Calling all NON morning people....

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2

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  • Scarlett_S
    Scarlett_S Posts: 467 Member
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    I totally understand. I have three kids and full time job, so I have to exercise in the mornings or it doesn't happen. For me, I have a standing appointment with my trainer at 5 a.m. three days a week. I am a zombie walking into it (set alarm for 4:30, jump up, get ready, grab water, go) but by the time I do forty minutes with her I am ok and I knock out 45 minutes or so of cardio when do stretching.

    Its difficult. It really is. But if you get over that hump of the first half hour of being up you'll be ok. Just make sure you are getting enough sleep overall.
  • unsuspectingfish
    unsuspectingfish Posts: 1,176 Member
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    To be honest, my solution was to get a night job.

    I also function off 6 hours of sleep. >_>

    Usually, if I have to get up early, I get less sleep the night before, so I'm actually tired at a reasonable hour.
  • darkling_glory
    darkling_glory Posts: 239 Member
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    I am not a morning person either, so here is what I do to make sure I'm out the door on time.

    I have to leave the house at 6:30 to make it to work by 7.

    I set my first alarm for 5:30. I also set my coffee pot to make coffee at 5:30. Very, very rarely do I get up when this alarm goes off. The next alarm goes off at 5:45. This is when I get up and stumble into the shower. I allow myself 15 minutes in the shower.

    Then it is hair, make up, get the dog out t potty, and in the car.

    The trick is to set up EVERYTHING you can, the night before. I set up my coffee pot and put my travel mug right next to it. I pack my breakfast (because like I have time to eat breakfast before work) AND lunch in my lunch box and put it in the fridge. I make sure everything I need for the next day at work is in my purse/shoulder bag. I even pull out what I am going to wear and hang it up on the closet door so I don't have to think about it.

    My goal is to eventually set the second alarm back a couple minutes until I really am getting up at 5:30 (then I can take the dog for a longer walk). But the more stuff that is already done the night before, the better morning I am going to have. I don't have it in me to remember everything that early in the morning. I just don't.

    Hope this helps!
  • yesthistime
    yesthistime Posts: 2,051 Member
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    One word, six letters: COFFEE

    Yup. Immediately.
  • TheCats_Meow
    TheCats_Meow Posts: 438 Member
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    One word, six letters: COFFEE
    I can't drink coffee it doesn't agree with me and It just makes me hyper for about 2 hours then i wanna crash again.

    Coffee tastes like butt.

    Granted, I don't know what butt tastes like, but if I did, I can imagine it would taste like Coffee. :sick:

    Trust me, I'd love to have some sort of pick me up in the morning, and I wish I liked coffee, I just can't do it. Especially without a dump truck load of sugar, or some sort of dairy creamer or whipped fluffy stuff.....

    ^^ this is me as well. I just can't do coffee no matter how hard I try to make myself without a crazy amount of sugar & creamer. And it does nothing for my alertness.

    I have to work out in the evening after work. I tried working out in the mornings, but, like a lot of people, I was falling asleep @ my desk by 10AM and groggy throughout the entire day.

    I'm not a morning person either. I'm the one that stays in the bed until the last possible minute then I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get myself & the kids ready. It's a nasty, nasty cycle.

    I have no advice, just know I feel your pain!
  • aweightymatter
    aweightymatter Posts: 222
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    Oh, also, I agree with setting your alarm across the room or something similar -- I have an alarm clock called "Clocky" that actually rolls off the night stand once you hit snooze! haha!

    HOWEVER -- I don't agree necessarily with setting your alarm for half an hour before you *really* need to get up. I found for me it was better to train myself out of hitting snooze, and instead just getting up when it went off. I find that when I set a "false alarm," so to speak, I end up just getting a half hour or whatever of crappy/ not real sleep, when if I had just set the alarm for the "real" time I could have gotten the actual rest without the extra angst.
  • tauny78
    tauny78 Posts: 180 Member
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    Wow! So many people are just like me in the a.m.! I have to admit I'm surprised!! I work out in the evenings because that's when I have time. But if I could get up earlier I would work out in the morning before getting my girls up for school. I work at the school part time, from 9-2, then have lunch when I get home and by then I'm ready for a nap! Terrible I know....I try not to give in, but some days I just feel I have to. So either I nap or I do house work. Then in the evenings its workout, supper, homework with girls, and finally relax time with hubby in front of the boob tube! And after all that, I'm usually not ready for bed until between 10 and 11. And thanks for the info on the 3 hour sleep cycle; only problem is I usually have a problem falling asleep when I get to bed, so I may toss and turn for a while...so I don't know that I could predict my cycles...but I'll give it a try! It always seems that on the weekends when I don't have to get up with the alarm, I always want to wake around 9 - 9:30, no matter what time I go to bed. And bed on the weekends could be from 11pm - 2 am....Late nights seem to be the rare times that I have to myself!! Thanks for the ideas! Keep 'em coming! :)
  • aweightymatter
    aweightymatter Posts: 222
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    Wow! So many people are just like me in the a.m.! I have to admit I'm surprised!! I work out in the evenings because that's when I have time. But if I could get up earlier I would work out in the morning before getting my girls up for school. I work at the school part time, from 9-2, then have lunch when I get home and by then I'm ready for a nap! Terrible I know....I try not to give in, but some days I just feel I have to. So either I nap or I do house work. Then in the evenings its workout, supper, homework with girls, and finally relax time with hubby in front of the boob tube! And after all that, I'm usually not ready for bed until between 10 and 11. And thanks for the info on the 3 hour sleep cycle; only problem is I usually have a problem falling asleep when I get to bed, so I may toss and turn for a while...so I don't know that I could predict my cycles...but I'll give it a try! It always seems that on the weekends when I don't have to get up with the alarm, I always want to wake around 9 - 9:30, no matter what time I go to bed. And bed on the weekends could be from 11pm - 2 am....Late nights seem to be the rare times that I have to myself!! Thanks for the ideas! Keep 'em coming! :)

