ENABLING YOUR PASSION FOR HEALTHY LIVING

Working Out as Sleep Deprived Parent

I do not know how people exercise at 5 am in the morning. I really don’t. I feel terrible when I wake up that early. I guess you might get used to it and if you WANT to get up that early, you go to bed early.

Unfortunately, I do a lot of my work after Tommy goes to bed so that isn’t always an option. He has been getting up around 5:15 for the last week or so and it’s starting to wear on me.

Each day I’m up before 6, I think how productive early risers are able to be and then I think about my situation and how I’m not like them and can’t really use my early alarm clock for productivity. I can’t get any work done when Tommy is awake  as he wants to play. I can’t make up the lost sleep during his first nap because I have work to do and I’m exhausted by the end of the day. A friend of mine even suggested that I try to take Modafinil – see here for the guide to where to source Modafinil in Canada– a smart wakefulness drug that helps one stay awake and focused during the day or anytime someone needs to get things done. But I am thinking of trying it as the last resort, though I’ve heard it works wonders on her while she was studying in college.

For the record, he goes down for bed super easy and sleeps through 10 hours straight. He takes 2 naps a day, again super easy. Both are 60-90 minutes long.

He’s not an unhappy kid. Clearly..

Singing in Rain Tommy

I’ve been trying not to let this new milestone get in the way of my daily routine but it’s hard!

I’ve been signing up for fitness classes and that has been the only reason I’ve been able to fit in good workouts. Tuesday and Thursday this week, I brought Tommy to Recycle Studio for babysitting. Tuesday was rough. I felt terrible. I couldn’t wait until class was over but I was glad I went. If you’re wondering why I went, it’s because I did not want to get charged for being a “no show.”

On Wednesday, I went to BTone at 7:50 AM. I was home before Nick had to go to work.

I think Tommy is just an early riser right now due to a variety of reasons.

One, he is getting in his molars. One is fully in and there are 3 others are basically in but not yet totally visible.

Two, we have blackout shades but sunlight does creep in around the sides as they don’t fully cover his windows. Now that the sun is rising earlier, it’s effecting him (potentially).

Tired Mommy

Three, he is about the age where he should go to one nap instead of two. Since he wakes up so early though, it’s hard for him to stay awake very long to go down to just one. It’s a hard cycle to break right now. I’m sort of hoping that London will help.

Oh yes, London. Did I mention this on here yet? Nick, Tommy and I are all going to London for 5 days for a family vacation! We leave this coming Tuesday and I’m super excited albeit a little stressed. If you have any child friendly recommendations, especially restaurants, let me know below in the comments.

So back to working out on little sleep…

I’ve also been going running using the jogging stroller around 7:30 am. I try to get home before nap time but the little bugger seems to fall asleep every time between 8:15 and 8:30 when he usually doesn’t go down until 9 or 9:30 am.

This at least makes me feel a little productive with my early wake up time. These runs are a far cry from the short HIIT workouts I love though. I try to do intervals like 2 minutes running fast with 1 minute of walking but more often than not it’s a combination of jogging, walking and stopping at the playgrounds along the way. I stopped running for awhile because it just wasn’t giving me any results and my morning runs remind me of this each time I’m out there running. It just doesn’t feel like an efficient workout anymore!

I will admit that the sleep has totally been effecting my diet too. I’m drinking more caffeine than usual and also craving sugar. I’ve lost my self control when it comes to sweet treats. I bought the most amazing mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Trader Joe’s and I can’t stop. Same with their darn Swedish Fish. Once they are gone, I hopefully will not try to buy them again for awhile.

Nick said to me the other morning, “Could you imagine having two?” And no, I can’t imagine having twins or two babies. I do want more children and many moms with children Tommy’s age are pregnant again that I know. I am not for the record but I am starting to think about it…

Leave your London recs down below 🙂

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