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
Totall off topic, but you cat has the most beautiful markings!
Such a timely post, Angela–it’s truly freaky!
I used to be a huge night owl (as was, and still kind of is, the husband) but I’ve been dying to get in the habit of waking up early to go running before work (and before the Trini heat hits at 7:30 am–not much of a window between “pleasantly warm and breezy” and “hot as hell” down here!). This morning, I celebrated my birthday by starting my new old age on the right foot, ran my 3 miles, and I feel amazing. It’s definitely worth the early wake-up call to feel the endorphin happiness all day long :-)
Those horses looked beautiful! Things like that make me miss living in the country :)
Gluten Free Glo Bars! Can’t wait to try them. I make a few of my own versions of your glo bars with uncontaminated oats, but I am excited to get a “real one” from the pro! Thanks for your determination!
Wow! I was JUST thinking about this this morning. I am definitely a morning person, but for some reason, I have been staying up late (doing nothing!) and have been dragging myself out of bed, exhausted, at the very last minute. I love early mornings but I haven’t been able to enjoy them. I wake up at the last minute, rush to get in the shower, and I am usually late getting out the door for work!
I am revamping my evening routine to get to bed earlier, so I’ll be joining you in this challenge!
Pretty horsies! Your walk looks beautiful, no matter the weather! I have to be at work by 7 AM and now that I have a new puppy I’m getting up at 5 so that I have time to deal with him and play with him for 15-20 minutes before he’s penned up for the work day. I love having time to start reading blogs and eat a nice slow breakfast with a cup of coffee. My mornings are so much more relaxed than when I’d rush through! My Hubs is a night owl who rides to campus with me, he doesn’t get nearly enough sleep. Silly man.
Urgh, by nature a night owl but once I started working full time I got used to mornings a bit better. Just as well as I then bought a house a LONG way from my job and now I have to get up really early just to get into the office at a normal hour. A couple of mornings a week I get up even earlier to workout because I would just be too tired to do it later in the day. I’m glad I make the effort but it does wear me down sometimes and I can never seem to get to bed early enough to compensate! My boyfriend is a night owl too but he gets more of a lie in than me as he works closer to home so he can go to bed whenever…. Harumph…
I am such a morning person. I grew up on a farm, so I always needed to get up early. Now my body just wakes me up!! My favourite part of my day is my mornings. I cook myself oatmeal, check my e-mail, read the paper… just take my time getting ready for the day. I HATE rushing to get ready for work or school. It throws off my entire day!! I also happen to be one of those lucky poeple who falls asleep minutes after lying down (brag brag)
Sadly, my fiancé is a night owl, struggling to get up early on school mornings… and he rushes!!! SOmetimes our schedules mesh, sometimes they don’t. I have a “sleep schedule” he does not. I wish we went to bed together at the same time every night though.
Okay, I am crushing on Sketchie – I love his ‘plotting’ pics!
Used to be a total early riser. I taught 8th grade, and no matter how ‘free’ an evening appeared, inevitably the unplanned would happen. I’d have a huge discipline issue during the day that led to parent phone calls or conferences, last-minute IEP meetings, homework detention, or a student with no ride home (who lived 40 minutes away). Always something came up.
So during my second year I learned if I ever wanted to work out I had to do it in the morning, when there had been no time for something to get in the way. So every day I either hit the pool (MWF) or the gym (T TH). Then I’d come home, shower and eat breakfast while reading blogs :) It was hands down the highlight of every day.
Now that my routine is less stressful I don’t get up quite as early, but I must admit I miss it!!!
Such a night owl here. I have such a hard time falling asleep that I just go go go until I crash. Not very healthy, I know. I have tried to go to bed earlier lately, and it’s starting to work to the point where I am getting used to it. Will definitely check out the article!!!
My entire family goes to bed around 9 and wakes up at or before 6. I love when it’s 8 o’clock and I’ve gotten so much accomplishments. I always mentally make fun of all of my friends that are still wasting their lives away in bed.
