Thursday, October 6, 2011

Giving Up Bad Habits - Starting With My Alarm Clock

Starting this week I am giving up my alarm clock (except for when absolutely necessary, for example I get a super rockin’ boyfriend and have a reason to stay up late, and a super rockin’ job that requires me to get up early).

I technically have plenty of free time in my day to get a solid eight hours of sleep a night. Why I have chosen not to take advantage of it makes absolutely no sense. Perhaps sleep deprivation is making me nonsensical!

Here’s the deal - I really like getting up early. To maintain my sanity, I need personal time every day. I currently have about 15 roommates (slight exaggeration unless you are counting the dogs too). This hour in the morning from when I wake to when I hit the gym is my “special quiet time”. I like think that I will eventually fill this time with meditation or a personal yoga practice, but I am currently using it to take care of small tasks I was too lazy to do the previous evening (which is also quite cathartic). I enjoy getting a head start on the day, AND I get to use the bathroom before anybody else gets up!

The fitness magazines I “read” while on the elliptical machine suggest getting plenty of sleep is the secret to losing weight. I am pretty quick to disregard such sources of advice because they also publish such groundbreaking research like “drinking plenty of water is good for your health.”

I recently became educated on the effects of elevated cortisol levels on health. It is some SERIOUSLY SCARY STUFF. I am not going to outline it all here, but it essentially goes like this: (not enough sleep) -> (elevated cortisol) -> (terrible health) -> (death). Google it.

Luckily, I have plenty of time to sleep. I just need to do some rearranging and make a few compromises.

1.If you want to wake up early, you must go to bed early.
2.No p.m. caffeine unless I am planning to party my face off.

This should be pretty simple to implement, and I seriously need the rest if I am going to tear it up (or get torn up) at CrossFit this week.
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About Sam

I am a writer in Omaha, Nebraska sharing my adventures in the foundations of healthy living - nutrition, being active, and being funny.

I was born in Kansas City in the sweltering summer of July, 1986. I was nearly born in the car because I was so pumped to get my life started. I have been bouncing off of the walls ever since. Growing up I hung out with the big kids who were even older than my sister (and best friend) Allie. I quickly developed an "I'm over it" 'tude toward kids my own age whose pastimes seemed juvenile - an interesting perspective coming from a preschooler. My snobbish worldview was hard earned however, as I was forced to learn both multiplication and division early to keep up when we played "school," and I was always forced to do dangerous stuff first to make sure it was okay, like eating unidentified berries and making the first run on super steep hills while sledding. We biked all day, ate wild honeysuckle, painted the house with mud, and collected cicada shells for no reason other than they stick to fabric and freaked my mom out.

I quickly realized that even little legs can get you as far as a car can, and as a young child, you really have nothing but time. My adventures were only restrained by the fact that adults do not find it acceptable for young children to explore the town on foot unaccompanied. I prematurely developed a desire to be an independent self-supporting person, so I opened a Kool-Aid/popcorn business to finance my big plans. Looking back, I would say that the only issues holding me back were my limited advertising budget and the fact that I was still too short to ride roller coasters. People just don't take you seriously when you can't go on the upside-down rides.

I was moved to Omaha in the second grade. I continued walking all over the place, exploring surrounding neighborhoods and visiting grocery stores to pick up my favorites: Goldfish, Sprite, and sugar cigarettes. I don't even think you can buy those anymore, and for the record, I never started smoking.

I never lost my hard work ethic, and I needed to increase my income to afford my new hobbies of beading and Polaroid photography. At the age of ten I mailed in a response to an advertisement for paper delivery routes without discussing the issue with my family. Sometimes you need to take matters into your own hands when people don't share you vision. The people at the Omaha World Herald must have had a good feeling about me becuase they contacted my parents to tell them that they wanted to hire me but would feel better if there was an older family member onboard. I still wonder if Allie holds any resentment toward me for pulling her into the labor force when she was only twelve.

In third grade, I followed Allie's lead and began taking dance classes at Mary Lorraine's Dance Center. For the next eleven years it became "what I did." Nowadays, I train more like an athlete, but I will always move like a dancer, and being in a studio will always feel like home.

After high school I relocated again (this time of my own volition) to study "everything" in the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. I acquired a degree in marketing and finance that I may use someday. More importantly, I became a close friend and Alpha Phi sister with a cross country runner who easily persuaded me to train for the 2005 Lincoln half-marathon. I have been running ever since. In April 2011 I developed plantar fasciitis after jumping into an intense 50-70 mile/week schedule. This is the first athletic injury in my life. Although it has been indescribably frustrating both physically and emotionally, the silver lining is my increased receptivity to more variety in fitness disciplines.

I enjoy Pilates, yoga, enjoy Zumba, plyometric interval training, running, walking, and seeing how quickly I can run up stairs without losing my lunch. When I am too exhausted to move, I read and write. I love fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, poetry, philosophy, song lyrics, and comedy. I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I love spell check, and felt tip pens.

I am happy and optimistic most of the time. I enjoy living simply and deeply. I hope you enjoy what I have to share.







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