Sleeping by midnight…
Wake up at 6:30-6:45AM.
Run at 7am (8-9 miles hard)
Ice cold shower at 8:15am
Eat beef, eggs, and spinach.
Leave to get work done by 9am.
This was my Summer daily routine.
With a strict schedule, I didn’t have time to mess around looking at social media for 17 minutes as soon as I woke up. The entire morning was uncomfortable so that the rest of my day would feel easy. If I had a presentation later on in that afternoon, I wouldn’t whine or quit. The hard work in the morning was already taken care of. Everyone else would be worried, and they would complain about how they didn’t want to exercise later on in the day. I’d be coasting as they were lacing up their shoes cause I completed my run while they slept in.
Here are some other things I’ve noticed with this daily routine:
Higher Energy Levels
An early morning alarm clock forces me to sleep early the night before. It may not be immediate, but eventually, after three or four days of staying up late doing nothing, my body gets the message that I need to sleep earlier to actually have the energy for the upcoming week.
It’s brutal, but eliminating distractions…even if it’s a 5-7 minute social media daze can catapult you into an entirely new level of productivity. (Plus the majority of people these days waste too much time on social media, don’t you want to find a way to be above average?)
My strict diet of eating the same thing over and over for breakfast (beef, eggs and spinach) also significantly increased how I felt throughout the rest of the day over this month.
Beef and eggs are simple to make, and I didn’t add anything else. No chips on the side for snacks, zero soda or coffee. All I had were good plain old fashioned butter and pepper to add any flavor. Sticking to the same meal every day means that I save time not having to worry about what to cook, and my body is accustomed to what I digest.
Fired Up To Tackle The Day
This cold shower post I wrote about was an actual experience I had. The first two weeks of taking cold showers I wanted to quit so bad. The shiver down to my bones was downright cruel. Yet, after the second week, I started to feel unbreakable under these showers.
The cold water running felt like recovery for every hard run I did. I didn’t feel like I was basking in the warm comfort of a hot shower obviously, but the ice woke me up.
After shutting off the water I felt my blood rushing all around to warm myself up. I wasn’t tired or groggy at 8 am, I felt accomplished and ready to rock.
Aside from the cold shower, I need to talk about the run beforehand. When I wake up, I already know that I’m going to have to run and this is what tempts me to sleep in to avoid the workout.
This daily routine burns off this laziness. Moving my body early in the morning serves as a way to wake myself up.
Therapy
It’s relaxing to open up the door and stride out into the morning mist. I’m not tired from a tough day of translating and giving presentations.
The heat isn’t suffocating me and screaming at me to quit.
The morning is cool, I feel great because I know I’m accomplishing something everyone hates to do first thing in the morning.
I’m building up endurance, improving my fitness and taking care of my well-being.
All while everyone else is asleep.
J