My second month of Thinking Healthy Not Thin has been focused on sleep.
So how is is it going?
Well, the challenge—as I’d expected—is proving to be a lot more work than drinking a gallon of water a day. Why? It’s just a matter of going to bed and getting up at the same time every day.
Sounds easy, right?
Wrong!
The plan has been to go to bed at midnight, read for half an hour and get up around 8:30 every day—AKA 8 full hours of sleep.
My sleep schedule has always been erratic compared to every other normal human on the planet. So to magically go to bed at a certain time and expect to fall asleep seemed a little silly, and unrealistic, actually.
But if I want to be healthy I have to sleep. If I’m not sleeping, how can I get the rest of my life and health in order?
One positive thing: I did pick a very good month to do this. This time of year it’s cold, the days are short, and nothing sounds better than staying in your pajamas for seven days straight and lounging around. Fortunately, I was probably more tired than during an average month. Which means I had an advantage.
Yet I haven’t been as successful as I’d hoped.
The first few days I felt like a little kid having a bedtime, which did not evoke pleasant memories. I was raised by single mother, and the older I’ve become, the more I realize she couldn’t wait for us to go to bed so she could have a little time to herself—not necessarily because we really needed to go to bed. LOL If she said it once, she said it a million times: “It’s past your bedtime!”
Ugh, I hated that. Most nights I just hid under the covers and read a book.
A habit to this day I still have. LOL
So during the first week, going to bed on time required a lot of mental self-discipline. Just like when I was a kid, I read for a while and I have to confess that very rarely did I close my book at 12:30 like I was supposed to.
Apparently, I’m still a rebellious child on the inside. Who knew?
But I did get very close to my goals.
I can almost say that I’ve broken the bad habit of staying up to ridiculous hours. Just the other day, I showed self-discipline by not emptying my DVR until three o clock in the morning then getting up at eight and going to work, too.
That’s progress, right?
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But do I feel more rested?
Honestly, I don’t really know.
I’m used to running on erratic sleep so I can’t really tell yet.
But I have to be, right?
All in all, after two and a half weeks of going to bed at midnight and trying to get up it by 830, I would consider myself about 70 percent successful.
That’s actually a huge improvement over my normal sleep schedule.
What are my roadblocks so far?
- There’s just so much to do late at night lol. I like to read watch TV can cook clean the house. I really had to stop and say, “No you don’t need to watch all four episodes of The Flash. Watch one and get your ass to bed.”
- I had not let myself sleep in until 10:30 or 11 o’clock. That was actually harder than going to bed. Fortunately, the hubby has been home in the morning and I hear the TV, so it’s harder to sleep late, which definitely helped 😉
- The biggest roadblock? Me
Yes the biggest obstacle was myself.
Learning to show self-discipline is a lot harder than I thought. I probably should’ve kept a sleep journal, but while I like to plan things out, frankly, I’m just not that organized. I can barely keep track of a grocery list. And writing my sleep down every single day is not something that I’m going to continue for the rest of my life so I chose not to do it.
Perhaps that’s why I’m at a 30 percent failure rate so far.
If I wrote it down, would I be more accountable? Probably. Maybe. Who knows?
When I look back on the last couple weeks, I do see this new sleep schedule becoming more routine. No, I don’t fall asleep when my head hits the pillow—I never have and probably never will.
Any perks so far?
Yes.
While I enjoy having the house to myself by staying up late, I also enjoy having a morning. Getting up at 9 o’clock instead of 10 or 8 or 7, or whatever sporadic timing happens that day, feels pretty good. I’m actually able to get more done and I feel more accomplished before I head out for the day.
And that’s saying something.
So while I don’t feel like this is a raging success like the drinking a gallon of water every day—which I am still doing 🙂 —I do feel that I’ve made a step toward maturity and health. I’m going to continue to go to bed at midnight and get up before nine. There does seem to be a one hour fluctuation each direction for my sleep schedule, which in the long run I suppose is better than a five hour fluctuation LOL
Hey 70 percent is better than 0 percent so I’m going to take it for what it is and call it a win 🙂 Now on for planning my next month.
I think I am going to tackle something food related….
If you’re a pinner, check out my board Think Healthy Not Thin on Pinterest. I’ve been posting pics on sleep and other things to keep myself motivated. I need all the help I can get. Eighteen monthly goals is a lot to change and many things can get in the way of my success. But hey, two months down and 16 to go!
I hope you all stick with me through this. I’ll be sharing month three on the first Tuesday of March. Stay tuned!
~Deanna
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Think Healthy Not Thin
One woman’s journey toward thinking healthy not thin
