WHAT I HAVE DONE TO BECOME SOMEWHAT OF A MORNING PERSON

Being a “morning person” has always been a foreign subject to me. Even when I think back to my grade school days I remember my dad prodding me to wake up and even pulling my toes – that always got me right up!

I’ve heard people equate “non-morning” people to lazy people and from first-hand experience I know that is not necessarily the case. We all have an internal clock, also known as a circadian rhythm which is a biological function that operates on a (roughly) 24 hour cycle. 

So, there are morning people, night owls and I’d like to throw a third category in there or intermediaries (which is me!) I am neither a morning person nor a night owl – even if I fall asleep at a decent time (say 10:30-11PM) I STILL hit the snooze button at 7AM.

If you can afford or have a lifestyle that can support your internal clock then have at it! Sleep at whatever time that rocks your boat. I on the other hand need to be up in the morning and be at work by 9AM (although I have been shooting to get in by 8:30 and not too successful at that lately).

I used to think that my snooze hitting habits were a by-product of our long and cold Boston winters but I've come to the conclusion that that is not the case - it's simply me.

Here are the things I have worked on in the past couple of years that have helped me become (somewhat) of a morning person.

Consistency

In order to make a long term change in your life it is crucial to be consistent. This means that, in my case, I set my alarm clock for 7AM every day including weekends. Yes, even weekends. Even though I usually allow myself to fall back to sleep on Saturdays and Sundays I want my body to get used to a 7AM wake up call.

Time Management

If you know how many hours your body needs to function to its optimal level make sure you do everything in your power to make those hours sacred. For me that means I need a solid 8 hours to feel good in the morning, therefore, I do all of the miscellaneous things that need to get done in the morning at night. This includes, picking my outfit, prepping my lunch bag and prepping my coffee machine. I do all of this at night because I want to get every minute of sleep I can in the morning.

Drink water

Since I have started to drink water in the morning at I am getting ready I have noticed such a positive change in my morning attitude. It is such a simple and easy thing to add to your morning routine that will immediately give you positive results.

Aside from beginning to drink water every morning becoming consistent and effectively managing my time has by far taken the longest time to work on. For example, if I knew I had to be at work by 8AM on any given day I would go to sleep earlier and set my alarm earlier for the next morning. Then, the next day came along and I reverted back to my normal sleeping schedule which completely threw any progress I had made out the door.

In order to combat that from happening I landed on 7AM as a good time for me to wake up every morning. If I need to be at work by 8AMthen I know that 1 hour is just enough time for me to get ready and get to work (those days Iprep a little extra to make my morning routine as quick and simple as possible). But if it’s a normal work day I know I can take my time getting ready – I can watch a video as I get dressed and as I make my coffee.

Those early days do not happen very often so I am OK with the tight timeline I have created for myself on those days. My main goal here is to train my body to wake up at a consistent time every day and hopefully someday I will not even need an alarm clock!

And, while I still end up hitting the snooze button it is not nearly as bad as it was a few years ago. I can say that I do have a little more discipline around that these days.

So, as a “non-morning” person or intermediary I’d like to say that no, we are all not just lazy people. And some of us do try very hard to train our bodies to adjust to the work hours we need to adhere to.

As for me, I still envy people to wake up early in the morning without even trying!

How about you – are you a morning person, a night owl or an in-between like me? And have you always been that way? Do share below! 

The Do’s and Dont’s of Keeping Your Body Hydrated

In order for us to all lead happy and healthy lives we need to keep our foundation strong and healthy – that being our bodies. On that notem a few weeks ago I wrote a post How to Start Your Day Off Right which offered up some tips on things we can incorporate to our daily routine whichcan potentially improve our overall lifestyle. Back to water…I am sure you already know but just in case I will state it again – our bodies are made up of about 70% water. Yes! Way more than half of what out bodies are made out of is good old water. Now, we are always told to drink water all…the…time and don’t get me wrong I love water. My liquid intake consists of two things coffee and water – I do not drink soda (let go of that bad habit many years ago) and I have never been a fan of juice. Sometimes I’ll have natural freshly squeezed juice or a fruit smoothie but none of the processed juice we can find at the grocery store.

What a lot of people may not be fully aware of is that we can also hydrate our bodies from sources other than water. Below I will outline the foods we can have which will supplement our water intake along with a few things we should steer away from.

1 | Fruits

Yep – fruits. Fruits are a great source for fluids - fruits like watermelon (92%), oranges (87%), canteloups (90%) , pineapple (87%), strawberries (92%) to name a few have a very high water content. Note: a fruit whose water content of 80% + is considered to have high water content.

