Forget the saying waking up on the wrong side of the bed; the bigger issue is sleeping in and I'm going to tell you why. Waking up on the wrong side of the bed refers to being in a bad state due to the way you woke up but really the only reason you would be angry in the mornings is if you slept in and had to rush out of your house. Rising early allows you to start out your day positively and productively resulting in a happy morning and better day. My inspiration for this article came from a lot of you who are currently undertaking my 5 Day Detox, 7 Day Guide and Beach Body Program who have been struggling with fitting in the morning workouts. A lot of you have been combining the morning and afternoon workouts into one, which is fine if that is what you have found works for you, but there shouldn't be any reason you can't find time in the morning and hopefully this article will help you.
My Experience
Up until a couple of years ago I would sleep in at any opportunity given and as late as I could. The early starts only began when I started being assigned the morning shift at the Bakery I was working at which consisted of waking up at 4:30am to get to work at 5am. In doing so I realised the benefits of getting up early of which I get into later in this article but it really did change my mindset and inspire me to start my day off right which ultimately meant rising earlier.
The Truth About Sleeping-in
It's so easy to hit the snooze and let it take up our getting ready time before work or use the weekend as an excuse to sleep until noon. However, the truth of the matter is that those extra minutes (on work days) or hours (on weekends) of sleep are of less benefit to you than if you were to get up and going. Hitting snooze and sleeping for an extra 20 minutes is an absolutely useless practice because once you wake from your deep sleep, anything on top of that is really not of any benefit to you. I do believe in using the weekends as wind down time and taking a couple of hours extra sleep but don't let it take up your whole precious weekend by waking up at noon when the day is half over.
Morning Routine
One of the major benefits that resulted from waking up earlier was forming a morning routine and therefore starting the day off productively, something those who sleep in do not get the pleasure of. What I mean by morning routine is having the time to brew a coffee, make a proper breakfast, exercise, plan out your day and then take your time getting ready rather than rush around slapping on makeup and hopping into clothes. I highly recommend adopting some sort of morning ritual as it creates some sort of logical order to your day and in the words of Aristotle "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
To give you some inspiration I am going to briefly outline my morning routine as an example of what yours could be. This is pretty much how I start my day every single morning and I feel like it helps me achieve more, increases my positivity and results in productivity. I also very briefly touch on my morning routine in this article written back in June.
First stop is the kitchen where I will make my morning coffee before heading into the office to drink it while checking emails. Then I proceed to get changed into workout gear for some yoga a bit of cardio on my treadmill followed by a shower. By this time I am pretty hungry so will make up some breakfast which is usually one of two things; a two egg tomato and parsley omelette with avocado on the side or Greek yoghurt and homemade muesli. Afterwards I spend the next half hour to forty minutes in my beauty room putting my face of makeup on and dressing myself for the day. Then I head out the door completely relaxed, fulfilled and rejuvenated; ready to face the day.
As you can see, I slip in my morning exercise pretty much straight after I wake up so if you are currently doing my 5 Day Detox, 7 Day Guide or Beach Body Program then this is when I recommend fitting in your morning workout.
Now that is the ritual the works for me but everyone is different and you have to find your own rhythm; the series of actions that increases your positivity and productivity. I recommend trying a few things out and seeing how you go. If you have any questions then don't hesitate to ask as I would love to help in any way possible. Also if you do already have a morning routine then give me the jist of it in a comment below as I would love to hear from you!
Thanks for reading ♥
3 comments:
Thank you for this!!! it has inspired me to write down a morning routine and try stick to it!! (as well as include morning exercise) xx
I'm so happy to hear that!! Please let me know how you go, I always love hearing others morning routines :) x
This is the second time reading this particular article of yours. I will probably read it many times to come because it is so very positive. The 1st time I read it, I did understand it but was in a sleeping pattern that I was struggling to get out of due to illness. Although I have illness it is something that can greatly be improved by good eating exercise and lifestyle, everything you are about. I'm pretty sure I've said this before somewhere on your social media platform but for a girl of your age you have amazing drive and vitality for life, a caring for people that I am very much in awe of. I know I don't have to tell you how proud you should be of yourself because I know your healthy enough to know it already but it never hurts to get a complement and I am very proud of an Awesome Aussie Girl.
That being said, I think that I have just broken my bad pattern of insomnia. I've gone almost a week were I have gone to bed before 9pm at night. I've woken up very very early in the morning before the sun rises but instead of letting that bother me I've used it to start my day. I've exercised on my bike only once in that time but risen in time to be out and about have breakfast at Woodford then morning tea at Woombye and lunch at Coolum (almost fell asleep at lunch, but struggled through) In the days following Th, Fri, Sat and today I've not done much as in leaving the house but have been up and started my day, ate a good healthy breakfast and watched what I ate through the days. I've got so much done this week that I feel so happy. Given Monday is a holiday it will be Tuesday I'm back at work and I can judge how much energy I have. This has all been from being able to start my day early and not give in to laying in bed. Have a wonderful Australia day and an awesome week :)♥
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