Tuesday, October 16, 2018
No More Snoozing Follow Up 10/8/2018
Clearly I fell off the wagon with writing on this one, but figured since my original goal of trying to start a new habit of not hitting the snooze button, I'd give an update.
This habit has helped change my life. Couple this one with my habit of trying to get in at least 20 minutes of exercise in a day and I've completely transformed my mornings. After a month of journal and sticking to it, I created a new habit. Eight months later, and I'm still sticking to that habit 5 days a week. I've never had more energy or felt better.
How these two little habits changed my whole life is extraordinary. I told myself I wanted to do this and now here I am following through every day. When I wake up early and get in a quick workout, I have more energy, I'm less likely to binge eat or select unhealthy food. I feel more accomplished. It's shown me that I can continue to build on habits to build the life I want.
Each morning I'm waking up at 5am and heading immediately into my living room for a workout. I've found if I do anything in between that period, that I get distracted and talk myself out of what I was going to do.
During the summer months when the sun was coming up at 5am I would head outside for quick 2 to 3 miles of running before having to jump in the shower. Even on the weekends, I would feel great getting up before anyone else in my house and getting in 4-7 miles as the sun came up.
Now that it's October and the days are so much shorter, I stick to my workout videos. YouTube is a great resource for any kind of workout you want to do. I've found several yoga, Pilates and weight training videos that I cycle through
Each day is different. Some days I feel like getting in a good cardio circuit so I look through PopSugar Fitness videos. Throughout the week, I'll interchange 10 minute arm workouts using weights. Other days when I'm too sore to want to get in a very challenging workout, I do 40 minutes of strengthening yoga. As long as I'm moving, I'm considering that win.
When I was in my teens and twenties, I focused a lot on going all out at all workouts and doing a lot of cardio. Since then, I've learned that it's better for me to be consistent and not burn myself out doing those long intense workouts. Workouts can be intense and not been so long that you get burnt out after a few sessions.
I've seen more changes in my body from Pilates and yoga then I ever thought was possible. The habit has allowed my body to be more flexible by combining strength training, yoga and stretching.
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Noticeable Changes - January Recap
My January goal was to make one small change to my day, get up on the first alarm. I should mention that with this goal, I moved up the time I usually get up from 6:05am to 5:10am. I've been doing this on and off for a month or two now so it wasn't overnight that I got up almost an hour earlier. The days I get up earlier though, I feel so much better. I've noticed quite a few changes already.
Within the first week of getting up on the first alarm, I’ve noticed quite a bit more energy in the morning. In the past, I usually take a good hour or two to come out of the foggy brain and actual wake up. Since getting up right away, I am alert first thing and feel more energy to accomplish those early morning tasks. I’ve been working on establishing a consistent workout routing (working out 4-5 days a week) of which I decided to pair with my goal to get out of bed without hitting snooze. The combination has done wonders for mood and energy. I’m noticeably more positive, happier and more willing to take on harder tasks. I believe the “keystone” habit of working out has also led me to take on some other healthier habits, such as drinking more water and making some better eating choices.
Within the first week of getting up on the first alarm, I’ve noticed quite a bit more energy in the morning. In the past, I usually take a good hour or two to come out of the foggy brain and actual wake up. Since getting up right away, I am alert first thing and feel more energy to accomplish those early morning tasks. I’ve been working on establishing a consistent workout routing (working out 4-5 days a week) of which I decided to pair with my goal to get out of bed without hitting snooze. The combination has done wonders for mood and energy. I’m noticeably more positive, happier and more willing to take on harder tasks. I believe the “keystone” habit of working out has also led me to take on some other healthier habits, such as drinking more water and making some better eating choices.
These feeling of positivity have encouraged me to try to
read more about creating better mental health as well.
As of the 3rd week, I've noticed major changes to my day. The days I wake up at 5:10am right at my alarm, I have so much more energy and clarity in the morning. Combing the waking up early with working out has completely changed my energy levels. I have so much more and I sleep so much better at night. These habits have encouraged me to add some smaller healthy habits to my routine as well. These include mediating and stretching before bed. On the weekends when I sleep in or just let me body drift in and out of sleep, I don't have as much energy and don't really want to workout. I think I may try to just get up at the same time everyday and see where that takes me. Not sure what I'll do with all that extra time on the weekends!!
After 3 weeks of being mostly consistent, I've noticed it's much easier to get up at 5:10am. My energy levels are higher and I've found that mornings are a great time to squeeze in a quick workout. My goal to not snooze has surprisingly been extremely helpful keeping to a consistent workout. Even my husband is shocked I've kept it up this long. The quality of sleep and the energy levels are my biggest motivation to keep going. Not to mention, it's the first winter pretty much ever that I haven't gain a single pound!!