I find that rising early is always more productive no matter how late you stay up. I’m not a morning person so I had to become one:( it wasn’t easy! haha
Sketchie has the most beautiful coat. I want a cat now!
Zen Habits is so great. I love the way Leo simplifies everything.
I read that article a while back and, like you, didn’t immediately commit. I’ve always loved mornings, too, but wasn’t so great at the getting up part. I think that article really stuck with me, because I slowly adjusted my sleep schedule so that I now wake up early easily almost every morning! Morning’s my favorite time of day now!
Good luck with the challenge! I know you’ll love it!
I’m definitely a night owl, though it does NOT work with my lifestyle requirements (aka 9-5 job, dog who needs walking, etc). The Huz is also kind of a night owl but he’s much better about going to bed early b/c he knows he has to get up in the morning!
I love reading your blog. I just had to comment because I have the same problem. I’m never tired at the reasonable bedtime I require to get up early. (That is, before midnight.) I’d so love to be an early riser. I think I’d get so much more done with my day. As it is, I could sleep till noon if I didn’t set my alarm. Maybe I’ll challenge myself, too. It couldn’t hurt to wake up in the morning instead of afternoon on the weekend. I bet it wouldn’t pass so quickly if I did! Thanks for the inspiration.
Early bird to the max! As a 19 year old in university, no one can believe it when I tell them I go to bed at 9:30pm! Haha! I always get all my work done and I love waking up around 6am, watching the news, making breakfast and getting started on my homework! Mornings are the highlight of my day! :) It’s a good challenge for you! So many restorative processes occur between the hours of 11pm and 1am and these can only occur if you’re asleep during this time! Trust me, you’ll feel amazing! :)
Definitely a morning person. Up by 6 a.m. (latest) every day. Often up extra early (before 5 a.m.) if I have some top priority writing assignment due. I LOVE the morning. I even get grumpy when my husband tries to get me to stay up late with him (which is most evenings, come to think of it.) ;)
Those pictures are so cute! Sounds like a fun, cold, walk:D
I’m an early riser…or so I thought. But lately, I’ve been more of a night owl! I press snooze 2-3 times any more.
What a great morning walk – looks FREEZING though! I am more of a morning person – and if I struggle to get up in the morning it is a clear sign that I am run down.
I too am a night owl yet I am also high energy. I find it hard to fall asleep and generally it is hard to sleep in. The result is not enough sleep. At the same time I am in a muscle building program so I need my sleep.
So my objective is to go to bed at 9:30 and wake up at 6. I figure that way I can get 7 to 8 hours sleep depending on when I actually fall asleep. I am tracking my hours of sleep on a wall calendar with the objective of 7 hours of sleep on average for a month.
I have always gotten the most down in the mornings with my school work. Even in graduate school, I have never pulled an all-nighter because I am useless in the night hours.
I have never been a night owl. I much prefer getting up early. Before I left my job to go back to school, I got up before 4am everyday! I don’t miss getting up that early, but I still prefer getting up on the early side. The key is going to bed at a reasonable time!
Glad you are surviving the cold with a smile on your face! I thought it was cold in Boston, but your Canadian winters pit it in perspective for me!
I used to be SUCH a night owl! Now I’m the complete opposite. It’s almost like it happened overnight too. I all of a sudden just started naturally waking up 15 minutes earlier everyday. Now I’m naturally up between 6-7am everyday. It’s nice to get workouts and chores done before noon on days off, and I now like working out before work. But at the same time, I crash and burn every night around 10:30. Even if I’m out somewhere. I’ve fallen asleep at the movie theatre!
I used to be a night owl, but now I am totally NOT!! I can barely stay awake past 11 :-) I am getting old!! Booo!
Your father in law looks very smart and “professor” like!
Hi Angela and may I say Brrrrrrr.
Good grief thats cold!
