Becoming an early riser isn’t about trading sleep for productivity. It’s about taking back a part of your life by trading tired evening hours for productive and wakeful mornings.

You probably can’t tell your boss that you’ve decided not to work between 9-11am because you need productive time for yourself and personal projects. You’d be laughed at. What you can do is make a habit of waking early and add hours of productivity to your every morning!

Here are just five of the benefits you’ll enjoy as an early riser:

1. Freedom from distractions -

Whether you have a house full of kids or a phone that never stops ringing, the early morning is the best time to escape the distractions of daily life.

2. More time for personal projects -

If you’ve ever wanted to start a blog, save your marriage, write a novel, get more exercise (one of my early-morning heavy-hitters), or paint your kitchen, do it in the morning. You’ll get more done in an hour of early morning productivity than you could ever hope to accomplish in the evening after a long day of distractions.

3. A change in perspective -

Have you ever gone for a swim in very cold water? At first, the temperature is shocking. Then you become accustomed to the coolness and begin to find it refreshing. Getting up early allows you to approach your life with the same technique. Instead of leaping into your day and stroking furiously for the other side, starting early leaves you with enough time to paddle around a bit and enjoy the process of wakefulness.

4. The Sunrise -

I’m entirely with Leo on this point. I’m usually a mile into my morning walk by the time the sun makes it over the horizon. There is no greater primal joy (except holding one’s child for the first time, perhaps) than experiencing the warmth and light of another new day beginning.

5. Starting the day off right -

When you begin your day by acting in a way that says, “I am going to take care of my body, mind and spirit” you set a precedent for the rest of your day.

So how do you become an early riser? Just follow two simple steps:

1. Read 5 Steps To Falling Asleep Easily and practice the steps each evening at a time that will give you plenty of rest before the start of your day.
2. Subscribe to Primal Stride so you don’t miss upcoming articles with great tips to help you start your day with a spring in your step! We’ve already done one seven-day challenge with an early-riser component. Stay tuned for the next!

If you’re already an early riser, sound out in the comments with something you enjoy about the early morning! (And no, staying up until 5am doesn’t count… although it is fun.)

sunrise

When you think of crunches, do thoughts of achievable six-pack abs come to mind? Or do you instead think of the 1980’s and mindless repetitions that never seem to move you closer to your dream stomach?

I’ve asked my incredible Dr. Seuss Rhymster Fitness Homie MizFit to break down how to do a perfect crunch for all of us doing the Double Crunch challenge. (Find her, link to her, follow her, be like her.)

One quote that jumped out at me:

Abs, aesthetically (the look you see in magazines), are made in the kitchen through what you eat and through your cardio — burning off any excess fat.

I’m going to start bringing a yoga mat into the kitchen and do my crunches there. I’d never thought of that! Thanks, Miz!

Seriously though, if your office chair gives you a sore back, a stronger core (mid-section) can help chase away the pain. If you’re constantly running around after your kids, a stronger core will make your day a little easier. The main benefit of crunches (and other core-strengthening exercises) is that they help you get from wake to sleep more easily.

You do not need to be lean in order to enjoy the benefits of a strong core. However, you do need to be lean if you want to have perfect six-pack abs.

If you want perfect six-pack abs, life is a bit more complex for you. You’ll have to deal with your genetic propensity to store fat on your stomach, love for saturated fats, and unwillingness to spend hours exercising each week. Getting perfect six-pack abs, for most of us, is a silly short-term goal because it’s going to be awhile before we’re lean enough to see our abdominal muscles!

What can we do in the meantime? We can focus on building core strength and changing our eating habits from scarfing junk to consuming food the body recognizes as fuel. Those of you participating in this week’s Primal Stride Challenge already know another benefit of core exercises — that ache in your abs serves as a satisfying reminder that you are making a real change for the better!

Thanks to MizFit for showing us how to do a perfect crunch and to YOU for inspiring all of us with your ability to change!

As Franklin said, “early to bed, early to rise…” I’m not sure about his promises of wealth, health and wisdom, but I’m certain that falling asleep early (or at any time you wish) is a key tool for shaping a healthy lifestyle.

Here are five steps I use to fall asleep quickly and easily. The trick is remembering to use them and using them at the right time!

1. Understand your sleep position -

Most of us naturally rest in variations of three positions. The “getting ready to sleep” position (for me, this is on my back), the “sleep position” (on my stomach with arms under pillow, one knee pulled up a bit), and the “light sleep position” (on my side, how I wake up). The next time you want to fall asleep quickly, let your body know you’re serious by moving directly into your “sleep position”. I cut more than 20 minutes off the time it takes me to fall asleep just by using this method.

