I have always been a girl who needs her beauty sleep. 8 hours was my absolute minimum but my average was usually 7.5hrs. When I was training for my half marathon I started doing early morning runs but it was only a couple of months ago during the Maxine’s Challenge that I finally made the switch to early morning training. They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit and I truly believe that. Every morning when my alarm went off I struggled to wake up but eventually I got used to it and stopped hitting snooze and started jumping out of bed when my alarm went off.
The things that helped me make the change and wake up early were:
- Motivational posts on Instagram and Pinterest
- Laying out my workout gear the night before
- Setting up custom alarms to make me get up
- Making it my routine; starting with twice a week and building from there
- Reminding myself that by the time I fell asleep again it would be time to wake up so it would be better to use that time training and have the night free to myself
There was a period where I was even struggling to fall asleep. I have always been a deep sleep and usually fully asleep within a half hour but before my birthday I was struggling to switch my brain off. Then I discovered cyclorem which is a natural sleep supplement made with magnesium and zinc. It made me drowsy within 20 minutes and would out me in a deep sleep. It would take a few moments to wake up when my alarm went off but I never had that fuzzy head been hit by a bus feeling which I had had from trying sleeping tablets in the past. I only take it now when I am stressed and know I won’t be able to shut my brain off because I don’t want to rely on it. Even though it is natural I want my body to go to sleep without any aides.
The problem I am having is that I am still going to bed at the same time I used to. I just can’t get my brain to change the way I think about bedtime. Even if I’m tired I won’t want to go bed because I look at the time and think it’s too early to go to bed. Which means that now my average sleep is usually 6 hours. I love using my fitbit to track my sleep but even that doesn’t help me re-train my brain to go to bed early. Look at my sleep for the past month and see how many times I slept 8 hours!
So I am now struggling to see a way out of my extreme sleep debt. Sleep debt is when you sleep less than you need to in order to be fully alert and perform at your best. Sleep debt can be reversed if you add on a couple of hours of sleep each night so you are re-paying your sleep debt. My body has gotten used to waking up early that I now find it hard to sleep in and if I know I need to work out then my dedication doesn’t let me stay in bed. So once again it comes back me needed to go to bed early.
There are so many benefits of sleep. Sleep reduces stress, reduces your chances of diabetes, and helps keep blood pressure and cholesterol levels in check. Sleep improves your memory and your moods and can even help control your body weight. And most importantly, for me at the moment, sleep helps repair your body and builds your muscle. I know how great I feel after a good night’s sleep and how much a bad sleep can affect me. So if I know why I should make sleep my priority and I want to make sleep my priority then why aren’t I reversing my sleep debt? Please comment below with any tips you have to go to bed early and let me know if my tips to wake up early help you in any way :)
findingNQ 