Steph Inglis discusses getting into healthy habits and early mornings
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How would you describe 5.30am? Middle of the night or early morning?
A small-scale poll I put up on my personal Instagram a couple of weeks ago was 70/30 in favour of middle of the night! From the beginning of this year, this is the time I set my alarm for. Was it hard at first? Absolutely.
But like everything the more you do it, the easier it gets. Consistency and discipline are key, and that goes for anything you want to do or achieve in life!
It was a shock to the system but I get up and get out for my daily morning walk to get my Fitbit steps in! I am slightly competitive on the old Fitbit and early morning before work is when I can fit in that 5k. Luckily for me, I am not alone in this routine, I wake my partner Ally up too.
As soon as we step out the door it is freezing! Cars are iced over, and we are wrapped up in hats, gloves and our scarves but off we go, our mission to improve our fitness and set ourselves up right for the day. It’s also a great time for us to have some quality time and a good catch up discussing what our day ahead looks like and whatever else is on our mind, with our wedding happening in August it’s fun to discuss plans and look forward to our day.
I walk into my house at 7am feeling like I’ve conquered the day and positive about what I have on.
Why do I now love my 5.30am morning routine? I feel so productive. I sit down have a nice breakfast and a hot cup of tea, fuelling my body with goodness. I even have time to spend doing something I want before I head to my home office for a 9am start. Some mornings this involves reading, meditation or watching last night’s soaps – don’t judge me!
So why am I sharing this with you, and why should it be relevant? Now I am not telling you that from tomorrow you should be up at 5.30am and starting your day! I am sharing because this change I have made has made a huge difference in my life and by sharing this experience others might adopt it and it could have more positive impact.
A common problem most people have when they are trying to achieve their goals is time. We don’t have the time to work out, to read and so on. Winning an extra two hours in the morning gives you that time. Now don’t get me wrong I need sleep and I see myself in bed most nights at 9pm. This is because of a few things. Of course getting up early requires an early night, but I also struggle with fatigue because of my traumatic brain injury and the epilepsy medication I am on.
So I have switched my routine and instead of having a few extra hours at night, I have given myself those hours in the morning. I thought to myself, it’s harder to motivate myself at night, it’s easier to binge a Netflix series or watch the TV and it being relatively unproductive.
If you are reading this and thinking I wish I had time for exercise, watching my programmes, reading my book, quiet time from the kids, try this new routine.
Managing to create this habit in the winter makes me excited as we head towards summer, the mornings will be lighter and, with a little bit of luck, warmer. It will be even easier by then, once you have changed your body clock, you naturally settle into the early mornings and are on your way to win your day, smash your goals and achieve what it is you are working towards.
These early starts allow me to focus on me and achieve my long-term goals.