2. Clear your mind -

Make a conscious effort to clear your mind of any ideas or worries that will keep you from falling asleep. I keep a notebook and pen next to my bed for those stressful nights when I need to physically write things down as a way of “earmarking” my ideas and allowing myself to leave them until the next day.

3. Leverage a memory -

Most of us have at least one memory of a time when we felt wholly relaxed and secure. Once you’re in your sleep position and have pushed away the ideas that get your mind buzzing, focus on your pleasant memory and let sleep find you.

4. Accept delays -

Sometimes sleep just doesn’t come when we want it to. I know I struggle with this at times. Instead of giving up on sleep, move back into your “getting ready to sleep” position. Try reading a book that is interesting enough to follow but not so interesting to keep you reading when your eyelids start to feel heavy. Once you’re feeling sleepy, move back into your sleep position and try again.

5. Focus on rest -

If you continue to have trouble falling asleep, do some research on relaxation techniques and try out the ones that make the most sense to you. Meditation, reading, and daily exercise help me keep my sleep cycle on track but they might not work as well for you. We’re all different (thankfully) and sometimes it takes a little longer to find a personal solution.

“Sleep is the currency of high-performance living” -T. Ferriss

Do you have ever have trouble falling asleep? What’s your favorite solution? Make me sleepy! =)

image: missgong

Much of what you’ll find in the self-help section at your local bookstore points to “self acceptance” or “self love” as the ticket to living a happier life. We are told to look in a mirror and say, “I love what I see.”

I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. The mirror tempts us to regard ourselves with the same all or nothing mentality of a critical stranger.

For example, here’s a photo taken of me this past summer:

What you see in this photo is an overweight guy who shouldn’t have cut his hair off but seems to have a sense of humor. I, for lack of a better term, have man boobs…moobs? Yep, that’s embarrassing.

But when I look at myself in the photo, I don’t just see a fat guy in a blue shirt. I see a man in the middle of climbing a mountain he had no business being on. I see a guy who didn’t let his physical insecurities get in the way of his hilarious fascination with challenges. I see a guy who is trying to change.

When I look in a mirror today, I see a similar person. But I am no more proud of myself than I would be of a friend with a half-written dissertation or 13.1 miles through a marathon. I can love the participant but it seems foolhardy and even dangerous to base my affections on what amounts to being just one of many points in a process.

It’s easy for us to define ourselves by exterior checkpoints because that is how most of the world judges us. They only see fat or thin, rich or poor, bald or hirsute. It takes a special set of eyes to notice changes in patience, kindness, and generosity. The world judges us on a shortsighted scale of extremes. Is it any wonder that most of us slip into the same mentality when examining ourselves?

The self-help books tell us to accept ourselves for who we are in the current moment. But how can we accept a person we view with a winner-takes-all approach to existence? Doing so will lead the majority of us to look in the mirror and see only a loser.

How do we cope with a loser? Not with acceptance, but with resignation. We give up some of our hope that things will change and find a way to survive by overlooking the particularly noxious bits. What a terrible way to live! Instead of appreciating our strengths and working to shore up our weaknesses, we steep any chance at satisfaction in a dark brew of doubt and self-hatred.

You are not a loser. I am not a loser. And yet we often begin the internal dialogue of a loser when we look in the mirror.

How do we break free of our tendency to greet failures with resignation and mirrors with disgust and self-loathing? How do we move from saying, “I am a failure because I have failed in this” to acknowledging our struggle and finding ways to conquer it?

Finding multiple ways to measure my progress toward a specific goal has proven to be a tremendous help in vanquishing my mirror demons and keeping “loser” out of my vocabulary. Instead of looking at the cover of Men’s Health and feeling like a loser when I see myself in the mirror, I have five things I use to measure my progress:

1. Truth Pants – I have a pair of pants that I try on every week. When the pants fit me perfectly, I buy another pair that is a bit smaller to keep the cycle going. When I’m down to my optimum weight I’ll have a pair of pants I make sure I fit into each week… just to be sure. =) Some people take lots of measurements. I prefer truth pants.
2. Scale – At this point I have a pretty good idea if I’ve lost weight or not without looking at the scale. What I’ve found the scale VERY useful for is making sure I’m staying hydrated. If my weight is down too much, it nearly always coincides with my failure to get enough water.
3. Gut Feeling - I have less of a gut to feel with these days, but there’s something to be said for listening to one’s body once you’ve had a chance to get to know each other. At this point, I notice changes in energy levels and mood based on how well I’ve taken care of myself during the week.
4. Mileage – I have a hunch, and it’s just a hunch, that I’ll not get fatter if I cover at least 30 miles by foot each week. My mirror demon has yet to come up with a good answer as to how I’m a loser if I’ve met my mileage goal.
5. Friends – Because I see myself all the time I tend to ignore positive changes in my quest to fix remaining problem areas. Friends who only see me every few weeks have been an amazing encouragement in that they notice and remark on changes that I’d forgotten about or no longer took joy in.