I completed an entire month of waking up early, at my alarm, without hitting snooze. The benefits have been HUGE! Let's start with my sleep. In the past, I've had difficulty falling asleep. I'm not an anxious person but for whatever reason it took me on average half an hour to an hour to fall asleep at night. After I fell asleep, I would wake up several times at night and have a hard time falling back to sleep. I still don't know why that was, but since I've been waking up early and getting a quick workout in, I fall asleep within 15 minutes of laying down. If I wake up at night, I easily fall back asleep. Everyday I've been more rested and my quality of sleep has improved enormously!
Another benefit is my attitude. I've found that in order for me to get up and stay awake, I need to get moving right away. If I wasn't in the mood for a workout, I'd do some light yoga instead. My mood has improved tenfold. The combination of working out and not feeling sluggish from hitting the snooze button is incredible. I did hit the snooze one Monday and I was easily irritated and noticed a huge change in mood from days I completed my goal.
Waking up early has given me the extra time to get in a workout. I consistently worked out 5 days a week for the whole month of January. That's never happened before. It wasn't even a goal of mine but the combination of working out and getting up without hitting the snooze button has provided the biggest motivation to continue to do this everyday.
I completed an entire month of waking up early, at my alarm, without hitting snooze. The benefits have been HUGE! Let's start with my sleep. In the past, I've had difficulty falling asleep. I'm not an anxious person but for whatever reason it took me on average half an hour to an hour to fall asleep at night. After I fell asleep, I would wake up several times at night and have a hard time falling back to sleep. I still don't know why that was, but since I've been waking up early and getting a quick workout in, I fall asleep within 15 minutes of laying down. If I wake up at night, I easily fall back asleep. Everyday I've been more rested and my quality of sleep has improved enormously!
Another benefit is my attitude. I've found that in order for me to get up and stay awake, I need to get moving right away. If I wasn't in the mood for a workout, I'd do some light yoga instead. My mood has improved tenfold. The combination of working out and not feeling sluggish from hitting the snooze button is incredible. I did hit the snooze one Monday and I was easily irritated and noticed a huge change in mood from days I completed my goal.
Waking up early has given me the extra time to get in a workout. I consistently worked out 5 days a week for the whole month of January. That's never happened before. It wasn't even a goal of mine but the combination of working out and getting up without hitting the snooze button has provided the biggest motivation to continue to do this everyday.
Monday, January 8, 2018
January- No More Snoozing!
January
This month started, and unfortunately, I didn’t have a specific
goal in mind. Not even a week into it, I
read a great article on the effects of hitting the snooze button. Of course, now I can’t find it anywhere but
here’s a similar article about the mechanics behind why hitting the snooze
button is bad for your day.
I am the queen of hitting the snooze button. In fact, on any given day, I have 4 different
alarms set and on the last one, I would hit snooze a few times. Each one just a gentle reminder that I must
get up soon, or so I thought. I didn’t
think it had much impact on my morning. After
doing a little research, I realized the complete opposite is true. Experts say snoozing disrupts your sleep cycle in the worst ways. Initially when your alarm goes off, you are the most awake you will be in the morning. As you hit the snooze button to catch more sleep, you drift back off but don't get a full sleep cycle so when you wake up you're in haze. If you're not getting a full sleep cycle, it's best to just get up as soon as the alarm goes off.
In my mind, I was doing myself a favor but giving myself a gentle reminder it was time to wake up. I never liked jumping out of bed right away. I’m not a morning person or I should say I never was a morning person. Then I had kids and whether I liked getting up early or not, I am always the one to wake up with them. My oldest are 4 ½ years old and so I’ve been getting up at the crack of dawn or earlier since then and even before them with work. However, I’ve never actually enjoyed it. I preferred to stay up later and sleep in later. After 3 kids, that has drastically changed and ideally like to be in bed by 8:30pm (I know insane right!) This has made getting up early so much easier. I’ve also realized that morning time is a great time to get things done before I switch into “mom mode.”
In my mind, I was doing myself a favor but giving myself a gentle reminder it was time to wake up. I never liked jumping out of bed right away. I’m not a morning person or I should say I never was a morning person. Then I had kids and whether I liked getting up early or not, I am always the one to wake up with them. My oldest are 4 ½ years old and so I’ve been getting up at the crack of dawn or earlier since then and even before them with work. However, I’ve never actually enjoyed it. I preferred to stay up later and sleep in later. After 3 kids, that has drastically changed and ideally like to be in bed by 8:30pm (I know insane right!) This has made getting up early so much easier. I’ve also realized that morning time is a great time to get things done before I switch into “mom mode.”
