sleep – Dancing in the rain!

One of the things that I want to accomplish with my W.I.S.E. Project is to be more mindful. I am not paying much attention to the news right now and not watching much TV because I am pretty focused on the here and now of my life and trust me that takes up plenty of time. If you are following along you know that I have already noted a significant difference in my happiness level, my energy level and my overall well being.

As fantastic as that is, I know that I have a lot of work to do. I tried to make a list of all the things I wanted to work on and when I filled the page I decided that I was defeating the purpose of being in the moment if I had pages and pages of things to stress over.

One thing that is bugging me is my inability to rise and greet the world in the morning like those people do in fairy tales, they sit straight up in their spotless bedroom, move aside their bright white bedding, stretch their toned, tanned arms over their head, run their fingers through their playfully messy but otherwise gorgeous silky hair and put a smile on their notably flawless, make-up free face. Then without further adieu, like moaning, sighing, swearing, hitting snooze or putting their covers over their head for five more minutes, knowing full well it will be half an hour they get in the shower where they sing as they lather their hair. They emerge from the washroom as if stepping off the cover of In Style Magazine to kiss their picture perfect children that they haven’t had to yell at ten times to get up, they are sitting quietly at the kitchen table with their orange juice waiting for Mom to whip them up a delicious and filling breakfast. Mom is clearly going to work with her brown Italian leather briefcase nearby but she is not in a hurry, her children come first, and then her husband of course, who emerges out of nowhere with a to go mug of coffee for her and passes her the lunch he lovingly made (there is probably a love note inside the brown paper bag). She touches his sexy dark hair and lightly traces the length of his face with perfectly manicured fingers. He gives her a devil may care grin, he is sporting just a hint of stubble and he winks at her with his incredible green eyes that don’t appear to have just woken up. The family embraces and all smiles they recite some stupid fucking family cheer about being fabulous and embracing the day. I hate these imaginary people. Please tell me they are not real because I just can’t do it!!

I love the morning. I do not love getting up. No matter how early I go to bed I will manage to lay in bed till the last possible second.

On Sunday Haley and I planned to do our rockin 80s dance party work-outs at 6:30 in the morning, when Monday morning rolled around we unanimously decided that 6:30 p.m. was a time that worked better for countless reasons. It did work. It has been lots of fun. Never mind that my body isn’t used to all the squats and lunges and for two days I cried out every time I had to sit down. By the end of day Tuesday my co-worker caught me falling into my office chair.

Today I added music to my morning routine. I chose wake up smiling: Oldies Morning from Google Play. It’s the music your mother’s mother loved. It really does help. I had ten extra minutes this morning, only because I had to pee so bad! The music and the ten extra minutes really started my day off right. It is a beautifully mild January day, the sky was a perfect shade of medium, morning blue and I swear I heard birds singing!

For two weeks I have also added drinking 16 oz of water to my morning routine, as soon as I wake up!

Most sources I’ve read recommend drinking 16oz of water right after you wake up, I drink a 500 ml bottle just as I am getting up and another as I am driving to work.

Here are five solid reasons to drink a big glass of water right when you wake up.

It fires up your metabolism. Drinking a large, cool glass of water after you wake up has been shown to fire up your metabolism by a whopping 24% for 90 minutes¹
You’re dehydrated when you wake up. You just went 7-8 hours without drinking any water! Even if your body isn’t telling you that it’s thirsty, it probably is.
Water helps your body flush out toxins. Your kidneys do an amazing job of cleansing and ridding your body of toxins as long as your intake of fluids is adequate. Getting fluids into your body right after your wake up will help your body flush out toxins first thing in the morning.
Your brain tissue is 75% water. When you’re not properly hydrated, your brain operates on less fuel, and you can feel drained, or experience fatigue or mood fluctuations.
You’ll eat less. Studies have shown that people who drink a glass of water before every meal lost 4.5 pounds over a three-month period, because “it fills up the stomach with a substance that has zero calories”, and people “feel full as a result”
Your body is 72% water, and you don’t have enough water in you when you wake up. Drinking a big glass of water first thing in the morning is a great way to rehydrate, and start practicing your “badass-ery” from the moment you wake up.