October Summary: My Healthiest Year Yet Challenge

Happy End of October! And beginning of November!

My kids in their last-minute-I-changed-my-mind costumes. Ha!

And with the end of the month comes this summary of my efforts with my October goal (in My Healthiest Year Yet Challenge). I'm a little behind, I know...

I also need to warn you that I will post again TOMORROW on my goal for November (WHAT!). And then...it's Foodie Friday with the lovely Lauren (click here if you missed her intro and recipe from this past Friday)! SOoo...I'm hoping that will allow enough time to get used to the idea that I will be posting three days in a row after posting almost never... um, sorry? Except kind of not because I'm also excited about it. Ha!

One of the many mornings I had company...at least it was cute company!

My goal for October in My Healthiest Year Yet was to Wake up Early.
The plan was 6am on weekdays (I made sure to save weekend mornings for morning baby snuggles in bed), which is a mere 15min before my kids start waking up...but I just couldn't wrap my mind around any time starting with "5" just yet. Baby steps, baby steps.

The bottom line: Mission (mostly) accomplished!

I definitely fell off the whole wagon for almost a week and a half during the middle of the month. I started hitting snooze and dragging myself out of bed only once my 2-year-old crawled over my face. BUT! I got back up and got going again. And that's what counts, right? Right.

I've learned a lot about myself this month through this goal! And also some general life-lessons in the early-rising department. Here are a few:

-Preparation was the key to setting myself up for success. For starters, I needed to go to bed at a decent time! And it also made a world of difference if I set out my workout clothes/morning lounging clothes the night before, and woke up to a tidy house. If I made sure to do those three things (get to bed on time, set out clothes, pre-bedtime tidy), I didn't feel the stress that comes from lack of sleep, wasting time digging for clothes when I'm groggy and grumpy about being alive, and had a clean & clear space to start my day.

-In order to maintain this habit, I will need to have something to look forward to in the morning like a goal (something I'm using the extra bit of time to work towards), special treat, or soul-filling activity. I found that on the mornings I was just getting up for the heck of it and not really doing much, it wasn't really a pleasant experience (the words uuuggh, whyyyy, and torture may have crossed my mind those days). However, when I was 'checking off a box' on a to-do list, slowly sipping a cozy mug of something, or writing/soul-searching/studying scripture...it was awesome, and I was actually excited to be awake! It also left me feeling "filled" and ready to give...which I think is an amazing way to face the day. I loved that.

-I really love sleep. And am one of those people who actually NEEDS to get enough or else I'm kind of a beast...I get more scatterbrained than usual, grouchy, and lose my patience sooo much faster. With that in mind, there were some days where I really just needed the extra few minutes: a couple days where my body was fighting an infection, after several days of late bedtimes in a row and kids getting up in the night.

-Along the same lines as the above, there are seasons in my life where getting up even just those few minutes earlier wouldn't have worked (Hello, little babies who wake up all night long). And that is totally okay! It's one of those health goals that is pretty specific to those who are getting enough sleep in the first place...which, right now, works for me. But also might not during those seasons of sleep deprivation, whenever those may happen.

-I actually really loved those quiet early morning minutes! For about a week, I had kids with Mom-is-awake radar waking up right along with me (argh), so I just did what I could as far as a workout went and called it good. Luckily, they started sleeping a little longer again so I got to actually enjoy a couple minutes of solitude before the everyday craziness started.

Bottom line: it was great, and I'll continue the habit. It was totally worth sticking with it!

November's goal tomorrow!
September's goal posts here (the plan) and here (the summary).