I was always a late sleeper, night owl person until about 3 years ago. I made my mind up to do a body challenge and get to the gym at 5am…seriously 5am? Was I nuts???
It was HARD, but I did it for 21 days, which they say 21 days to establish a pattern. Wahla…I now get up at 4-5am everyday and 6am on weekends. It’s good and bad…
Good luck girl!
Barb
I’m totally up for this early rising challenge! Even before reading this today, I was telling myself that even though I only “technically” need to get up early, early for classes on MWF, that I am going to make sure I get up at an early hour on Tues and Thurs, too! It’ll be easier on my bod to establish a pattern and I’m sure I’ll be must more productive!
Woo hoo!! I am so excited for the release of GF Glo Bars! I can’t wait to place an order!
My sleep schedule used to be very crazy. For my job, some days I would have to be at work at 4:45AM. Other days I would have to work until past midnight! After I quit, I stuck to being a night owl but like you, wanted to get up earlier to be productive. I started slowly like the article said. At first my goal was to go to the gym at that early hour, but I couldn’t contemplate it when my alarm went off! Instead, I would hop out of bed and do a workout dvd in my pajamas. After a while, waking up early (7AM) became natural and I have no problem hitting the gym. Good luck with your challenge!
I like getting up early when it happens. But lately I’ve been more of a night owl because i tend to have a lot of things to do at the end of the day.
But i’d like to try to be one of those people who gets up early :p
We have the exact same problem! Irish and I both tend to be night owls, but I would love to get up early to get more done. Often when I do try, all I get is sleep deprivation. I’m on board for this challenge! Oh, and I think if I could wake up to that breakfast cake, I’d get up early :) Thanks for sharing this info!
Your banana bread looks amazing!
Uh oh… those alpha male competitions can get fierce!
I’m a night owl all the way! I love mornings when I’m up, but it’s always so hard for me to get going. I’m slowly trying to start my day earlier, but it’s been a struggle, lol. I’m hoping it’ll be easier when the long summer days are here. I’d really rather just stay in my bed when it’s cold and dark out.
I AM SUPER SUPER SUPER EXCITED FOR THE GF GLO BAR! Please keep us posted. I cannot wait to order!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cheers. Love the lulu hoodie collar
I’ve always been an early riser and I love getting up early to work out, but lately I’ve been going to bed later so I can hang out with my husband at night, which makes me exhausted the next day and makes it much harder to get up early. My goal is to go to bed earlier so I can get back on track and wake up early.
So excited for the GF Glo Bar! Please keep me posted so I can order!
Ack! Soooo cold! I am a major night owl, but not by choice. I have a hard time falling asleep because I worry at night and nothing seems to help!
I hope I can start going to bed earlier soon and will give the challenge a mini try!
Oh man…looks like everyone on the Mainland is getting hammered by a cold snap! So sorry!!! Sending you lots of sunshine and aloha from Hawaii :-)A
HOLY CRAP THAT LOOKS COLD
Ive grown really wimpy since we moved to Texas.
as far as the rising thing Ive simply learned if I want ME TIME in the day I need to get up at 4am ish to have it.
and I want me some ME TIME *otherwise* I find I resent the childtime worktime husbandtime housecraptime that can jampack my day.
What a great challenge and a great article! I am on my way to try it out! :]
You are such a brave soul for walking out in that cold weather! I am naturally an early riser, but since my honey is a late to bed and late to rise, I have altered my schedule over the past few years. And he also falls asleep within 30 seconds of hitting the pillow–men! ;)
Our pipes froze too, and we probably won’t have water for the rest of the week! It’s insane.
I’m definitely more of a morning person than a night owl. I think better in the mornings. But still, I think these are great tips for anyone to implement. Especially having a “reason to get up” and “making your mornings productive” so the habit will stick. Things we could all find helpful!
I love the earlier riser challenge. I have to start getting up A LOT earlier than I’m used to because I start student teaching in two weeks. (I’m still in the college student mode) Thanks for the tips! :)