    I say enjoy the nap if you have time while nobody else is around! Don't feel guilty. :) Better to be a little better rested for the quality time with your family.

    Seriously, I don't know why there is such a stigma about adults taking naps. haha.
  • darylinny
    darylinny Posts: 146
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    I totally understand. I have three kids and full time job, so I have to exercise in the mornings or it doesn't happen. For me, I have a standing appointment with my trainer at 5 a.m. three days a week. I am a zombie walking into it (set alarm for 4:30, jump up, get ready, grab water, go) but by the time I do forty minutes with her I am ok and I knock out 45 minutes or so of cardio when do stretching.

    Its difficult. It really is. But if you get over that hump of the first half hour of being up you'll be ok. Just make sure you are getting enough sleep overall.

    I only have one kid but I have a killer commute that does NOT allow for me to work out in the morning (we are out the door by 6:45am to start the day), which is good because I am the extreme opposite of a morning person!!!

    Maybe AM workouts are just not for you. I have a standing appointment with my personal trainer as well, it's just that we meet at 7pm. I like working out in the evenings, plus the evening crowd I work out with are super supportive and have simliar demands. After my evening work out a shower, recovery meal and bed ensures I sleep like a baby!!
  • Sweet_Potato
    Sweet_Potato Posts: 1,119 Member
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    Oh, also, I agree with setting your alarm across the room or something similar -- I have an alarm clock called "Clocky" that actually rolls off the night stand once you hit snooze! haha!

    I was just thinking about getting a Clocky yesterday. I'm actually pretty alert in the morning, even without coffee, but I have such a hard time getting out of bed. Even if I have to get up to hit the snooze button I end up doing this for at least an hour. I know it has a lot of do with my joints being incredibly stiff and sore first thing in the morning (anyone else have this problem?), so maybe chasing a crazy alarm clock around the bedroom would help.
  • r1ghtpath
    r1ghtpath Posts: 701 Member
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    i am not a morning person. never have been!!! i worked nights right out of school. and then switched to days to try and have a more normal schedule. UGH!!! my shift started at 645a and i had an hour drive to work. it was HORRIBLE!!! so, i ended up going back to nights, LOL!!

    i have 5 kids now, and 3 of them go to school at 730a. i pretty much have to drag myself out of bed to get them up and ready. i tried a couple time to get up at 5a to work out, but yeah, it was a no go!!! i could get up but i had no energy what so ever to actually work out.

    i don't do coffee never have. i work out at night, after my kids are in bed. so, it's usually around 9p when i start. i aim for 6 hours or more sleep per night. i get up and get moving, not because i WANT to, but because i HAVE to! LOL
  • TheCats_Meow
    TheCats_Meow Posts: 438 Member
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    Seriously, I don't know why there is such a stigma about adults taking naps. haha.

