HOW TO STRENGTHEN YOUR WILLPOWER TO STICK TO YOUR GOALS

Life gets busy and crazy and before you know it all of the good habits you have worked on for so long have been thrown to the curb. This was my realization a couple of weeks ago. This summer has been incredibly busy in all areas of my life, between getting a new job, working on getting the final touches ready for the candle line, health issues with Nina (my dog, for those of you who don’t know), and trying to be the best aunt I can be to my niece and nephew on top of the regular day to day things we all want to spend time on – like – I don’t know, laundry, grocery shopping, family events - it’s been very, very busy to say the least. But I may be preaching to choir here because I know that we are all stretched very thin with so many daily demands. I’ve been feeling like I am stretched very thin. Maybe the stress has been showcasing itself because even my mom asked me if everything is ok with me! Which I am, there is just so much going on. It is at times like these when I really feel the need to exercise and meal plan and getting back to the good habits I know I’ve gotten the hang of before. Because adding more to my plate will definite help J.

So, while I know what I need to do I am having a hard time doing it. For example, lately, I have been having a hard time making time for exercise and preparing lunch. Lately, by the time 10pm rolls around I am so exhausted that all I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep. And because I have not been preparing lunch I have resorted to buying lunch which is not only expensive, but usually not that great. And as far as workouts go, while I do still work out from time to time, I have not gotten myself back into a schedule where I target a specific area for each workout. On my good streaks, I am good about taking some time on a Sunday or a Monday to I write out what workout I will do each day of the week (usually a Tone It Up or Blogilates routine). About 90% of the time I stick to the workouts I have pre-planned – I think that’s a pretty successful outcome.

This is why I have decided that I need to give myself a reality check and a dose of will power and self-discipline. After much thought I decided that it is really about getting back to the basics and the reasons for creating those good habits – whatever those may be for you. And the one thing that will get me going again is:

Remembering how good it feels to accomplish something

Personally, I have been thinking back to how I would feel after a workout. Aside from being sore and barely being able to walk I would feel energized and look forward to more workouts. The times that I would be very strict with myself and worked out at least 5 times a week I would actually begin to feel a difference in body. My legs would feel stronger, I wouldn’t tire as easily while going up stairs, and I would even get out of bed faster in the morning!

And the times that I have stuck to preparing my own foods I feel better about what I eat for the sole reason that I know EXACTLY what is in it, I use fresh ingredients and it is always cooked to my personal perfection. And as an added bonus, it saves me A LOT of money.

My point is that when we all decide we need to stick to something it is usually because we know some good will come of it. We get so far down the path of have motivational conversations in our own heads (which is really the biggest hurdle for most) that getting it done and sticking to it won’t be as bad as it may seem.  

So, how do you keep your will power and discipline strong? What have you challenged yourself to stick to? Do share below!

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! 

5 TIPS TO GET BETTER SLEEP AT NIGHT

Our lives can get kind of crazy and when that happens there are two things that in my experience tend to go array very quickly and that is eating habits and sleeping habits. There are a few simple habits we can create in our everyday lives that will help us get a better night’s sleep. As always, creating new habits takes time so I suggest incorporating these into your lives one at a time and putting your best foot forward in terms of sticking to the habit. You will be glad you did once you have reached your goal!

set an alarm to go to bed

Yep, you read that right! I know (from firsthand experience) that we can get easily distracted in the evenings. Think: Netflix, Hulu, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. – you get the drift. My point is that if we are not conscious about it our evenings will fly by and before we know it its 10PM and time to prepare to the next day. So, setting an alarm to be in bed by will keep you accountable with how you spend your time in the evenings.

avoid exercising 4 hours before bedtime

Regularly exercising has amazing benefits on your body (and mental) wellbeing, BUT, exercising late in the evening can come in between you and a good night’s sleep. I have especially noticed this if I do some type of cardio workout but not as much if I do Yoga or light Pilates.

ditch the caffeine after lunch

This is a tough one for me during our extreme seasons (summer and winter) – on the (very few) hot summer days I will give in and have an iced latte and on the (very many) cold winter days I get the urge to drink a hot cup of coffee in the afternoon. While I have not solved for the summer days iced latte urge I have done a pretty good job at eliminating coffee in the afternoons during winter by replacing my coffee with a cup of decaf tea. I have never been much of a tea drinker; however, I am learning to appreciate it more and more these days.

spray your sheets

There are certain natural scents that are very calming and relaxing like lavender, chamomile, vanilla and ylang-ylang. My favorite is lavender or a lavender-vanilla blend. You can easily make your own calming mixtureto spray your sheets a few minutes before getting into bed by mixing a few drops of essential oils (can be found in pharmacies or grocery stores) into a spray bottle.

white noise

Having some type of white noise on at night can do wonders for your sleep because it will help tune out noises (cars, dogs and/or people) that can wake you up at night. I have a air purifier that not only purifies my air but also serves as white noise - double win! Another option is to search white noise on YouTube and you will come across videos that are 8-10 hours long.