Now that’s I’ve read more about this, I decided to test it
out for myself. My January goal for 2018
is to stop hitting the snooze button and to only have 1 alarm (of course I’ll
have one as a back up but hoping not to use it). This is a small, attainable goal, that could
have a major impact on how I start my day going forward. Small change, potentially huge benefits. Normally, I have alarms going from 5am to
6:05am which I roll out of bed finally. However,
in the past few weeks, I’ve been attempting to get up at 5:15am to get in a quick
30-40 minutes of working out before work (that’s a whole other post though). On those days, I set my alarm for 5am and hit
the snooze 3 times (5 min each) and roll out of bed at 5:15. I’ll do a quick workout, make some coffee and
then start getting ready. Waking up
early and working out makes it so easy to fall asleep early. I’ve also noticed
a huge improvement in my quality of sleep. I'm going to attempt to set 1 alarm at 5:10am and just get up and get going.
Below is a great article I read on forming habits. I would highly recommend reading. It's amazing the power of a single small habit can change your life.
https://www.thriveglobal.com/stories/11086-the-5-keys-to-forming-any-habit
Below is a great article I read on forming habits. I would highly recommend reading. It's amazing the power of a single small habit can change your life.
https://www.thriveglobal.com/stories/11086-the-5-keys-to-forming-any-habit
Day 1 Thursday (1/4/18):
Set alarm for 5:10am. Woke up at
5:10am and was dressed and ready to work out by 5:15am. I felt more awake in my
workout than I normally do, which carried throughout the rest of the day. I couldn’t believe the difference in one day
but also wasn’t sure if it was just in my head because I was so impressed with
myself for getting out of bed, after only 1 alarm.
The weekends, I don’t normally set alarms. I have kids. They make great alarm clocks. So if I do set
an alarm, I’ll work to get up on time but otherwise weekends don’t really have
anything to do with my goal.
Day 3 Monday (1/8/18): This is where I normally find myself with that first 5:10am alarm going off and me, being Monday, convince myself I'll work out in the evening and that I should get another 40 minutes of sleep. Monday's have always been the hardest to get up. I think about how long the week is at work and how I don't want to get up. Today was different though. I was sleeping so hard (rarely happens!) but I woke up at 11:55pm last night and that was it until my alarm went off at 5:10. Without thinking, I rolled out of bed before I could start the excuses and self-talk to go back to sleep. I had my workout clothes laid out already out so I grabbed those and went straight to the living room for a work out. I was up and going at 5:15am and I felt so alert! I couldn't' believe it. Monday's I'm usually in a fog for quite a while because I refuse to get out of bed. Today, I had more energy and was more alert than I've been in quite a while. Seeing so much improvement in my mood and energy has been a great motivator to keep going!! I was able to get in a 40 minute work out before the kids got up and I had to get ready for work.
Day 4 Tuesday (1/9/18): Another successful day getting up at 5:10am! Just journaling my goal has helped me to stay accountable. Every morning my alarm goes off for a split second I think "just 5 more minutes?" and then I remember how much more energy I have and so much less "fog" brain in the morning when I get up on the first alarm. I just roll out of bed, grab my clothes already laid out and off to the living room. I log into YouTube from our Xbox and I have a ton of FREE workout videos at my finger tips. I honestly have been feeling great. I've noticed MAJOR changes in my mood and energy levels from working out first thing. I have never in my life been one of those people to get up before they have to do workout but I now that I've forced myself to do so, I love how I feel during the day! Best part is, come 7pm when I normally workout, I have an hour of free time to just relax, stretch or hang out and play with my girls. It's so nice to have a whole workout in before I even begin my day.
Day 5 Wednesday (1/10/18): Today was a little different than the past few days. I woke up about 2 minutes before my alarm and I had a feeling I had to get up soon. So when my alarm went off I was in a half daze and just rolled out of bed. I had the foggy feeling that I usually get when I hit snooze. I think this was because I woke up before the alarm and just laid there until my alarm went off. Normally, my alarm wakes me out of a deep sleep and I hop up and feel alert. I didn't have much energy so thought about just having some coffee, but since I was up I decided to get a quick 35 minute workout in. If this had been in the evening, I would have come up with a few excuses why I couldn't workout and would have blown it off. The small habit of getting up with one alarm is helping me with my goal to stay consistent with my workouts. Double bonus!
Day 6 Thursday (1/11/18): Keeping with the habit and wake up time, this morning I rolled out of bed at 5:10am. As I've been getting used to waking up at this time, I now wake up just before my alarm and I've been trying not to go back to sleep as I feel these may have the same consequences as hitting the snooze button. I'm not sure how to fix this but I'm hoping it doesn't last too long. I definitely didn't feel as tired as yesterday and was able to get in a light workout/stretching.
