00:16 Hey. All right. I'm in my car today driving to my chiropractor's appointment, and I feel like I'm on the phone with you because this is my go-to time to chat with my sister, my mom, I usually like pick up the phone and call somebody.
00:29 So I feel like I'm calling you. Hi, how are you? I have in my cup holder, my massive cup of water and a little energy immunity elixir.
00:42 I don't know what to call it. I just put like a bunch of different of my favorite supplements in a cup and I'm sipping on that for a little bit of extra energy.
00:50 I wanted to talk today about waking up early. I have been do, I am so proud of myself. But listen, , I, I mean this could be a whole nother episode, but why I felt like I wanted to talk about it right now is I was actually triggered, oh my gosh, I don't want that word.
01:11 I don't know if that's even the appropriate word to use, but some basically, I saw something on Instagram that said, wow, we're getting right into this.
01:18 Like, I was like it basically was explaining why waking up at 5:00 AM and working out is bad for you. Yes.
01:28 Yep. That's what it said. And it like, broke it all down. And I went and read this because I was like, are you kidding?
01:36 Like, I am so proud of myself right now. So a little bit backstory. I am like a morning person, at least like over a night owl, right?
01:45 I am more of an early bird versus an night owl. If I have to pick a team, I'm team early bird.
01:49 I cannot hang, I cannot, I can't do it. I can be alone in my house sometimes, like up watching Netflix at like midnight occasionally or like having trouble with sleep, but oh, asked me to go out and like, I gotta like mentally prepare for that for like weeks to go out, like out, out .
02:12 Yeah. So I've always been an early riser, even as a kid. I remember at sleepover parties, I was always the first one awake and I'd be like pretending to sleep and then just like looking around maybe like even throwing us pillow at someone just to try and wake them up because I'm like, I don't wanna be the only one awake.
02:29 Yeah. And even like with me and Justin having the girls, I am the mor the morning parent. Like I actually prefer that because when the girls wake up at night and I am just like clocked out, timed out, like exhausted, he's on.
02:42 Cuz Justin is more of an al. So anyways, I've always leaned towards, or I have more energy in the mornings than I do in the afternoons.
02:51 And at nighttime also when I started teaching, or actually just like working in general, actually maybe even before that, like in college when I just had classes, I noticed I did not have the energy to work out in the afternoon.
03:07 Like I just, no mo barely any motivation. Like occasionally I might sign up for a class, like we used to have like fitness classes at the college campus gym and that would like hold me accountable, but like by choice, like I do not want to work out at that point in the day.
03:24 Like, I'm done , like I just wanna chill. I wanna like eat some yummy food, finish a couple things like, you know, maybe you don't.
03:33 But that's, that's me. So when I started working full-time and I wanted to go to the gym, I loved going in the morning.
03:41 Like that was my favorite way to start my day, honestly, like before kids, I'm talking, I loved the feeling of leaving the gym at like 6 45, showered in work clothes, knowing that I absolutely crushed a workout.
03:57 Like that was just the most satisfying thing I might be ready to pass out at like 10:00 AM feeling like kind of tired, needing, like I didn't drink coffee for a long time, so, or until more recent years, but maybe that would've helped.
04:12 But yeah, I just love my morning workouts. It sets the tone for the day I feel accomplished. So like, it's a, it's like a confidence boost, it's a like a motivational boost.
04:26 It just, it just affects all the other areas of my life. I feel like. Yes, it makes me a little tired, waking up early, but I'm better able to focus and I, my muscles, like, I feel strong and I'm getting my workouts in and I'm holding myself accountable.
04:42 So lots of reasons why I, I enjoy working out in the morning. So, and it's always been something I feel like for the longest time it's something that has been part of my routine, my schedule at least I tried, I know, and then I had kids, so that kind of switches it up, especially when you're breastfeeding, especially when you have night wakings going on.
05:01 So I did, you know, have a, i I allowed for a lot of flexibility and I encourage you to do the same.
05:06 If you're kind of in that stage of life where maybe you're in a first trimester and you're really tired or nauseous and you're like, I can't work out right now, like, don't, please don't push it, don't force, force it.
05:19 Like, we'll get to that in a second, but I just know the frustration of like wanting to work out first thing in the morning and you can't because you have to nurse a baby or there's a toddler that had a blowout in their crib and you just can't ignore that and things need to be handled.
05:36 So I get it, but I feel like I've been able to, for the most part, somehow manage a morning workout.
05:45 Sometimes the girls were involved, sometimes they weren't. And then more recently we hit a really rough patch like bedtime and just overnights have been, I don't wanna use the word horrendous, that's a little dramatic.
06:01 They have just been worse than ever honestly, because our girls had such a good sleep routine and a sleep schedule and just like good sleep habits.
