I set the alarm for 5.45am, promising my body I'll take it to a pump class at daybreak.
I stuff a backpack with work gear and bathroom products so I can shower and head straight to work.
After what feels like minutes, the alarm stirs me. It's still dark outside. I do a quick calculation - if I skip the gym I can stay under the doona for another couple of hours before I need to prepare for work.
I'll do a 6.30pm session instead. I'll even do two classes to make up for the one I've skipped. Promise.
Nine hours later, the working day draws to a close. I've replied to the last email, closed my diary and shutdown the computer.
I step outside the building. It's dark. It's cold.
I'll go in the morning. And really punish myself. And I won't eat banana bread for a whole week.
And so it begins.
After a summer of attending to my body's physical maintenance, I begin to slack of off as soon as the chill factor picks up.
And I'm not alone in my sluggish behaviour.
"People often feel that when it's cold, especially if it's windy or a bit rainy, then they won't exercise as much," says Grant Brecht, a Sydney-based clinical psychologist.
But this attitude defies logic, he says.
"It doesn't make it harder to exercise, we just think it is.
"When you're cold you want to get warm - so what better way to get warm than to go out and do some exercise," Dr Brecht says.
"We talk ourselves into believing it's more unpleasant, when in fact it's not, because you warm up and, depending on your attitude, you can feel good when you're out there."
It's not just working up a sweat that falls by the wayside - pulling out of dinner plans, cancelling on coffee dates, wandering thoughts at work - it's fairly standard seasonal behaviour, Dr Brecht says.
"People just report that they're feeling less motivated, they feel more lethargic, they just don't feel as happy about things, don't get as excited about things," he says.
"You get symptoms that you'd equate with a mild depressive disorder.
"Everything becomes more of an effort."
The winter blues are technically referred to as SAD - seasonal adjustment disorder.
SAD starts to set-in in autumn, and by winter we're waist deep in doom and gloom.
"It's definitely something to do with a lack of sunlight," Dr Brecht says.
"It seems to have some sort of affect on our biochemistry that runs around in our brain.
"There's less production of some of those good mood chemicals (like adrenaline and serotonin)... when the sun's not out."
But the good news is, this year, time's on our side.
Just being aware that SAD is starting to sink its teeth in, that you're at risk of becoming a "lounge lizard", means you can shake it off, Dr Brecht says.
"You've got to get your attitude right.
"Instead of letting your thoughts run on: `This is terrible, this is awful, this is so hard', we change our thinking to: `Hey, this is fantastic, I'm warming up, good on me for getting up and getting going!'," he says.
"It's running our attitudes rather than allowing our attitudes to go on to automatic pilot.
"It's changing those thoughts so we get more positive thinking happening."
So don't get too comfortable sitting under a blanket on the couch, embrace the colder months, Dr Brecht says.
"In some winter months people disconnect from people a little and that tends to drop their mood as well.
"It just seems like more effort to get out when it's raining and when it's cold and it's not so pleasant.
"We've got this attitude that if it's raining, it's an awful day," he says.
"Well it's not a bloody awful day, it's a nice day, it just happens to be raining.
"Enjoy the naturalness of the wind and seeing the country in a different light compared to summer.
"If we change our attitude to thinking: `Oh, doesn't the rain feel good hitting me and the trees will grow, the shrubs will be a lot thicker because of this, I can put on a nice wooly jumper that I haven't worn in a while.'
"And, suddenly, it becomes a very pleasant day."