Day 7 Friday (1/12/18): Thursday night, I decided that I would take Friday off from working out. This meant that I could sleep a little later, so I set my alarm for 5:45am. Of course, since I've been waking up at 5:10am everyday, I was naturally already awake by 5:20am. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do because I didn't want to get too tired from trying to go back to sleep so I laid in bed with my heating pad for my back and tried not to fall asleep. It was difficult but I'm glad I did it because I feel like it would have the same consequences of hitting the snooze. I'm going to have to figure out something else to do in the mornings to get myself out of bed on the days I decide not to work out.
Day 8 Monday (1/15/18): I slept in today until 5:45am but I did wake up at 5:11am on my own. I think this is going to be a problem because I think it will have the same effect as hitting the snooze. It was Monday and I had already decided to set alarm for 5:45am so I went back to sleep. Didn't notice too much of a difference though getting up.
Day 9 Tuesday (1/16/18): Felt the need to get back into the AM workout routine so alarm set for 5:10am. Woke up straight out of dream and rolled out of bed. Heard the hubby say it's too early to get up as I was heading for the living room. Got in a 40 minute workout, followed by a nice cup of hot coffee! Back at it! Felt good.
Before bed I wanted to get in a workout but I had to re-pot my new plant so I didn't have time. After the kids went to bed I decided to do some stretching. This video hit all the right places from my workout in the morning:
https://youtu.be/v7SN-d4qXx0
It felt so good and I was on a roll so I decided to get in a quick meditation as well. This one was perfect quick gratitude mediation right before bed:
http://insig.ht/gm_2240
Day 10 Wednesday (1/17/18): Woke up right at 5:10am with the alarm and was ready to go. Got a 30 minute cardio Pilates from FitSugar in, followed by a quick FitSugar Lazygirl 10 min workout. Then I rewarded myself with a hot cup of coffee. I feel great this morning. Videos are below.
https://youtu.be/cmYRQaIy_J8
I decided to do a quick 23 minute yoga stretching in the evening. I thought I was done for the day after that and was going to the bedtime stretching when the twins decided it was there turn to pick a workout. Begging me to do it with them, I decided to do 20 minutes of the 30 minute cardio they picked. I am beat!!
Day 11 Thursday (1/18/18): After two workouts yesterday, needless to say I am sore and tired. When the 5:10 alarm went off, I laid there for a few seconds mentally debating if my tired body should just go back to bed, but I remembered my goal and rolled out. I was exhausted and sore but since I don't have much else to do in the morning while everyone is sleeping so settled on some yoga, light weights and stretching. I called it quits after about a 1/2 hour and made myself a cup of coffee and laid in bed on my heating pad until I had to get ready. I think I may do Mon/Tues/Wed/ Friday work outs next week to keep from getting so tired.
Day 12 Friday (1/19/18): Today I woke up at the normal time but had decided ahead of time, I was going to take the morning off from working out. I've figured out that I need to plan an activity or something to do when I don't work out so I still get up out of bed. This morning I just laid in bed on my phone which isn't really productive. I do like the consistent wake up time and when I decide to get up then, I feel more awake than when I sleep more and hit the snooze button.
Day 13 Monday (1/22/18): I'm terrible with remembering to shut off my alarm when I don't plan on working out. I wasn't planning on working out this morning but I forgot to set off my alarm and I didn't want to "snooze" so I got up and got a workout in anyways. I don't have much to do in the morning so I guess this goal is really helping me with a past goal of working out consistently! Two-for-one bonus!! It's been easier and easier to get up at 5:10am. I'm definitely noticing the effects and it is helping me each morning to remember how I felt after getting up and getting the workout out of the way.
Day 14 Tuesday (1/23/18): I felt the energy this morning. I didn't sleep very well last night so getting up was actually easier because it was harder for me to fall back asleep. A quick workout in, followed by coffee before the kids got up. I'm feeling so much energy and I have been noticeably happier.
Day 15 Wednesday (1/24/18): Woke up with the alarm as usual. Had to roll out of bed before I convinced myself to sleep a little longer. I found if I don't think and just do what I set out to do, I always accomplish my goal and feel much better once I'm done. I was only going to do some yoga for stretching but saw a 40minute PopFitness video for boasting metabolism with minimal weights and just decided to go with it.