06:11 Like they've had the same schedule and routine for years. And even like when we moved into our new house here in Florida, still sleeping great this summer, back in like July, might have even been June, I think it started with Blake like fighting sleep at night.
06:29 I think it was like a two year old thing, whatever. We come out on the other side, then it's rosy won't sleep in our bed.
06:35 What refuses to be alone. We used to like shut her door and it had like the baby knobs so she couldn't get out.
06:42 She didn't, it didn't bother her. All of a sudden she's screaming, she's like pounding on that door, waking up Blake, waking up Ayla like, oh my gosh.
06:51 So then Rosie hasn't slept in her bed in months, like a ful night. Like there's been, I think I counted like six times in the last like, so maybe once a month she'll be so tired she will be passed out and sleep the entire night through in her bed without getting up.
07:06 Oh my gosh. And I cannot tell, like I don't know how people do it. I have never enjoyed co-sleeping. Like yes, those newborn days, I mean, hello, the convenience when you're waking up every two, three hours to breastfeed, like, yes, the baby can be right next to me as clo not as close as possible, but like as safely close as possible.
07:27 So it's easy for me. But other than that, like after those first couple weeks or months, like I'm good. Like I need my space.
07:35 My sleep is important to me. I'm not a cos sleeper. So why I'm talking about all this , I'm like, wow, we are going off on sleep.
07:42 Even Ayla. She is, she's not been acting like herself. She's waking up in the middle of the night coming into our bed.
07:47 Ugh, no, why is she, why? So we're, we've been working on this and it has been so disruptive to my sleep.
07:56 I am waking up as if I have a newborn, literally some nights every two or three hours because somebody's awake or I'm getting literally kicked in the face.
08:04 Do you know what it's like to wake up to a heel to your cheek? It is awful. I'm sorry, .
08:12 I'm just, it's so bad. Oh my gosh. Do you think I'm feeling rested when I wake up in the morning after multiple night Wakings kids talking to me, kicking me like I am not sleeping well.
08:30 So I got way off track and I, but it's, I was totally okay with this. I was like, you know what, this is not the season for me to set an alarm.
08:40 I need every minute of sleep I can get. I feel very tired. I am not rested. I could use that extra hour in the morning to, to cuddle in my bed even if the girls are in there with me, kicking me like laying down feels really good.
08:56 And I've just been okay with that. Not a hundred percent okay, but I'm like, this is where I'm at. And it is hard cuz when I just said like, I'm okay with that slash I'm not okay.
09:07 It is hard to let go of an old part of yourself. Or maybe it's just like, like I said, it's a different season and it's important in these seasons to remember that everything is temporary.
09:20 This stage will pass just like the newborn stages pass, just like the, you know, teething stages pass. Like everything passes.
09:28 So my morning workouts took a hiatus, actually I was still doing them, but it was like starting at eight or eight 30 and then the girls are interrupting me.
09:37 So now we're not done until nine or after that. And then I have to shower and get ready. Now it's like looking at 10 before we're ready to even do anything.
09:47 And for me that's like late. So I was sick of it and I honestly, I didn't feel my best. I felt cuz number one, I wasn't sleeping.
09:54 So I'm not energetically I am suffering and then my workouts aren't, are interrupted. Like I, I just wasn't getting my personal time.
10:04 I wasn't, I just didn't feel my feel like myself. And I told that to Justin, I was like, I don't feel like myself because I don't have my time and I miss my schedule.
10:13 Like, I miss that. I thoroughly enjoy waking up to quiet, stillness, peace, , calm, all of these words. Like as much as I love my intense workouts in the morning, I also love being the first one awake because I feel like I get to set the tone for the day.
10:36 I get to decide it's gonna be a calm morning, it's gonna be a beautiful morning, it's gonna be a great day.
10:44 And I can just think that in my head, like I get to control my thoughts first thing too. Because when my kids wake up first and ask or demand a cup of juice or a television show or an activity or they're fighting and I have to break that up, my mind immediately is just not first of all not ready for that.
11:08 But it, it is not a good way to start my day honest. It's just not. And that's how it was starting every day.
11:14 So you can imagine I was not my best self. Like I, I tried, but I really felt like I was having to try and like force this happiness.
11:24 Okay, we are get going off on like this routine. I wanted to get into morning workouts. So I told you that I am doing it.
11:33 I am going to bed early. And this night I was so prepared, I was like, this is happening. I picked out literally everything that I would need for the next morning and everything that the girls even Justin would need for the next morning because I was gonna be so ready to go so that when my alarm went off the, it was like the world is waiting for me.
11:56 Like the door is open, the the like, you know what? I can't think of another like analogy, but like it's time to go and all you have to do, like, that's how I wanted it.