2 | Veggies

Veggies typically do not have as high of water content as fruits do but they do have a substantial amount. A few that are top of the list are: brocolli (91%), carrots (87%), celery (95%), spicnach (92%) and  cucumbers (96%) – quick side note on that, I always tought that they were a fruit!

3 | Tea

Drinking a warm cup of tea may not seem like it’s a water source but it is! I am not a huge tea drinker (I usually only gravitate towards it when I am under the weather) but if you do enjoy drinking tea consider upping your intake.

Just as there are things we can do on a day to day basis to make sure our bodies stay hydrated there are also things that we may be doing that lead to dehydration. A few examples of those are:

1 | Hunger

If we allow ourselves to get hungry our body will start getting to our water source to regain some energy. This is why is is so, so important to have healthy snacks on hand if you are ever too busy to have a healthy meal.

2 | Stress

We allow ourselves to feel stressed out from everyday pressures of life and work but many of us do not see the correleation between the stress and the harm it can cause to our health. One of the direct side effects of stress is dehydration.

3 | Drinking Alcohol

But you already knew that, right? Yes, alcohol dehydrates the body. Ever notive when you drink alcohol your body immediately responds by having to use the bathroom? Im not saying you hae to nix alcohol, but I am saying to follow one simple rule – for every alcoholic drink you have drink a glass of water.

My main message here today is to take care of your body. After all it is the only one you have. Pay attention and listen to it, realize what it needs and does not need. Your busy will repay you with good health and abumdant energy. Stay healthy!

Do you already follow the do’s and how do you deal with the don’t’s? Share your approches to staying hydrated below!


HOW TO GET BACK ON TRACK AFTER SUMMER

Is it just me or can we all agree that summer 2015 came and went in a blink of an eye? Then again I always feel like that at the end of every season. This year I made a commitment to myself to spend a lot more time outdoors and less time attached to my gadgets than I have in previous years. I am happy to report that I definitely spent more time outside this summer soaking up the sun and the warm breeze! However, I do have to admit that I have not been very successful in maintaining my fitness regimen, my healthy eating or my (somewhat) good sleeping habits in check. Typically, I feel re-energized to get back into my healthier lifestyle routine in the fall. Below, I am going to share the ways I have been able to get back into gear in past years. 

Sleep is important every season of the year (but, we all knew that!). But adjusting back to a healthy sleeping schedule after the summertime can sometimes feel like an unfeasible goal. Lately, I’ve been getting between 6-7 hours of sleep at night - I know that in order for me to feel energized in the morning I need at least 8 hours of quality sleep. The thing to note here is that everyone is a little different – some people do not require more than 7 hours while others need a solid 9 hours of sleep. Pay attention to how long your sleep is and how your body reacts in the morning.

Exercise for at least 30 minutes each day. As I mentioned above, I tend to always fall of this band wagon during the summer months. But every fall for the past 3 years I always participate in the Tone It Up fall challenge (this year’s theme is Fit for Fall). This is a community I found almost by accident and boy I am happy I did! Karena and Katrena never fail to put a smile on my face and always encourage me to be the best version of myself I can be. Their workouts may not look intense but, trust me, they are! At the end of the day you do not have to follow a challenge to get back into shape, it works for me but if you are into yoga, running, swimming, biking – whatever it is  - the main thing here is that you get moving for at least 30 minutes each day. Believe me, your body, mind and soul will thank you for it.

Healthy Eating usually takes a back seat during all of the summer BBQs and that is totally fine! At least it is in my book! But just know that eating healthy at least 80% of the time will have a much more positive effect than the negative effect the 20% of unhealthy eating could have on your body. Think lots of veggies, fruits and whole grains. My overall eating habits have gotten much, much, MUCH better over the past few years and much of that came from educating myself about the foods I was eating. I now avoid as much fast food and processed foods as possible (meaning I very rarely eat fast food and pre-packaged frozen meals). I also read the ingredient labels on the food I do buy and if it contains any questionable ingredients I simply do not buy it. Instead I look for a brand that has a “cleaner” ingredient list, if you look hard enough there are almost always better alternatives!

And last but not least…

Hydration is the common denominator in order to succeed with the points above. Your body needs to be adequately hydrated to sleep well, to exercise at your optimal capacity and for your body not to confuse hunger with thirst. My rule of thumb when it comes to drinking water is to drink 50% of your body weight in ounces. For example, if you weigh 150 lbs you should drink 75 oz's of water which equates to about 5 bottle or 9 glasses of water a day. I carry around a 17 oz bottle and make sure to refill it about 5 times throughout the day (some days I am better at this than others!)

How do you get back into your healthy lifestyle routine? Do you have any tips and tricks that work for you?