My "Morning Person" Transition

I have been a night owl for as long as I can remember. Falling asleep close to midnight and hitting snooze ten times in the morning is the norm for me. I sleep like a rock once I get there, but falling asleep and waking up is tough.

Luckily I married an early riser who doesn't mind greeting the mornings with a smile. He brings me out of my morning funk pretty regularly which I'm grateful for... and a little jealous to be honest.

Why can't I wake up eager to start my day? What can I do to fall asleep more easily (preferably before midnight)? What can I do to get a BETTER sleep and feel more rested?

Even after starting to take better care of myself, I still struggle with the beginning and end of my days, which some would argue are the most important parts. So, I have made it my goal this month to become a MORNING PERSON!

How I'm going to accomplish that:

1. Research. Figure out what is working for other people and try to find something that you think might work for you.

I have started reading "The Miracle Morning" by Hal Elrod, which is going to help immensely with my self discipline. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and already finding my mornings far more productive. Once we have established our Fall regimens it will be a lot easier to stick with my own.

2. Unplug. I used to think that scrolling through Facebook and watching The Food Network or Dateline was what I needed to fall asleep. On the contrary, it was what kept me awake. During a brief period of insomnia in University, I learned from a counsellor that when it came to my "sleeping" area, the less I did the better to encourage restful sleep. Unfortunately for me, my sleeping area was also my kitchen, living room, and study area, so sleep was tough to come by back then.

Currently we do have a TV in our bedroom, and I don't plan to change that, but I'm consciously making the choice to turn it off at a decent hour and get used to falling asleep to silence rather than background chatter and flashing lights.

I find this is helping with my quality of sleep as well. Ever fall asleep with the on and wake up feeling like you just ran a marathon? Like you are more exhausted than you were when you went to bed in the first place? You can blame your TV for that.

3. Stay organized. There is nothing worse than waking up early and still not having enough time in the morning. Trying to cram in a workout, shower, meal prep, pet care, etc all before work might not work well every day. I try to pack my lunch the day before, take out my uniform (or have a general idea of where it is located), I stick to 25-30 minute workouts in the AM with any extra activity pushed until later in the day, and any once-daily animal treatments are done at night when I have more flexibility. Sometimes I'll even shower the night before to save time.

4. DO something. Before I started caring about how I felt or treated my body, my mornings consisted of sleeping until the last possible moment before I HAD to get out of bed (about 30mins before having to leave for work), feeding the pets and letting them outside, changing/showering, doing my make-up in the drive-thru while I waited for my greasy breakfast sandwich and coffee, and arriving to work without a minute to spare.

That would set the tone for the entire day - frantic, disorganized, and unproductive.

Now that I'm forcing myself to complete a morning workout 6/7 days a week, I HAVE to get my ass out of bed earlier and I need to have a routine established to make everything work. Waking up with a purpose and completing that workout each day has done crazy things to my energy levels and general alertness. I used to be one of those people who thought every moment of sleep was precious and if I spent my mornings sweating it would just make me tired for the rest of the day.

Nope, total opposite outcome.

5. Have energy, no matter what. I just read about this concept today in "The Miracle Morning". Your mind is a wonderful and mysterious thing. If you go to bed thinking that you have to get up in 'X' hours and that you're going to be exhausted all day as a result, guaranteed that is going to be the first thing you think about when you wake up (I know for me it is) and the one thought that you will carry with you through the entire day. Try waking up with a different mindset and telling yourself that you had an incredibly restful and rejuvenating sleep, regardless of length, and see how you feel.

6. STOP HITTING SNOOZE. This is a tough one for me. I will literally spend 45mins hitting snooze through what is supposed to be the most productive part of my day and instead spend it sleeping in brief, interrupted 4-minute pockets. Stupid, right? Do I really think that I am getting more rest through all that? I'm not, and neither is my husband.

Every person is different, so these are the strategies that I think will work the best for me and my schedule.

Try a few out and see what works best for you!

Why Beachbody Isn't Bullshit

I'm a skeptic and a quitter.

The former doesn't bother me as much as the latter. It keeps my expectations low so I don't have to deal with disappointment.

The quitter in me has dropped out of two universities,  hasn't held a job for longer than 18 months until my current one, starts a hobby and promptly loses interest after two weeks, and... well, you get the idea.

So naturally, when I was introduced to Beachbody, I thought it was another one of those ridiculous diet crazes with terrible workouts that would demand more sweat, time, and money than I was willing to sacrifice. I had checked out my brothers "OnDemand" account and couldn't make heads or tails of the programs, so I quickly gave up and moved on.

Then a while later a sponsored ad popped up on my feed about the 21 Day Fix Beachbody program. After a few emails with my new coach, I was buying the full challenge pack (program + Shakeology) and signing up to be a coach myself. I haven't looked back since.

I have my own reasons for joining Beachbody, both as a challenger and as a coach. Those reasons can probably be better outlined in a separate post. Right now I want to focus on a common misconception about Beachbody that people, including the former me, are guilty of having... that Beachbody is bullshit.

WHY BEACHBODY ISN'T BULLSHIT

1. Programs are based on a lifestyle change - not a quick fix scheme. You have to put in the work to get the body you want. Daily activity is the only way to achieve that... you can't get the benefits of exercise by sitting on your ass. Development of routines that allow for the required daily commitment takes conscious effort and organization, it's not something you can fake or half-ass. The kicker is that with the commitment, you can get legit results in three weeks.