12:04 Super easy. All you have to do is put your feet on the floor, just get out of the bed and the rest is done for you.
12:13 You don't have to think about anything. You don't have to search for a pair of socks, you don't, nothing. You don't have to do a thing.
12:20 You don't have to lift a finger. Okay? And I felt like I pampered myself this day or this morning. So I had, like I said, workout clothes, ready, everything down to, you know, sports rush socks.
12:33 Every every article of clothing that I could need was right there ready for me. I even left out my mug with a teabag ready to go.
12:44 The kettle was full of water. I've been using a kettle to boil my tea water. What else did I have out?
12:50 My workout was planned. I even left it open on my laptop so I didn't have to search for that. And, and then I picked out the girl's clothes.
12:59 Oh my gosh, I had everything ready to go. So I did it. I got up, I think I hit snooze like twice, but I, and I did set two alarms, but I got up and I did it and I felt amazing, amazing, amazing.
13:17 Oh my gosh. It was like, where have you been all my life? And that night, I do wanna note, I still had nighttime wake ups from the girls, but I went to bed early, very intentionally.
13:29 I sat in a la or not, no harm. I told myself nine 30 we're going to bed. And I could have watched a show on Netflix, I could have scrolled on my phone, but I didn't.
13:40 And I had half a sole sleepy gummy because I was like, I wanna make sure that when I lay down, cuz I'm not used to going to bed at nine 30, I usually choose like, mm, 10 30, 11 30 .
13:52 Which I know is my own fault. But when you're not getting that alone time, at some point during the day, that's why I, that's when you end up staying up later, at least for, for me.
14:04 So went to bed early, had those nighttime wake ups, but still was able to get up before five 15, maybe it was like five 20, got my workout in.
14:17 Who was awake first? I think Ala was awake first, which is fine. Like I just put on a show or she can turn on the TV herself, which is great.
14:23 And I'm just like, just quietly watch a show. And I still was able to have just like, quiet time and I was the, like I was up first and I, yeah, I had everything ready to go, like I said.
14:34 So I felt good. I did it again the next day and the next day and one day I forgot to set my alarm, but I still woke up relatively early.
14:44 I, I, I'm trying to think if I skipped any days last week, I can't remember. And then on Saturday, I slept in Sunday.
14:51 I, I set an alarm for like six 15 because we were gonna go to church. I had like a lot of stuff I wanted to do and I was like, I know I will feel better if I do a workout.
15:00 And I did. And then I did it again this Monday and Tuesday and oh my gosh, I just feel amazing.
15:05 I'm like, I feel like me again. This is am this is so, so good. This is so good. It makes you wanna wake up even earlier, , which kind of sounds crazy.
15:15 I don't know if I can justify a four 40 or 4 45 wake up. Oh my god, I used to do that.
15:21 I used to be at the gym at five 15 and I lived like 15 minutes from the gym, so I would have to leave my house at five.
15:27 Oh my gosh. Isn't it crazy when you think about things you used to do before you had kids? ? I mean we could, we are totally still those women and we could totally do those things still.
15:39 But anyways, so I, here I am now, like over a week deep in my early morning wake ups, which again is nothing new to me.
15:47 It just is feeling so refreshing being back in the game. I'm on Instagram and I see this post and I was like so baffled by it.
15:57 I was like, are you kidding me? So the post, you know how people can post things that like, just has words like you can just put like a quote or like a Twitter thing or just like a Canva art with words on it.
16:08 That's what it was. And then in the caption it had like all the details. So in the quote I was talking about 5:00 AM workouts are bad for you.
16:14 And then in the caption it was like, here's why. One of the first things it says, I don't think I can, I'm, I don't think I can pull it up right now, but one of the first things that said was like, over exercising in general is bad.
16:26 And that I was like, okay, wait, this post has nothing to do with, or not nothing to do, but I'm like this person's trying to prove a point and like, listen, I agree over exercising to an extent yes is bad, but I al also, I feel like I'm not one to tell someone they're over exercising.
16:43 You don't know their activity level, their endurance, their like their calorie intake. Like you don't, who's to say I know personally like I am definitely not over exercising.
16:52 My workouts are super short if you've ever done them, some of 'em are only eight minutes long . And you can repeat that two or three times and it's still less than 30 minutes a day.
17:02 So basically I was like, okay, I do not feel offended by this post anymore. But the original reading of it, I was like, oh, but it did also go on a talk about, you know, going to a gym first in the morning isn't good for you because of the lights.
17:15 They're fluorescent, it's bad for you. And I was like, oh well I work at a home and I actually started using my little light strip, which is very still calming to me.
