It was COLD on our walk yesterday!!
It was a bone chilling -13C/8.5F with a windchill of -23C! And boy was it windy.
Here I am with my father in law whom I love so dearly! We put a brave face on…
But not for long!
Thanks to this huge collar on this Lululemon sweater I got several years back, I was able to cover half my face!
We walked for over an hour in the blistery cold and came across these beauts:
I wanted to go riding!!!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Sketchie and Finnegan continued to fight for Alpha male.
Sketchie plotting…
I think there is a wire in his brain stuck on ‘clean mode’.
POOPED on the car ride home (not literally!)
It was a great getaway, but not long enough! We had to leave around 3pm because I had a lot of Glo Bakery work to be done Sunday night.
We came home to NO WATER in the house. Not a drip. We feared that our water pipes froze up. Around 9pm, there was a huge loud boom coming from our water pump and then we had running water again!
Eric and I managed to squeeze in Whittle My Middle and I had a 15 min treadmill run/walk workout.
I also made some overnight Banana Bread Baked Breakfast Cake:
This time I doubled the oats, cut the nuts in half, and added dark chocolate chips with the bananas. Sooooo heavenly!!!
My Early Rising Challenge
I’ve always been a night owl for as long as I can remember. I have never been one for going to bed very early because I always have trouble falling asleep. I am certainly not one of those lucky people (e.g., Eric) that falls asleep within a few minutes of hitting the pillow!
However, I also love mornings. A lot. I love getting up early, getting a good workout in, and getting a few tasks crossed off my to-do list.
The only problem with my love for both late nights and early mornings is that they don’t really work well in tandem!
Eric also happens to be a night owl, so our schedules just sort of worked well together. I love spending time with my husband at night. I only get to see him a few hours each day.
Last year, I came across this fabulous article by Zen Habits called ‘10 Benefits of Rising Early‘. When I first came across it I knew it was something that I wanted to try out, however I never ended up committing to it. Leo, a former night owl himself, tells his tips on how he switched to rising early- at 5am every day. He claims that his entire life has changed for the better since he became an early riser. Not only does he feel more at peace in his life, he also gets much more accomplished.
Some of Leo’s tips for learning how to rise early are:
1) Start slow. Wake up just 15-30 minutes earlier for several days until you are used to it. Then get up earlier the next week, etc.
2) This seems obvious but you need to go to bed earlier if you are to function the next day. Leo says even if you don’t think you will fall asleep, go to bed and read. Often you will fall asleep faster than you thought.
3) Have a reason to get out of bed in the morning! Make a morning ritual that you look forward to. Maybe it is a delicious bowl of baked breakfast cake after your morning workout or maybe it is a favourite TV show or 30 minutes of your favourite book. Have a fun reward for getting up early!
4) Be productive. Make your early mornings productive and you will have a reason to stay committed to it. If you get good results, you are likely to stick with it!
For the rest of Leos tips and benefits to rising early, see the full article here. It is a must read!!
In case you haven’t guessed, I am challenging myself to rising early!
Over the next several weeks, I am going to slowly adjust my sleep-wake schedule.
I am going to monitor my progress andwill report back how it is going.
Are you a night owl or early bird? If you live with a boyfriend or husband, are you on the same sleep-wake schedules?
~~~
UPDATES:
- After 7 trials over the past several months, I was finally able to perfect my first Gluten-free Glo Bar!!!! Stay tuned for details in the upcoming weeks for the release.
- My Recipes Page is all up to date now, including reader’s favourite breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert recipes!
- Eric was able to fix my Windows Live Writer hyperlinking error. Eric found an error in my linkglossary.xml file (which is located in the WLW folder). Thank God it is now fixed. This will cut down my blogging time in half!
Enjoy your Moan-day! I have a full Gmail Calendar again and I am trying Day 2 of not multitasking (as much!). For a tutorial on how to use Gmail calendar see here.
Every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent success.
Napoleon Hill
{ 94 comments… read them below or add one }
As a 23 year old, I am majorly struggling between my inner night owl and my love for waking up early! During the week I’m pretty successful with early rising because I LOVE how much I get accomplished during the morning hours. But then when the weekend rolls around and I inevitably stay out until 2 or 3am with my friends….well, let’s just say I have a pretty screwed up sleep schedule! However, I do make it a point to make up my “sleep debt” (as my mom calls it) so that I average 7-8 hours of sleep per night. As I get older, though, I definitely see myself continuing to be a morning person
In fact, I might need to make that banana breakfast cake as another incentive for early rising!!
I love to be a night owl because growing up, my entire family was like that. Just like you, I only get to see my hubby a few hours each night. I have realized though that staying up later just doesn’t jive with my healthy habits. I prefer to get up early and workout. So we try to be in bed by 930-10.
