Skip to main content

Waking up at 5.30am

Challenge number 2 in my year long healthy habit challenge is to wake up at 5.30am every morning, including weekends! I decided to add this to the mix because I hear so often that it is good for me and below are the reasons I thought mattered to me most.

Benefits to waking up early
  1. Time to plan for the day - if I don't plan I just don't end up getting things done. 
  2. Self development - successful people wake up earlier. Early bird gets the worm.
  3. Exercise - its hard to go to the gym after a long day of work. Waking up early gives me time to do this.
  4. Morning routine - I like to take my time getting ready in the morning, have breakfast, clean my house etc
  5. Quiet time - waking up before the sun rises give you a psychological advantage over everyone else.
How did it go?

Youtube-benefits to waking up early

The first 10 days went well, I managed to wake up early without a struggle. It did allow me to get myself ready nice and slow before work, my house is clean before I leave for the day, I had a chance to film some videos and I can plan my day much better.

However...

After the first week I was so tired after work I would probably manage half an hour of TV before bed.
  I did start to notice my appetite for sugar and sweet treats went through the roof. Day 11-14 I was in London with my sisters and had late nights with eating and drinking lots which kind of messed it up for me. I really needed the sleep so didn't stress too much over screwing up the challenge for a few days and just started it right back up when I got back. My skin blew up with spots, mainly on my chin which is very unusual for me.



Unusual spotty chin for me


I think this is what frightened me the most. I just started looking unhealthy. I know my terrible diet contributed to the bad skin but I am also sure feeling so tired and wearing make-up didn't help.

Going forward?

I can definitely see the benefits to waking up early but think for me, as long as I am getting enough sleep (8hours) I will be happy, which means on a Sunday waking up at 8am for me is absolutely fine!

I will be more relaxed on weekends



Next challenge?

The launching of my next habit is going to be a bit different this time. Instead of me just picking what it is going to be. I have written down a number of suggestions for healthy habits and split them into 2
categories 1) lifestyle 2) dietary 
I plan to blindly pick the next one and will alternate which category I am doing each time to mix it up a bit.

If you have any other suggestions of habits you might like to adopt, please comment below as I am open to trying anything out.

Below are the videos relating to waking up at 5.30am every morning





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beginning of fitness journey

Bit of insight into where my interest in fitness started ... As far back as I can remember I have always had insecurities about my weight, this probably stems from my darling brother! I was a chubby baby/child I guess, but he very kindly nicknamed me Oros - In South Africa, Oros is the name of the mascot for an orange squash. Although I was never overweight or fat in any way, it stuck with me that I was the chubby one - my sisters and brother are all skinny! I was a pretty average achiever. I always wanted to do more where athletics/sports team etc were concerned but was never great enough to stand out. I was the one that always went to practice but wasn't noticed, I preferred to mold into the back ground if I wasn't outstanding. I once did a race in primary school, the whole school was there to watch, I think I was coming like 3rd from the back and I didn't like it so pretended I hurt my foot so I didn't need to finish! Naughty naughty! I'm on the lef...
2 comments
Read more

Running events

Ryan and I have done many running events in the last year or so and this is a run down of them all, ones I liked, didn't like etc. As I have mentioned in the thread Beginning of fitness journey , Ryan did the Mens Health Survival of the fittest  in October 2011, We then booked to do the 'Night Fright' on 26th October. That was my first run and it was horrible, extremely hard, apart from the fact it was hilly, I hadn't trained either! We then decided to do Nos Galan  - a 5k run in Aberdare town centre. This is a race which commemorates a Welsh runner who died at the event after doing a charity race. It is on New year eve at around 7pm, the atmosphere here was amazing! They have a celeb appearance - that year was Shane Williams. The only problem with this event is that given the time of year, the weather is always going to be bad! If I remember correctly, I ran this in 34 minutes and was quite happy with myself as it was my 2nd race and I still wasn't ta...
3 comments
Read more

Ladies day in Bath, Taff trail ride to Cardiff Bay, Back day

On Friday 19th it was a good friend of mine, Tori's 22nd birthday. For Tori's 21st 5 of us went to Paris, her mom, her moms friend Sue, Bec, Tori and myself. So as an anniversary to that we all spent the day in Bath for shopping and Lunch. Eiffel Tower last year We had an amazing time in Paris, so many laughs and I saw so much, would never have been able to go there if it wasn't for Tori's mom Liz. We went to the Lido, took a tour bus around Paris and I had the BEST Meal I've ever eaten in a retaurant called the 'Music Hall' Its a club really but you sit down and eat, the most beautiful waiters/waitresses serve you and the food was incredible - especially the white chocolate mouse pudding!! The 5 of us at the Lido Anyway, so we went to Bath on the train on Friday. As classy as it gets with mini bottles of Champagne to hand - I didn't drink as I was driving to Ryan's that evening so I stuck to good old water. Bec and Sandra (liz'z ...
2 comments
Read more