Day 16 Thursday (1/25/18): It was a little tough getting up this morning but I've learned the best thing you can do is not think. Just roll out and go through the routine. I've been trying to get my husband on board because if his morning doesn't go right, he lets it affect his whole day. If he has to do one extra step that he wasn't planning (which makes him late) he gets so upset and lets it snowball. I've been feeling so much better everyday waking up and working out and just having that extra 45 minutes to myself. I think he would benefit greatly from waking up a little earlier and just getting up, even if it's just to have coffee. He said he thought about it this morning. I told him that was the problem. Stop thinking and just get up. My back has been super sore lately so today I decided yoga would be most beneficial to start the day.
Day 17 Friday (1/26/18): Today was easy getting up. Since the back is still sore, I've been taking it easy on the morning workouts and sticking with light weights and lots of yoga for stretching. Got in about 35 minutes this morning and then decided to have some coffee. It's getting much easier to get up in the morning.
Day 18 Monday (1/29/18): Today was the first day I relapsed and caved to snoozing. My back has been hurting so bad, there was no way I am able to workout at this point. I got up with my alarm but then decided to lay on a heating pad for a little while and ended up dozing off until my back up alarm went off. My back has been making it extremely hard to do anything. I definitely notice that I am still tired (8:15am) and I'm having trouble concentrating. My mood is that of an old Monday where I wasn't excited or ready to start fresh for the week.
Day 19 Tuesday (1/30/18): Back at today! Was up with my alarm and got in a good arm workout and some yoga to help stretch out the back. Waking up and getting moving has had a major impact on my morning mood. Yesterday was the first day I skipped working out completely (due to back issues) and hit the snooze button and I was noticeably more irritated and not ready to tackle the day. This has been my major motivation to continue this goal!
Day 20 Wednesday (1/31/18): Today will be the last day I document my morning routine. It seems I have made a habit. I feel exponentially better when I wake up early which is great motivation to get out of bed every morning. Even with a bad back, I realized I need to get up and get moving right away in order to avoid the pitfalls of falling back asleep. Even simple stretching or light yoga starts my day off on the right foot. I will definitely be keeping this going after this month!
Day 3 Monday (1/8/18): This is where I normally find myself with that first 5:10am alarm going off and me, being Monday, convince myself I'll work out in the evening and that I should get another 40 minutes of sleep. Monday's have always been the hardest to get up. I think about how long the week is at work and how I don't want to get up. Today was different though. I was sleeping so hard (rarely happens!) but I woke up at 11:55pm last night and that was it until my alarm went off at 5:10. Without thinking, I rolled out of bed before I could start the excuses and self-talk to go back to sleep. I had my workout clothes laid out already out so I grabbed those and went straight to the living room for a work out. I was up and going at 5:15am and I felt so alert! I couldn't' believe it. Monday's I'm usually in a fog for quite a while because I refuse to get out of bed. Today, I had more energy and was more alert than I've been in quite a while. Seeing so much improvement in my mood and energy has been a great motivator to keep going!! I was able to get in a 40 minute work out before the kids got up and I had to get ready for work.
Day 4 Tuesday (1/9/18): Another successful day getting up at 5:10am! Just journaling my goal has helped me to stay accountable. Every morning my alarm goes off for a split second I think "just 5 more minutes?" and then I remember how much more energy I have and so much less "fog" brain in the morning when I get up on the first alarm. I just roll out of bed, grab my clothes already laid out and off to the living room. I log into YouTube from our Xbox and I have a ton of FREE workout videos at my finger tips. I honestly have been feeling great. I've noticed MAJOR changes in my mood and energy levels from working out first thing. I have never in my life been one of those people to get up before they have to do workout but I now that I've forced myself to do so, I love how I feel during the day! Best part is, come 7pm when I normally workout, I have an hour of free time to just relax, stretch or hang out and play with my girls. It's so nice to have a whole workout in before I even begin my day.
Day 5 Wednesday (1/10/18): Today was a little different than the past few days. I woke up about 2 minutes before my alarm and I had a feeling I had to get up soon. So when my alarm went off I was in a half daze and just rolled out of bed. I had the foggy feeling that I usually get when I hit snooze. I think this was because I woke up before the alarm and just laid there until my alarm went off. Normally, my alarm wakes me out of a deep sleep and I hop up and feel alert. I didn't have much energy so thought about just having some coffee, but since I was up I decided to get a quick 35 minute workout in. If this had been in the evening, I would have come up with a few excuses why I couldn't workout and would have blown it off. The small habit of getting up with one alarm is helping me with my goal to stay consistent with my workouts. Double bonus!
Day 6 Thursday (1/11/18): Keeping with the habit and wake up time, this morning I rolled out of bed at 5:10am. As I've been getting used to waking up at this time, I now wake up just before my alarm and I've been trying not to go back to sleep as I feel these may have the same consequences as hitting the snooze button. I'm not sure how to fix this but I'm hoping it doesn't last too long. I definitely didn't feel as tired as yesterday and was able to get in a light workout/stretching.