I am such a night owl too. I do go into work at 7am though. Very difficult. Let’s just say that I wake up as late as possible and even eat breakfast at work. On the rare occasions when I manage to get up early enough to get in a morning workout, I love it. I feel like I have my evenings free. I just can’t seem to do it consistently.
Yay for gluten-free bars!! That’s fantastic. There are only 3 gluten-free bars I love (KIND, Larabar, ThinkThin)so I’m really excited to try yours! Thanks for thinking of us all
For the past 2 months I have been setting my clock to rise an etra 45 mins. I find I get a lot more done, the house is quiet, no distractions and I feel so accomplished. I will admit, if I am not able to get to bed early, it is a killer trying to wake up at 515a. Stay warm.
Good luck with the challenge!! I used to go to bed early and get up early and I felt like I got a LOT accomplished. However, I have kind of reversed it and I don’t like it so much. I feel like half the day is gone by the time I get up and I have no time to do anything. I also really love the morning, the peace of it. But like you said, it doesn’t work if you don’t get enough sleep. I am also going to take your challenge and try it. I love the idea of rewarding yourself for getting up early, what a good idea!!!
I’m definitely an early to bed, early to rise person. I would go to bed at 8:00 if I could!!! My husband is more of a night person, but he has pushed his bedtime earlier and earlier since we’ve been together. Now, we’re both on the same schedule and are usually in bed by 10:00. Nerd alert!!
That walk looks SO beautiful– those horses you came upon are lovely!
My vote is for Sketchie in the alpha cat contest
I’d have to say I’m both, depending on how much sleep I’ve gotten lately.
Thankfully when my boyfriend stays over, he goes to bed early with me (when he’s home, he averages 2am on work nights!). I try to get 7-9 hours most nights and sometimes alter my schedule to achieve this. If, however, I get 6 hours or less one night, I’ll make sure to get a full nights sleep the next. 
Mornings are so pretty though! My favorite time of the day since most everyone isn’t up – it’s so peaceful!
great tips on rising early! I love to get up early, but like you, i have a husband who wants to stay up late. i love it when we go to bed at the same time, so we both end up compromising a little. it works, but then i don’t want to get up in the morning. lately we’ve both been working out in the morning though, so that helps
If you ever visit St. Louis, MO, I will take you riding!
When I left St. Louis on Sunday, it was 1 degree! I kept complaining, and now that I hear that it was warmer in Canada, I feel like all my complaints are justified haha!
I read that article a while back, too, and I was just thinking about it this morning. I’m a night owl, too, but I need to wake up earlier so I can workout before class (get there before all the treadmills are full!). Ohhh, but it’s so cold in the early morning… Do you ever find the weather discouraging in this regard?
im an early riser by nature but i also go to bed really early! i get so tired.
your coat in the walking pictures is really cute!
I’m just like you — a night owl who also enjoys getting up early. I think I’ll have to try this when I get back from NY!
I will have good practice when we get up to leave at 3:45 AM tomorrow to drive to NY… ick!
I’m a LARK! And my hubs is a night owl. So I fall asleep on the couch with him every night to “keep him company” and he wakes me up and puts me to bed at 11. Hee hee!! I love getting up early before anyone else, having some coffee and reading blogs or the newspaper. I don’t like to rush in the morning, so I budget time to be able to putter around the kitchen and get organized for my day. Such a nice, peaceful way to start the day rather than jumping up, running late and being off routine.
Courtney
adventures in tri-ing
One of my NY resolutions was to get up earlier. So I got a puppy.
Now I have to get up early.
I am an early bird for sure…my husband is now too. Having kids will do that to you!
I am a total night owl who has trouble falling asleep.
However, I also LOVE mornings and hate wasting the day sleeping. On top of that I am starting to train for a half marathon so I would like to be up early to get my runs down earlier!
Thanks for the tips, I will definitely be using them to help me!
Oh and that baked breakfast cake thing looks AH-MAZING! Yum!
Girl you are nuts to be walking around for an hour in that cold! Glad you enjoyed it though
Super cute photos! Your FIL totally looks like Eric.
I have been trying to slowly work up to getting up earlier. If I could get my workouts in early in the day I would have so much more time!
Oddly enough I go to bed pretty early, but I also have a hard time getting up in the morning!
Great pictures. I feel your pain on the chilly temperatures yesterday. It was -16 in Ottawa, and I did a 10k run. Took me all day to warm up!
I’m an early morning riser, and I love it! I used to be more of a night owl, but then I had a job at a bakery, and later at a construction company, and both jobs required an early morning start, which I got so accustomed to and now I can’t imagine having it any other way. I’m so much more productive and yet also much more calm. It feels kind of like you have all the time in the world, you know?
love the pictures from the trip! sketchie is such a gorgeous baby too
i’m working on getting up earlier…i try to catch a local program by 6, so that’s my motivation at the moment!
Tried my first green monster today – it was fabulous! Grossed everyone out at work since I used chocolate amazing meal and chocolate light soymilk, but it was really great and I do feel great after having it. (And so virtuous, too!)
