend it’s all a bad dream.

Option 2: Get your ass out of bed, drag it across the room and get into your training gear.

Let’s rewind the clock a bit and see which suits the above options best…

June - Lovely… bitta sun, just a shirt into work. A few socials at the end of the week in the beer garden. Not looking so pasty. Life is good. You decide to give the old training a bash. After all, you were a pretty good cross country runner in school and college. Maybe it’s time for a run… yeah, it is time for a run. Right, tomorrow i’m gonna get up early, put my gear on and get a 5km run in before work.

Morning comes. Sunny, dry, birds having bit of a sing. This is nice. Why haven’t I done this earlier?!

Hit the desk, feeling refreshed. Breakfast comes around… You choose the healthy option. This is awesome! You feel amazing!

July - This running is going great. I feel awesome. I’ve started to notice a few notches on the old belt.

August - Running? Awesome! Nutrition? Perfect! I can even have a few socials at the end of the week and not feel guilty about it.

September - I’m seriously in a habit now. People are complementing my new regime and are definitely noticing something has ‘changed’ about me.

October - Let’s keep this trying rolling, baby! I’m gonna do a race!

November - Rain, Dark, Cold…. Option 1 or Option 2? You choose.

Option 1:

You keep the training up. You hit all he goals you casually set out for yourself. You realise you’re well able to do what you thought was impossible at the start. People are commenting on your appearance. Some are even asking your advice now as they’re back in the June stage of the process. You’re becoming a regular go to person in the office for people looking to improve their lifestyle.

You’re that fitness person. People look up to you.

Your metabolic rate is high. Those socials at the weekend and the splurge meals in between don’t make a dent in your waistline. You stick to your routine and keep improving your training, physique, headspace and self confidence. With the new found self confidence you try some new types of training to complement your running. Resistance training. You learn a whole new way to train, you love it. You combine the two and really start to see definition and postural improvement. You look back at your May self and laugh at how far you’ve come.

You. Are. Awesome!

Option 2:

You ignore the alarm clock. You decide enough is enough. You don’t increase your metabolic rate. You don’t burn excess calories. You supplement the endorphins from training with stimulants like coffee and sugars. You notice your waistline slowly increasing as the pints at the weekend take it’s toll. You don’t expand your social circle. Your diet is a load of pants based on fast and comfort foods. You don’t improve your self confidence. You don’t realise what you’re physically and mentally capable of. You die younger.

*Ok, well you might not actually die younger than if you chose option 1 but a bit of drama backed up by a few stats can always motivate someone.

Right, if you’re leaning towards Option 2 here’s what you need to do in order to get back on track towards Option 1:

1. Get a training buddy or personal trainer - Someone who WILL hold you accountable for your sessions. Plan sessions with them in advance.
2. If you’re not into the buddy / trainer option then get a dog. Bring the dog out otherwise they’ll chew your furniture and poo on your floor.
3. Be boastful with your training. No, don’t stand up and tell everyone they’re useless and you’re better. Just casually tell someone that you’re doing X after or before work. When they see you next you don’t want to look like an idiot and say something like ‘yeah, I never did it, I sat on my fat ass instead and watched Friends cos it was cold and wet out’ - if you said that to me i’d slap you.
4. Have a quiet word with yourself and accept the fact that it will be difficult, it will be hard and you will have doubts. however, if you do it it will be so much more rewarding!
5. Plan your nutrition in advance. If it’s on track then chances are you’ll be more honest with yourself and your training. Reward yourself post sessions with something nice too. Justify a nice dinner!
6. Get comfortable. You’re going to be uncomfortable; sweaty, wet, muddy, refaced and hair a mess. Control the controllables and make sure your training gear is comfortable and relevant to the training i.e; running outdoors and it’s cold? Get an Aul beanie and some gloves on. Get the headphones in etc…
7. Still can’t motivate yourself? Email me. I’ll do it!

And that's not just it, we have a one-off opportunity from Today FM & TonedFit

I don't mean to scare you, but Christmas Day is a mere 3 months away - and wouldn't it be great if the turkey was the only thing getting fat?

With the evenings getting darker and monsoon season fast approaching, for most of us, motivation levels towards our fitness begins to drop.

So to help us get in shape for Santa, Today FM's Dermot and Dave have teamed up with fitness expert Ronan Murphy (of TonedFit.com) to create a programme for people to follow between now and the end of December.

Murphy is looking for three people to take part in the project, where he and his team will construct a package to fit around the participants' lifestyles.

They will focus on workouts and nutrition and notify us on their progress via regular updates on the show.

it takes 4 weeks for you to see the process make a change and 12 weeks for other people to notice

Listeners at home can also get involved and give the routines a go themselves to see how they get on.

Ronan wants people who are "committed and willing to make a change", so if that sounds like you and you would like this incredible opportunity to shed those pounds, email us on dermotanddave@todayfm.com to enter.

Check out his chat in full by pressing the play button on screen.