Day 7 Friday (1/12/18): Thursday night, I decided that I would take Friday off from working out. This meant that I could sleep a little later, so I set my alarm for 5:45am. Of course, since I've been waking up at 5:10am everyday, I was naturally already awake by 5:20am. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do because I didn't want to get too tired from trying to go back to sleep so I laid in bed with my heating pad for my back and tried not to fall asleep. It was difficult but I'm glad I did it because I feel like it would have the same consequences of hitting the snooze. I'm going to have to figure out something else to do in the mornings to get myself out of bed on the days I decide not to work out.
Day 8 Monday (1/15/18): I slept in today until 5:45am but I did wake up at 5:11am on my own. I think this is going to be a problem because I think it will have the same effect as hitting the snooze. It was Monday and I had already decided to set alarm for 5:45am so I went back to sleep. Didn't notice too much of a difference though getting up.
Day 9 Tuesday (1/16/18): Felt the need to get back into the AM workout routine so alarm set for 5:10am. Woke up straight out of dream and rolled out of bed. Heard the hubby say it's too early to get up as I was heading for the living room. Got in a 40 minute workout, followed by a nice cup of hot coffee! Back at it! Felt good.
Before bed I wanted to get in a workout but I had to re-pot my new plant so I didn't have time. After the kids went to bed I decided to do some stretching. This video hit all the right places from my workout in the morning:
https://youtu.be/v7SN-d4qXx0
It felt so good and I was on a roll so I decided to get in a quick meditation as well. This one was perfect quick gratitude mediation right before bed:
http://insig.ht/gm_2240
Day 10 Wednesday (1/17/18): Woke up right at 5:10am with the alarm and was ready to go. Got a 30 minute cardio Pilates from FitSugar in, followed by a quick FitSugar Lazygirl 10 min workout. Then I rewarded myself with a hot cup of coffee. I feel great this morning. Videos are below.
https://youtu.be/cmYRQaIy_J8
I decided to do a quick 23 minute yoga stretching in the evening. I thought I was done for the day after that and was going to the bedtime stretching when the twins decided it was there turn to pick a workout. Begging me to do it with them, I decided to do 20 minutes of the 30 minute cardio they picked. I am beat!!
Day 11 Thursday (1/18/18): After two workouts yesterday, needless to say I am sore and tired. When the 5:10 alarm went off, I laid there for a few seconds mentally debating if my tired body should just go back to bed, but I remembered my goal and rolled out. I was exhausted and sore but since I don't have much else to do in the morning while everyone is sleeping so settled on some yoga, light weights and stretching. I called it quits after about a 1/2 hour and made myself a cup of coffee and laid in bed on my heating pad until I had to get ready. I think I may do Mon/Tues/Wed/ Friday work outs next week to keep from getting so tired.
Day 12 Friday (1/19/18): Today I woke up at the normal time but had decided ahead of time, I was going to take the morning off from working out. I've figured out that I need to plan an activity or something to do when I don't work out so I still get up out of bed. This morning I just laid in bed on my phone which isn't really productive. I do like the consistent wake up time and when I decide to get up then, I feel more awake than when I sleep more and hit the snooze button.
Day 13 Monday (1/22/18): I'm terrible with remembering to shut off my alarm when I don't plan on working out. I wasn't planning on working out this morning but I forgot to set off my alarm and I didn't want to "snooze" so I got up and got a workout in anyways. I don't have much to do in the morning so I guess this goal is really helping me with a past goal of working out consistently! Two-for-one bonus!! It's been easier and easier to get up at 5:10am. I'm definitely noticing the effects and it is helping me each morning to remember how I felt after getting up and getting the workout out of the way.
Day 14 Tuesday (1/23/18): I felt the energy this morning. I didn't sleep very well last night so getting up was actually easier because it was harder for me to fall back asleep. A quick workout in, followed by coffee before the kids got up. I'm feeling so much energy and I have been noticeably happier.
Day 15 Wednesday (1/24/18): Woke up with the alarm as usual. Had to roll out of bed before I convinced myself to sleep a little longer. I found if I don't think and just do what I set out to do, I always accomplish my goal and feel much better once I'm done. I was only going to do some yoga for stretching but saw a 40minute PopFitness video for boasting metabolism with minimal weights and just decided to go with it.