My sleep preferences are rough. I’m a night owl *and* have the downside of needed 9-10 hours of sleep a night to really feel refreshed. Which means my sleep debt on the weekends is pretty high, and I end up feeling like I’ve wasted my day sleeping 13 hour stretches at a time. I’ve managed to get myself into a rhythm of bedtime at 10:15-10:30pm and waking up at 6:00am, but I’ve never been able to get myself up earlier than that.
I’m trying to wake up early with my hubby
We usually go to bed at the same time, but I just keep sleeping and sleeping unless I have something to do in the morning. I started waking up a little earlier today and feel so much more alive!! Morning workouts definitely help.
Can’t wait to try the baked breakfast cake–it looks so yummy!!
Morning person, totally. I am often asleep before my three year old. When he was a baby, I had to work at 7am, so I would get up at 4 am to nurse him before going to the gym.
I’m on board! I’ll be getting up at 5:15 every Monday and Tuesday this year for a 6am yoga class. It’s harder for me to get out of bed in the winter, but it should be a breeze once the warmer weather arrives. When you love what you do every day (for me it’s yoga and writing in the morning), then it’s much easier to get out of bed.
great article on getting up early. i am a night owl as well but really do enjoy getting up early when i can and having something to check-off my to-do list. getting my workout in in the morning is probably the most rewarding because it sets you up to have a great, healthy day.
Mmm what an amazing breakfast!
I’m definitely an early bird. My boyfriend hates it because I never sleep in with him. Oh well!
You look so adorable all bundled up!
this doesn’t have anything to do with the post, just a funny story that has to do with sleep. i’ll be falling asleep and half-dreaming about something, my boyfriend will be talking to me, and i’ll answer him with something that would make sense in my dream. so this is how our conversations usually go around 11:30 p.m.
boytoy: are you going to the gym tomorrow?
jayme: no, i’m going to hide behind the shelves so i don’t get anything thrown at me.
boytoy: ………. You asleep?
jayme: no, it makes perfect sense. they’re not going to hit me if i’m behind the shelves. these ones look really sturdy.
(this was last night’s conversation)
happy monday.
Angela, I have been reading your blog for about a couple of months now but this is my first comment. I just had to let you know how much I enjoy it. It is so creative, fun and so informative. I am expecting my first order of Glo-Bars too. Thanks for all your hard work. I have always considered myself a morning person, usually up at 4:30 to run but over the last 2 months since I have been Clean Eating I have all this extra energy and am having trouble going to bed which is causing the same dilemma.
I’m a night-owl. I have a creative peak around 10pm and that can see me going for hours into the morning. It doesn’t really work with the fiance though as he likes “Us” time about then. On the other-hand I love early mornings. I love the peace and quiet, and in general I feel a step-ahead of everyone. I’m also working on getting into early starts again. Though today my earlier start back-fired… It was way too dark to go out for a run, and then I waste time when I know I have to drop everything, and head-out.
Thanks for this information Angela, I have been struggling with rising early before work to workout.
I’m an early riser (and not a night owl), but my husband definitely is not. Before we met he said he had to set his alarm for a noon football game. I’m usually in bed by 9:30 either reading or watching a little TV before I go to bed.
It works out OK, because I just get up and leave the room to either work out, read, or start running errands.
P.S. I tried my first Green Monster yesterday — it was great! I’ve been recommending it to everyone at work
oh you read my mind. I am a total night owl and just hate getting up so early but I have actually decided to get up wednesdays and jog before work. ONE DAY I CAN DO. It’s just so hard cramming in all my to do’s between 9:30 and 11:00pm (after my son goes to bed) He’s becoming a night owl too.
THANKS FOR THE TOPIC!
This post is making me sad because at the end of November, I started to work the night shift. 12 hours from 530pm to 6am. I had to do it to get the job I wanted. The thing is, I LOVE TO GET UP EARLY and go to bed at like 10! I love having the whole day ahead of me and now that is gone. I have the whole night ahead of me and it is quite depressing. Luckily, I should be able to get on days at the beginning of February. Good luck with your goals. Sorry for my vent!
I really love mornings. When I was in high school I was up at 6 most of the time. In the summer 6am is the only time you can exercise comfortably in Kamloops, so I was always up for a run or a bike ride. I am now not so much a morning person due to always being up later than planned… as the university life style goes…
Maybe this summer I’ll start enjoying early mornings again.
In December, I made the change from afternoon to a.m. workouts. Working out in the morning meant that I had to begin waking up at 5 rather than 7…..OH MY. It was hard! I wrote some tips for getting up early and working out that you may find beneficial:
http://www.lilyshealthpad.com/2010/01/06/the-4-1-1-on-morning-exercise-how-to-get-your-booty-out-of-bed-in-the-morning/
This was a terrific post. Thanks, Lily!
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