Not sure what's going on. The other day I was so pumped to re-start the healthy lifestyle change and what not...

First, my sleep schedule is all screwed up. No matter how hard I try, I can't even force my self to fall asleep before 4am... Which makes me wake up no earlier than noon.

This was the second day that happened, which made me feel horrible about my self and stay in bed ALL day! I literally didn't get out of bed until 4pm. And when I did, I didn't do it to eat anything healthy. What'd I have? Ice cream! Of all the things in the world!
Now it's 8pm and raining and I'm trying to force my self not to crawl back into bed.

at my self!!!

In serious need of some motivation

this wasn't your first day then. don't punish yourself for doing what you wanted to. take small steps. if sleeping in late ruins your day for you because it makes you feel bad, maybe consider a sleep aid to get to bed a little earlier. or you could just gradually wake up a little earlier each day. after that, maybe let yourself have a few guilty pleasure foods while beginning to eat more healthfully.

it's not all or nothing. you've got all the time in the world!! you can change at your own pace and go by your own rules.

If you have time to sleep all day, why does it matter what time you get up? Seriously, just do your workout whenever you get up. The most important thing is to just do something to get started. One small step leads to others

I don't even know what to say...


Why couldn't I just tell my self these things? It makes so much sense!
I was too busy feeling like crap and letting my emotions get the best of me. *face palm*


Thank you ladies
Hopefully tomorrow will be my "real" first day!

My internal clock is backwards, if I am left to my own devices I will stay up all night and sleep all day. In order to avoid this, I take a melatonin pill (melatonin is what your brain produces to signal that it's time to go to sleep) every night around 9pm. Even if I'm off the next day since I don't want to get back into that vicious cycle. If I stay up until 10-11 it still seems to help me fall asleep faster, but I rarely make it to 11pm anymore. Now I feel like an old lady.

It's okay! Honestly, if you weren't over calories then you did just fine! Not healthy, I know but it's a start. I agree with others, just do a little something each day and make your own rules!

You already have some good advice but my question is what's keeping you up so late? Do you have the tv on or do you take your phone or laptop to bed? Those kind of things are big insomnia no-no's.

Nope. I purposely took the TV out of my room years ago but that did nothing. I've had insomnia for ever. But it seems like when ever I get on track with my eating habits and working out regularly, my sleep schedule seems to get better too.

I just had a bit of a rough week and I'm pretty sure aunty flo's about to pop in for a visit, so I've been a bit emotional. Staying up and just thinking for hours. Then can't fall asleep


Someone else mentioned melatonin a while back. I think I'm going to have to give that a go. I'm totally against pills of any sort, but I'll do what I need to to get my self going.



Plan of action for tomorrow - going to try and wake up before 10am and make my self a nice and healthy breakfast. Then go for a walk. And go from there. *fingers crossed*

Thanks again ladies

Set your alarm clock and make your self get up early. You'll be sleepy before 4 am and you can gradually work into a more normal sleep pattern. Laying in bed burns no calories except what is need to keep you alive. Make exercise a daily priority - it also helps with sleep.

I think it's worth it, for you, to consider nutrition and activity as separate entities. Being in bed means you were not active today, but you can still eat well and get results (even people on medical bedrest can lose weight and get healthy). Have you thought of making tomorrow's goal to eat well, no matter if you lay in bed or run a marathon?

Baby steps! Good luck

I just had a vicious fight with insomnia. My internal clock was all messed up. Sleeping all day, awake all night. You have to make yourself get up earlier. I was not falling asleep until like 4 and getting up at about noon too. It was sooo hard but I forced myself to get up at 10 am every day regardless of when I fell asleep. After about a week I started waking up a few minutes before my alarm went off. Then I just started setting my alarm for about 10 minutes earlier every 2-4 days, making sure I also went to bed 10 minutes earlier. Now I am back on track. Exercise helped tremendously. So did eating healthier. I exercised enough that I was exhausted when I went to bed. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, weekend or not. Get into a good relaxing bedtime routine. I take a shower, brush my teeth, do some gentle stretches/yoga, and then read something non-stimulating while listening to gentle classical music. I start this same routine at the same time every evening. It triggers the mind into getting ready for bed. Don't drink much water within two hours of bedtime, or you will wake up to empty your bladder. And start gradually dimming your lights about 3 or 4 hours before bedtime. Getting out in the sunshine early in the day, preferably with some exercise, also helps. I take a 15 minute walk in the early morning light. All of these things help a little (except for exercise which helps a ton!) and add up to a really healthy sleep cycle. I still occasionally have trouble sleeping, but I just stick to my sleep hygiene plan and it doesn't last long.

Also, my rule is I can go to bed earlier if I need to, but under no circumstances am I allowed to sleep in.

I found that when I was younger, I would always say exactly what you did, but it would set me up for failure because I didn't ACTUALLY have a plan, which resulted in me eating too much or too little, or just the wrong things for my body. As soon as I started planning my days ahead of time, it was a piece of cake to stick to it.

First, when you say "healthy" do you have an idea of what that is? Is it within a certain number of calories/portion/exchanges, etc? Is it a certain number of carbs? Does it include processed foods? Once you have an idea of what healthy means to you, you can write down a plan for the day.

When I started a healthier lifestyle I sat and wrote my plan for the following day on a piece of paper (actually on MS Word, but I digress)

BREAKFAST:
SNACK:
LUNCH:
SNACK:
DINNER:
SNACK:
TOTAL: 18 points

The reason why I did three meals and three snacks is because I had no idea how to really divvy up my foods (at that time points and later calories), so I figured the best way would be for me to eat all day long and see how I felt and adjust as I go. For a long time, that was perfect. Later, the night time snack became too much, then later the morning snack wasn't needed, so I just kept tweaking my menu.

The key was writing it down and making sure that I had all of the foods purchased, prepped (and often even cooked) before the day began. Years later, I don't plan everything on paper. However, I do keep to my same general snacks and meals, and at least have an idea at all times of what I will be eating and how it fits into my day before I sit to eat it.

Hope it's going better for you now! (Nothing to add over the other great advice on here)