Day 16 Thursday (1/25/18): It was a little tough getting up this morning but I've learned the best thing you can do is not think. Just roll out and go through the routine. I've been trying to get my husband on board because if his morning doesn't go right, he lets it affect his whole day. If he has to do one extra step that he wasn't planning (which makes him late) he gets so upset and lets it snowball. I've been feeling so much better everyday waking up and working out and just having that extra 45 minutes to myself. I think he would benefit greatly from waking up a little earlier and just getting up, even if it's just to have coffee. He said he thought about it this morning. I told him that was the problem. Stop thinking and just get up. My back has been super sore lately so today I decided yoga would be most beneficial to start the day.
Day 17 Friday (1/26/18): Today was easy getting up. Since the back is still sore, I've been taking it easy on the morning workouts and sticking with light weights and lots of yoga for stretching. Got in about 35 minutes this morning and then decided to have some coffee. It's getting much easier to get up in the morning.
Day 18 Monday (1/29/18): Today was the first day I relapsed and caved to snoozing. My back has been hurting so bad, there was no way I am able to workout at this point. I got up with my alarm but then decided to lay on a heating pad for a little while and ended up dozing off until my back up alarm went off. My back has been making it extremely hard to do anything. I definitely notice that I am still tired (8:15am) and I'm having trouble concentrating. My mood is that of an old Monday where I wasn't excited or ready to start fresh for the week.
Day 19 Tuesday (1/30/18): Back at today! Was up with my alarm and got in a good arm workout and some yoga to help stretch out the back. Waking up and getting moving has had a major impact on my morning mood. Yesterday was the first day I skipped working out completely (due to back issues) and hit the snooze button and I was noticeably more irritated and not ready to tackle the day. This has been my major motivation to continue this goal!
Day 20 Wednesday (1/31/18): Today will be the last day I document my morning routine. It seems I have made a habit. I feel exponentially better when I wake up early which is great motivation to get out of bed every morning. Even with a bad back, I realized I need to get up and get moving right away in order to avoid the pitfalls of falling back asleep. Even simple stretching or light yoga starts my day off on the right foot. I will definitely be keeping this going after this month!
Friday, January 5, 2018
2018 - Start Small
Each year has brought so many changes. Some welcome, some not so much. I'm going to make some intentional changes this year to the way I do things, in order to become a happier, healthier version of me.
This year I’m trying something different. START SMALL. My overall theme for 2018.
Normally as the new year rolls around I always make my resolutions: lose weight and become healthier. I’ve never actually wrote down these goals or any steps involved as to how I would accomplish this. Instead, I cut out every unhealthy food I can think of, eat salads for every meal and try to work out an hour every day. I start off right on track and then about a week or two (if I make it past day 1) later, I fall off the wagon and binge eat. Any changes I made were reverted to their pervious ways and I stop working out for weeks at a time.
After a lot of reading and trying to understand exactly why I haven’t been hitting my goals (seems kind of obvious when you type it out), I’ve realized that they are not specific enough and I always try to do everything all at once. If it comes to eating healthier, I completely avoid anything bad for me. As anyone who’s ever done this knows, it only lasts a day or two before you give in to your temptations of the cookie and chocolate bar or even Big Mac meal at McDonalds, are just too hard to resist and then you feel guilty and may quit thinking it’s all or nothing. Because of this past approach, I’ve decided to make a few small changes this year that I think will have an overall benefit to my health. Changes that I can stick to. Minor changes I can make each month to improve my overall wellbeing. It’s been hard for me to narrow down exactly what changes I want to make each month that would have the greatest overall impact.
Each month, I'm going to set one personal goal and work towards perfecting that and creating healthy new habits.
This started last year when I decided to make one small change towards how I go about working out. Half way through the year, I decided I wanted to make a habit to be consistent working out. I’ve always been pretty active but it’s never consistent. Summers I’m always moving constantly and working hard to get in shape (bathing suit season being my main motivation) and also the fact it’s so much easier to be active when it’s light outside and you can be outdoors. I'd work out very hard all summer and then come October when the shorts and tank tops go away and the sweats and sweatshirts come out, I'd get lazy and enjoy all the hearty foods that come with fall.
At first I decided I wanted to start working out 4-5 days a week consistently. I started small. I just wanted to do some kind of intentional workout. In the beginning to keep to it I decided I could make time for a 20 min workout. I used videos on YouTube, Popsugar Fitness being my favorite. They have 10 minute workouts you can do and choose as many as you want to do. Even when I was super tired, I convinced myself to do just one 10 minute workout, which was enough that once I got going I always found the motivation to make it to my 20 minute goal. Sometimes I went farther but I didn’t want to try to do too much or it was too daunting to even begin. I'm sure everyone is aware, getting started is the hardest part. After 2 weeks or so of doing this, I felt stronger, healthier and I had more energy. I realized I had started to create a habit of working out. If I didn’t get at least 20 minutes in, I felt like something was missing from my day. It was a nice way to relieve stress too and generate more energy. I also noticed I was sleeping better too.