    My Dr. actually encourages them! I tell everyone they're Dr. approved so no one can say anything, :laugh:
  • r1ghtpath
    r1ghtpath Posts: 701 Member
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    i think EVERYONE should take naps!!! if young and old take them, why shouldn't EVERYONE??? :-)

    i am kid free every other weekend, and if i sleep in, i usually don't wake up til after 10a. if i don't sleep in, i usually end up taking a nap in the afternoon. it's awesome. i can't do it when my kids are with me, but if i could i totally would!
  • LoriBarefoot
    LoriBarefoot Posts: 218 Member
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    I'm not a night owl ( I turn into a pumpkin around 9pm ) but I'm not an early bird either. I am fine with getting up and out of bed, but I want my coffee, GMA, and I do NOT want to be bothered!! My co-workers know not to mess with me until after lunch. Haha. If there's a cure for that, do let me know lol.
  • dlperry65
    dlperry65 Posts: 83
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    So happy to hear I have great company being a night owl. I am surrounded by morning people. Arg! Hate waking to an alarm, too. But can consume coffee. Lol. If cannot do coffee there are so many alternatives now. My hubbub has been drinking a fruit juice energy drink. I am lucky to be able to function on about 6 hours sleep, too.
    Oh and nobody in my family wants to Ever get me up. Lol. I can be a bear!
  • jcstanton
    jcstanton Posts: 1,849 Member
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    I've never been one to bounce out of bed in the morning, not even when I was a kid and had energy to spare. Like you, I wish I could do that. However, I'm not really grumpy in the mornings either...just very, very groggy. I've been doing a couple of things lately that seem to be working so far.

    1. I've been sleeping on the couch on nights I feel particularly tired because I don't sleep as soundly or as comfortably so it isn't as appealing to sleep in. This probably wouldn't work for someone who's married, though.
    2. I've been setting the stove timer to go off at 6am. Crazy as it sounds, I am more likely to hear the stove timer in my kitchen than the alarm clock right next to my head. I think it's because a loud beeping coming from another part of the house makes me think something is wrong so it wakes me up. Also, the alarm clock is in close proxitmity so I can hit the snooze in my sleep without even knowing the alarm ever went off. To turn off the stove timer, I have to get up, walk into the kitchen, and turn on the light. By then I'm pretty well awake...even if not bright eyed and bushy tailed.

    I'd like to get one of those alarms that shines a light on the ceiling and it gradually gets brighter, mimicking a sunrise. They're pretty expensive, though, and I don't know for sure that they would work for me.
  • mae1020
    mae1020 Posts: 234 Member
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    I have never been and will probably never be a morning person. I work 4 10hrs days and have to be at work at 7am. I try and get everything ready the night before so that I can get up at 6am, shower and roll into work...hopefully on time. I'm tired most of the day. I hate coffee so my caffeine comes from soda. I would love to be able to get up early and hit the gym but that never happens. My favorite time to go to the gym in after 9pm when it pretty empty and I have any machine to pick from. But by 9 i'm exhausted and just ready for bed. So every night now becomes a struggle to even make it to the gym. Even on my 3 days off I rarely get to sleep in. I'm either taking my girls to school or getting up for my body pump and zumba classes at the gym. So I always try and at least sneak in a nap those 3 days off. I so enjoy my sleep!
  • HorrorChix89
    HorrorChix89 Posts: 1,229 Member
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    When I lived on campus me and my roommate at the time found this alarm clock in a catalog for college dorm decorations. If you ever seen those toy helicopter blades that shoot off (blade only, not the actually helicopter...well this thing was like that. Only it had a senor in the blade. It would fly around the room with the alarm going crazy. You couldn't turn off the alarm until you ran around trying to catch the flying blade and put it back on the base.

    By that time you're either fully awake or ready to kill someone :laugh:
  • mightyafrodyte
    mightyafrodyte Posts: 148 Member
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    When I lived on campus me and my roommate at the time found this alarm clock in a catalog for college dorm decorations. If you ever seen those toy helicopter blades that shoot off (blade only, not the actually helicopter...well this thing was like that. Only it had a senor in the blade. It would fly around the room with the alarm going crazy. You couldn't turn off the alarm until you ran around trying to catch the flying blade and put it back on the base.

    By that time you're either fully awake or ready to kill someone :laugh:

    Oh I love this. I wish I could find one of these.

    I am so not a morning person! My husband and I are on different schedules, so it's hard because I try to adjust my schedule so I can spend some time with him. Getting a wacky alarm would wake the both of us up. But I love all of the tips that I am seeing here, I am going to incorporate some of these into my routine.

    I hate coffee. I drank a 5-hour energy once, I thought I was going to die. NEVER again. I just work out in the evenings that's the only way I'll get it in.
  • AmyEm3
    AmyEm3 Posts: 784 Member
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    I'm not a morning person. I never have been and I doubt I ever will be. Sometimes, especially in the summer, I wish I could be one of those people who get up with the sunrise and start their day right away all cheery and peppy. Can't do it though.

    So, I personally drink a lot of coffee in the mornings b/c I have three young kids and I have to get up early. I prep as much as I can in the evening for the next morning. Breakfast prep, pre-pack their lunches, lay out clothes, etc so I don't have to think a whole lot. Then once I get them off to school I eat and wake up some more.

    I do my exercising in the afternoon or evening usually. I usually run in the afternoon and do an exercise dvd (P90X or JM) in the evening.

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