Yesterday was a very rainy Monday. It also was the day David and I decided to put a new habit into practice. We are currently on day two of this new routine so it’s a bit soon to call it a new habit I suppose, but here I am, talking about it on the internet anyway.
I’ve written a lot about how the past year was a very chaotic time for our family between home renovations, selling, moving temporarily, then moving into our new home right at the holidays. My personal mantra to myself during this past year was simply “I’m doing the best I can” sang to a boppy little tune on repeat inside my head on most days.
Now we’re here on the other side of the craziness, settling happily into our new space, gaining some normalcy, and ready to begin creating new routines. One thing we’d noticed is our bedtime, or should I say go-to-sleep time, creeping back a little further over time, and without any real purpose. Sometimes it was scrolling, or watching a show, or just dillydallying, but the result was it being harder and harder to hit that early wake up time we strive for. So, we decided to do a hard reset and just jump full into the new habit we wanted to establish- an early wake up and morning workout. So, here we are, giving it a go!
For a whopping two days in a row now, we’ve gotten up at 5:30 and headed to the gym. The commute is quite reasonable so that helps. Jokes aside, after working out in our crawlspace for four years, the upgrade to having a dedicated home gym still blows my mind every time I walk in the room.
The hope/plan is that we get up, get in our 30 minute workout, start the coffee, then I have the ability to get a little computer time in before walking the dog, showering, and starting the day with the kids. Right now it works because the kids are on the loose system for school. We’re finishing up math books and reviewing over the next two weeks and that will finish up our year. So this is what it looked like yesterday:
- workout
- blog
- shower
- quick Finley walk
- checking on the garden and collect the first “harvest” of kale!
- math (magnatiles have been a staple in our home for 10 years and are still being used to help illustrate volume concepts)
- how to win friends and influence people for teen girls book club with the girls – I read this aloud and we go over the concepts together, role playing and discussing situations we’ve been in. I leave out parts that I don’t like or aren’t applicable to our tween/teen situation.
- leftover spaghetti and cake for lunch with a little read aloud of The Hobbit
All that and it was only about 12:45. Around this time, kids showed up at the door to play and they all took off. I started laundry, picked up the living room, cleaned the coffee maker, and debated a couch nap. I felt like I had been awake for a full day at this point! Though I’m sure the rain didn’t help.
We usually do afternoon workouts, so knowing that was already checked off, I had a full rainy afternoon ahead of me without much of a plan. Now, there were things I could have done, like start painting the wallpaper prep in the powder room or wrapping K’s birthday presents, but my energy was low. Was the rain to blame or the early wake up? I’m not sure.
A friend stopped by to bring her daughter a sandwich and I did everything but chain her to the chair to make her stay and chat with me and I realized I might be craving some social interaction. There was a break in the rain and I joined two neighbor friends on a walk until the rain really returned in a fierce manner. The kids thought the rain was a playground and I spent the rest of the late afternoon watching them play, washing eggs I picked up from the coop, and prepping dinner.
Eventually the evening came and the kids, soaking wet and happy about it, dispersed to their homes. I used the kale from the garden to mix into our pasta with the old trick of straining water over the greens to wilt them. Then we ate our chicken picatta (I omitted the heavy cream since I didn’t have any) and salad.
The kids went to shower. David finished up some communication on the cabins. I cleaned the kitchen. Then we all watched a special on the Edinburgh Castle in preparation for our upcoming Scotland trip, but honestly, I could barely keep my eyes open. I felt like I had been up for 24 hours, so it wasn’t long until I was tucked into bed, heading off to dreamland by 9:15 or so.
Now it’s morning again and I’ve knocked out day 2 of the earlier wake up and workout and am feeling quite good about it. I’m hoping my body continues to adjust and my afternoon energy is a bit better today. We shall see! I’m curious…
How do you fit exercise into your day?
Are you currently working on establishing any certain habit?
Do you have a person that motivates you to make certain choices/pursue better habits?