A lot of people say they don't have time. If you don't make it a priority, you won't find it either. I have 3 kids: 4 1/2 year old twin girls and a 16 month old baby girl. I also work full time as an algorithmic trader. I'm out of the house from 6:30am to 4:15pm for work. When I get home, I'm responsible for getting dinner on the table and managing three young kids. My husband usually comes home after dinner after it is all cooked and clean up . He's not around much so trying to find time to work out is tough. I've found at 7pm when my baby goes to sleep, I can get a quick workout in while the twins play together.
Fast forward a few months later and here I am up to 30 to 50 minute work outs at least 5 days a week. I've been consistent every week. I shoot for 150 minutes a week and it's an attainable goal. Going slowly has helped me build the habit and I never try to push it. It’s the middle of winter and I weigh surprisingly the same as I weighed during the very active summer months. I’ve got so much more muscle tone and have so much more energy. I've never been able to keep the pounds off in the winter, especially through Christmas and the New Year. This has made me a firm believer in the power of habit and the power of small changes.
I haven't been overwhelmed by my workouts. They are all done in my living room or in my neighborhood which makes it harder for me to make excuses. Because this small habit has already changed my life in so many ways, I want to start making small changes that become habits and have the power to change my life. Each month I will be working on only 1 new goal.
This year I’m trying something different. START SMALL. My overall theme for 2018.
Normally as the new year rolls around I always make my resolutions: lose weight and become healthier. I’ve never actually wrote down these goals or any steps involved as to how I would accomplish this. Instead, I cut out every unhealthy food I can think of, eat salads for every meal and try to work out an hour every day. I start off right on track and then about a week or two (if I make it past day 1) later, I fall off the wagon and binge eat. Any changes I made were reverted to their pervious ways and I stop working out for weeks at a time.
After a lot of reading and trying to understand exactly why I haven’t been hitting my goals (seems kind of obvious when you type it out), I’ve realized that they are not specific enough and I always try to do everything all at once. If it comes to eating healthier, I completely avoid anything bad for me. As anyone who’s ever done this knows, it only lasts a day or two before you give in to your temptations of the cookie and chocolate bar or even Big Mac meal at McDonalds, are just too hard to resist and then you feel guilty and may quit thinking it’s all or nothing. Because of this past approach, I’ve decided to make a few small changes this year that I think will have an overall benefit to my health. Changes that I can stick to. Minor changes I can make each month to improve my overall wellbeing. It’s been hard for me to narrow down exactly what changes I want to make each month that would have the greatest overall impact.
Each month, I'm going to set one personal goal and work towards perfecting that and creating healthy new habits.
This started last year when I decided to make one small change towards how I go about working out. Half way through the year, I decided I wanted to make a habit to be consistent working out. I’ve always been pretty active but it’s never consistent. Summers I’m always moving constantly and working hard to get in shape (bathing suit season being my main motivation) and also the fact it’s so much easier to be active when it’s light outside and you can be outdoors. I'd work out very hard all summer and then come October when the shorts and tank tops go away and the sweats and sweatshirts come out, I'd get lazy and enjoy all the hearty foods that come with fall.
At first I decided I wanted to start working out 4-5 days a week consistently. I started small. I just wanted to do some kind of intentional workout. In the beginning to keep to it I decided I could make time for a 20 min workout. I used videos on YouTube, Popsugar Fitness being my favorite. They have 10 minute workouts you can do and choose as many as you want to do. Even when I was super tired, I convinced myself to do just one 10 minute workout, which was enough that once I got going I always found the motivation to make it to my 20 minute goal. Sometimes I went farther but I didn’t want to try to do too much or it was too daunting to even begin. I'm sure everyone is aware, getting started is the hardest part. After 2 weeks or so of doing this, I felt stronger, healthier and I had more energy. I realized I had started to create a habit of working out. If I didn’t get at least 20 minutes in, I felt like something was missing from my day. It was a nice way to relieve stress too and generate more energy. I also noticed I was sleeping better too.
Fast forward a few months later and here I am up to 30 to 50 minute work outs at least 5 days a week. I've been consistent every week. I shoot for 150 minutes a week and it's an attainable goal. Going slowly has helped me build the habit and I never try to push it. It’s the middle of winter and I weigh surprisingly the same as I weighed during the very active summer months. I’ve got so much more muscle tone and have so much more energy. I've never been able to keep the pounds off in the winter, especially through Christmas and the New Year. This has made me a firm believer in the power of habit and the power of small changes.
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