17:24 And I was like, okay, maybe I maybe I agree with that too. And then it said a couple other things and actually it ended up selling this like supplement , like the girl posted it too, sell a supplement.
17:35 So I was like, oh, I'm no longer offended like, okay. And I also ha I had to check in with myself cuz when I was triggered by it, I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait.
17:46 Why is this making you mad? Like look at how happy I am. Look at how much better I feel waking up early.
17:53 Is it for everybody? No. Is it for every season of my even my own life? No, but right now it just feels so good.
18:02 It really does. And I want you, if you are thinking like I should wake up early and you have some capabilities to do it.
18:12 Like if you're in the same boat basically as I was like, oh this is hard, but like I could really use an early morning to myself.
18:18 Let me tell you right now, you will not regret it. Try it, try it tonight. Maybe you have to like prep tonight or tomorrow.
18:27 Maybe , you know, like tonight's gonna be a busy day and yeah, you made me wanna start like in two days, but pick a night or screw it.
18:36 Just do tonight. Like let's do it, let's go. Set everything out you need mentally prepare. Tell your spouse, I am going to wake up early.
18:44 Please don't try to keep me up late tonight. I am not watching the show or movie or playing Scrabble with you.
18:51 . I kind of wanna play Scrabble with Justin. I don't know if he'd be down for that , we, we both probably wouldn't be very good at it.
18:59 But anyways yeah, maybe they can help support you. I I'm not saying ask them to wake up with you because that's to us, no that I know , I want Justin sleeping in the morning just as much as I want the girls.
19:15 I don't know what it is. Like, it's just that super alone. The super, like the energy you feel when you're the only one awake in a house full of stillness.
19:27 And if anyone, even if Justin's awake, like it changes the energy. Not in a bad way necessarily, but like it's just different.
19:35 I love the quiet alone time. Like I cannot stress that enough. So anyways, ask your sp or tell your spouse like, I'm gonna be doing this.
19:42 I need as much support as I can. Maybe like, I'm trying to think. I didn't, I don't really think I told Justin other than like, I'm doing this.
19:49 Got everything ready. Force yourself to go to bed, force yourself to turn your phone on airplane mode. I do that every night.
19:59 But for this night and particularly tonight when you're gonna go to bed early and not be woken up and not be distracted, turn your phone on airplane mode.
20:06 Get your workout clothes picked out, figure out which workout you're doing. Do this all now or you know, two hours before bedtime.
20:15 Get it all ready. It only takes 15 minutes to prep. And then I want you to do some mental preparation too, cuz I think this is huge.
20:23 And Samantha Day, my sleep consultant also uses this tactic where if you tell yourself you're gonna have a good night's sleep, you're gonna sleep so good, you're gonna wake up early and you're gonna feel amazing and you're gonna get up right when your alarm goes off using those positive words.
20:36 So it's like, I feel like we've heard this all before, like positive self talk and like shifting your inner mindset is, is beneficial.
20:44 But like when we talk about sleep, think about how often before we go to bed at night, we're like, Ugh, I'm already feeling tired for tomorrow.
20:51 Or how many times is the baby gonna wake up? Ugh. Like I'm setting my alarm for files so early, I'm just, I know I'm gonna hit snooze.
20:59 I better set three alarms like you. That's us telling ourselves that we're gonna feel tired in the morning, we're not gonna be able to get up, we're not gonna sleep well tonight.
21:09 Like that's, and then that. And then those things happen and then we wonder why we're in this awful cycle. So let's also try to some positive sleep, talk some positive morning, wake up, talk and train, tell your brain like this is gonna happen.
21:26 You're gonna sleep so good tonight. You are going to feel so rested in the morning. You are going to wake up right when your alarm goes off and you're gonna feel more energy than ever before in the morning.
21:39 It's gonna be a great night, it's gonna be a great night. Even if I have to wake up with the baby, even if a child comes into my bed, I am still going to sleep.
21:49 Good. All right. Try that. Try it. It's amazing. And it's such a small, easy shift and yeah, you gotta give it a try.
21:58 So those are my tips. That's my little story of the day . And I'm hoping to continue these early wake-ups as, I mean as long as the girls are waking up early, I'm like, no, I am getting up before you.
22:12 But maybe one day when they start sleeping till like 7, 7 30 again, I don't know if that will ever happen. , they used to sleep so late.
22:21 It was, it's crazy. I used to film workouts in the morning because they would sleep and be quiet and I could film like two workouts in the morning before they woke up and do like my own stuff.
22:33 Wild. Okay, I plan on keeping up with this. Check in with me, send me a dm. Tell me you are committing to the early mornings with me because you want all the benefits and I will see you for your next workout.
22:47 All right, I'll talk to you soon. Bye.