2. Nutrition is a big part of the programs. All of your effort can be easily undone in the kitchen, so nutrition guides are built into a lot of the programs to keep people on track to getting the results that they want. It is also a HUGE wake-up call. I never realized how little protein I ate, the insane amount of carbs I consumed daily, or just the general crapiness of my diet until I completed started following my plan. Side note: It's a lot of food. You don't starve on the plans, you eat a lot of the RIGHT food.

3. Shakeology. Yeah, yeah, yeah.... Forget all of the hype about superfoods and natural weight loss support/appetite suppression/reduced junk food craving, etc,etc,etc.... The label reads like a freaking multivitamin, AND it replaces my breakfast (with some additional ingredients). With my coach discount, I pay $141.50 CAD for a one month supply. Let's say a bottle of multi's will cost my $40/month and a breakfast sandwich + coffee every morning will be $6/day = $180/month. $180 + $40 = $220 spent monthly on a daily caffeine buzz, shitty artery-clogging breakfasts, and pills. I'll save the $78.50/month (minus the $20-$30/month I spend on fruit/PB/almond milk that I add) and stick to my shakes, thanksabunch.

4. Coaches can't "fake it 'til they make it." This is no "get rich quick" scheme. If you aren't genuine in your own transformation and passionate about delivering the message and resources for others to do the same, kindly hop off the bandwagon. 

5. It's not an illegal pyramid scheme. Check out this page to read why it can look that way and why it isn't: http://computerknacks.com/mlm/beachbody-complaints-scam/

(And if it were an illegal pyramid scheme, it wouldn't be allowed to exist...)

6. You get SUPPORT! Challenge packs come with challenge groups which are hosted by your coach and designed to keep you accountable and offer peer support from others going through the same thing. So many people fail when it comes to trying to develop healthier habits and take care of themselves because they don't have enough supportive people pushing them to succeed and cheering them on. If you feel like you're doing something alone, then no one is going to notice when you skip your workouts for a week and devour that stuffed crust pizza and chase it with a blizzard.
Been there, done that.

7. There is ZERO RISK. Don't like shakeology? Get your money back. Hated your program and/or didn't get the results you wanted? Get your money back. If your life wasn't positively impacted by the product, you aren't going to be out anything because of it.

There are other reasons, but those are the main ones.

Like I said earlier, I have my reasons for joining and my life has improved greatly ever since. I have met some incredible people who also try to kick ass every day. Our lives have improved and millions of other peoples lives have improved thanks to this company.
Isn't that enough?

Introduction Post

I'm not really sure how to start one of these out, but I'll give it a shot.

I live in a big house with my husband and a plethora of animals. Our personalities are polar opposites, but I think they compliment each other - he is confident, outgoing, and people gravitate towards him. I'm more reserved and observant, so people have a harder time reading me. He is strong and optimistic, and although I admire that about him and strive towards developing those same qualities, I'm the sensitive realist. He is a morning person, I'm a night owl. He enjoys social gatherings, I would rather stay home and watch Netflix. He doesn't mind the clutter that a big pet filled house is bound to have, I am driven halfway to insanity over it. I love experimenting with tastes, food, and flavors, but he likes to stick to what he knows. He finds a hobby and sticks to it, I switch my interests every month.

Writing this out makes us sound like two people who would never get along... let alone get married to one another. I think that the key to our marriage is that we push each other to explore the world outside of our comfort zones. He encourages me to interact and socialize, which I end up enjoying. I ease him into new flavors and recipes that I think he would like. He points out the bright side of a situation, and sometimes I have to remind him to be more practical.

It works for us, and that's what is important.

Us on vacation in Quebec City

We are both hard workers, never having less than two jobs each. He works in the hockey field and as a labourer during the off season. I admire his ability to separate work and home as flawlessly as he does. It's something else I need to work at. I work in the animal health field and not only am I unable to separate the two... I physically bring it home with me. Currently our pet count is at seventeen - seven dogs, eight cats, and two finches. Twelve are our own pets, the other five are temporary residents or permanent foster rescues. 

Week old foster kittens

3-day-old Starlings

Current fosters/temporary residents

Foster puppies from last summer

It's a crazy life, but it keeps me busy. Our jobs can be challenging as well as our lives, so being able to raise well-rounded puppies and kittens for their new homes, nurse sick babies back to health, or provide a home for a terminal pet is not only gratifying and distracting, but it can literally save lives by opening up that spot at a rescue/shelter for another animal.

That's a pretty basic intro, but you will get to know me/us more through future posts :)

Here we go again...

I have been wanting to start a new blog for a while now. 

I have tried and failed to maintain one at least five times in the past, never really knowing why I felt the need to stop and restart them every couple of years.

Maybe I was trying to be too "likeable" or perhaps I grew tired of turning my entries into work with fancy pictures of my breakfasts and long-ass descriptions of things that even I really didn't care about.

So... now I'm going to just write about whatever I want.

I'm pretty open about my life. I have struggled through some things and have found it difficult to find others to relate to, so I figure it doesn't hurt to share. Being the socially awkward introvert in every room also makes the whole "people" thing tough, but also interesting.

We'll see how long this one sticks for ;)