October Challenge

A new month can signal new beginnings. It can be the start of change. It’s a fresh slate and you can do with it whatever you choose.

The Fit Approach gang has decided to each take on a personal challenge for the month of October.  Each one of us is doing something that is personal with the hope that we’ll notice a change in our life.

October is about creating new habits and getting rid of the old ones that aren’t doing us any good.

This couldn’t have come at a better time for me because there’s one thing that I’ve wanted to start doing and this will give me the push I need.

I want to get up earlier in the mornings.

Sounds easy enough and my nature is that I’m a morning person anyway.

I don’t mean that I’m one of those annoying cheerful people in the mornings who greet you with a wave and a very loud, “Good Morning!!!”.  In fact I would rather you not speak to me until I’ve had some coffee and a shower.

What I mean is that, I function best in the mornings.  Exercise is the best for me in the morning and my brain power and focus is spot on.  I get so much more done in the morning and feel so much better when I start my day at 6am.

Because by about 2pm I’m done.  I’m done with the day and I’m done with work.  I want to focus on other things that are more enjoyable.

This includes:

  • Replying to emails.
  • Recipe testing and development.
  • Dinner Prep.
  • Household chores (not enjoyable per say, but necessary).

And most of all, relaxing and spending time with Scott.

I really dislike working until 5 or 6pm, and then rushing through making dinner and eating dinner.  This also cuts down on the time I can spend with Scott in the evenings.

It makes me feel rushed and then my evening doesn’t get to be as relaxing as I want it to be.  I’m very much a “down time” girl.  I need that break from the day to regroup and get grounded.

When I don’t get it, I start to get cranky, I start snacking more, and I feel off balance.

It’s got to change.

Being my own boss means I get to set my schedule and it’s time to get back into the habit of getting up early in the morning.

I fell out of the habit of early wake-ups when my hip started bothering me.  Since I wasn’t running as much distance, there was no need to get up super early.

After some reflection on how the past few months have been going, I realized that I actually feel like crap.  I also haven’t been as productive as I would like to be.

My ideal “day” is from 6am to 10pm.  I feel the best when I wake up at 6am and go to bed at 10pm.  If I stay up later, I get too tired and then I have a crappy sleep.  Which causes me to sleep later than my natural internal clock likes. I then wake up groggy with a slight headache and feeling blah.

I’ve been doing that all summer long!

No more!  It’s time to change that around!

I’m challenging myself this month to get up earlier in the mornings.  This also means I need to get to bed earlier in the evenings.

Challenge:

  • Be in bed between 9pm-9:30 in the evenings.  Unless we are out someplace or I know I can sleep in the next day (weekends).
  • Up between 6am-6:30am in the morning.

The plan also includes doing my workouts in the morning, walking the boxer, and getting on with my work day.

What about you? Is there anything in your life that you need to work on? Anything you want to address for the month of October and create your own challenge?

Head over to Fit Approach and see what everyone else is doing, we’ve got a wide range of challenges going on!

One thought on “October Challenge

  1. I need to get to bed before midnight to facilitate my getting up in the mornings. I am naturally a night owl, but unfortunately I have no choice when my classes are, and they are at 8 am. And I have to travel 1.5 hours to get to school…so I have to get up early. And it is ever so hard when you’ve only have 5-ish hours of sleep. If only I could get the world to work on my schedule, i would be able to sleep in until 10 every day (which my body naturally does if I let it).

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