I draw inspiration from a lot of places, but most recently it was a podcast with Dean Graziosi that kicked me into gear to make this change. And I’m lucky that David and I are on the same page with a lot of this, always wanting to level up if we can. I appreciate he’s always game; accountability helps!
Amber says
I’m up early for runs! I find it is REALLY hard to want to workout in the afternoon so I do all I can to get it done in the morning. I will say that for some reason I can run easily in the morning but lifting is hard for me in the morning. Maybe because I like to run more? With that said, I have a goal of starting to lift more and run less so maybe I can start that alongside your new morning workouts 🙂
As far as the afternoon energy slump.. I seem to have it regardless of if I wake early or not and if I workout or not. I think it is the constant interaction of homeschooling/life that is a lot for me as an introvert. I try to take walks in the afternoon to help with the slump. Interested to see what you find.
I’m loving your blog posts lately! (and lets be real, the last 10 years!) Have a great day 🙂
Grateful Kae says
So funny how people are different! I’ll generally happily lift in the morning, but the thought of doing intense cardio/running/ sweating too much right when I wake up sounds SO unappealing to me!! We need to somehow rub off on each other I think. Ha.
Grateful Kae says
Argh, this is an ongoing “thing” for me. It would really, really, REALLY be helpful if I could just get up and do my workout first thing. But, my strength workouts usually take closer to an hour. And my older son leaves for school by ~7, so I try to be around with him between 6:45-7 as he’s getting ready, etc. I just have the hardest time getting myself out the door to the gym in the 5:00 hour! I’m extremely envious of your big home gym! Also, over the years, I have adopted a quiet morning routine of tea, some reading, planning, sometimes blogging, etc., and I obviously don’t have time before 6:45 to do an hour long workout + my quiet time! It’s a constant conundrum over here. I have been aiming to go to the gym on my lunch hour 2x/week, with evening workouts the other days + weekends (Fridays I often just take off, or do a short yoga video). But I often get pretty sweaty on my leg day (Tuesday) so I am not really loving doing that on my lunch hour…. another reason a.m. workouts are great- it is much more practical to just workout, then take ONE shower and be done for the day. I also have to fit in walking our dog Charlie in the morning, too. Basically I just need more hours in the day, or to mutate into someone who only needs like 5 hours of sleep. HA. Perhaps now that’s summer/ light out I should join you in this 5:30 a.m. workout quest, though! Hmm. Food for thought. 🙂
Kathy says
Good job on the new routine. For years now, like 20+, I have been working out at 5am. But it helps that I have an accountability partner. I have always been a morning person, so that does help too. It is so hard for me to do any kind of workout later in the day. It is like my body does not even want to move that way. Now that spring is here, I am also trying to walk outside every evening. I am also trying to get to bed earlier. I am just shy of getting 7 hours of sleep and I would like to increase that but it just hasn’t happened. :/ I need to work on that.
Again, good job on your new focus/routine. And AGAIN, I am loving that you have been blogging every day. 🙂 Also, can you share that recipe of the cake your girls made that you shared on IG? That looks so delicious.:) Thank you!
Laura says
I’ve had a really good system the past few years at my current job but undoubtably will have to re-evaluate when I start my new one. I do body pump for 20 minutes on my lunch break (12:20- 12:5) 3 times a week, and Pilates the other two days. Then at the start of 6th period (my 55 minute planning period) I go on a 1 mile trail run loop right out my classroom door (most every day). I eat lunch and work then change when I get back (luckily I don’t sweat too bad in the dry Colorado air). Being on a school schedule (where there is a literal bell to tell you if you are late) keeps me accountable, because I’m not so great at maintaining a schedule on my own. And it helps that the weight room is connected to my classroom. I’m not sure if it’ll be easier or harder at my new job, but all I know is that I’ve reaped the benefits of a consistent workout schedule and I know I won’t drop the ball on it at this point in my life. My school starts 20 minutes later (7:30 instead of 7:10) so I’m open to the idea of knocking out a morning lift, although it’d be in the living room.. It is nice to do the run right after though since it minimizes cloths changes.
By the way- I’d love to hear more about your Scotland itinerary/ plans!