It’s not a perfect system but it’s doing a lot to keep me on the path of self-acceptance and away from the temptation to resign myself to things I can actually change.

When I look in a mirror, I see a person who is making a difference. I see progress. I see a guy who accepts himself but sees no reason not to change the things he’s capable of changing. I see somebody I can be proud of.

What about you? What do you see when you look in a mirror?

Seeing this photo by LoneWolf of what his morning exercise looks like makes me feel like a bit of a baby for complaining about the cold here! (click on the image to view the rest of the Flickr challenge pool)

Proper rest and exercise are very important to a healthy lifestyle.

I read that sentence and internally nod my head and say, “right on!” But when it comes to putting my knowledge into action I turn into the guy with a toothache who is too afraid of needles to go to the dentist. I want the healthy results without all the sweat, aches, and yawns. I want to feel like I do after 5k without having to do the 5k.

Does any of this sound familiar to you?

As I learn more about myself and grow to recognize excuses before they’ve had a chance to gather strength, I’m finding it easier to get my butt out of bed and out on the road. The physical actions aren’t easier (I haven’t found a way to levitate for 5k yet), but I’m finding that the less I dwell on the decisions the faster I get to the results.

As Tiger Woods has shown, using Nike’s slogan in every decision-making process can lead to negative results in some areas.

When it comes to getting up early enough to start my day out with exercise, I’m finding the slogan quite applicable.

It also applies to leaving comments below with your challenge check-in or bit of wisdom that you’ve found helpful in creating a healthy lifestyle.

Just Do It

My Report: I need to be better about going to bed earlier. Getting up is still a pain but I’m doing it and getting most of the 5k out of the way before I’ve fully woken up. There’s still hope that I’ll make a habit out of this. I just have to keep doing it!

First, an apology. I’ve been camping in the woods with my family. This is good in that I’ve been able to relive the frozen toes and blinding campfire smoke of my childhood. This has been unfortunate in that I haven’t been able to be around for you guys. That might be a good thing though. You see, if you and I meet up for coffee sometime (which I hope to!), we won’t be interrupted by a ringing cellphone or stream of texts. I’ll be with you completely. That said, camping ends today so I’ll be back near high-speed web access and won’t have to go adventuring to find it.

Second, check out this gorgeous photo! Strider Patricia took it on her first Five At Five challenge jog of 2010.

Sunrise in Playa del Carmen (by Patricia)

What I’d like to do is create a gallery of early morning images from as many of you as possible. All you have to do is snap a quick photo of what some part of your early morning looks like. You can submit your photo by emailing it to me, posting on your blog and sending me the link, using twitpic, or (if you have a Flickr account) click on the image above to view the Flickr pool for this challenge.

I’ll create a photo gallery at the end of the week so we can all get a feel for what it’s like to go for a bit of early morning exercise around the world!

For my update:

Day 2 wasn’t as easy. The 5k wasn’t an issue. Getting up early was. It dropped below freezing last night in Perdido Key, Florida and the breeze had calmed as I lay in my sleeping bag, watching my breath rise in questioning clouds. Would I crawl out of my nest of warm flannel and make a solid go of the day?

Yes, I would. I did. It wasn’t so bad. I’ve found that the trick to getting up early is to commit to doing so the night before. If I wait until the morning to decide when to get up, my fuzzy brain nearly always chooses sleep over action.

I wanted to sleep this morning but I chose action instead.

What did you choose?

Don’t forget to submit your pics!

A year ago, a blender full of raw collard greens and bananas would have made me vomit. In fact, I still think the consumable I demonstrate above is pretty gross.

I don’t drink it because it’s tasty. I drink it because I have drunk it before and I like how it makes me feel. My body knows exactly what to do with raw fruits and vegetables and it doesn’t take long for the energy kick to set in.

But this isn’t about whether or not we should all be eating more raw fruits and vegetables. This, for me at least, is about discovering the different ways we relate to food and how those relationships affect our daily lives.

I began drinking green smoothies because my sister suggested them as a way to feel full and add nutrients to my diet without a lot of calories. The first green smoothie I tried was made with baby spinach, frozen bananas, and fresh pineapple. It was sweet, smooth, went down cold, and gave a lasting energy kick that knocked the socks off the energy drinks I was used to guzzling.

That first green smoothie started me on a search for other foods that made me feel nourished, healthy, and satisfied.

What foods do you associate with feeling nourished, healthy, and satisfied?

I’ll be participating in Five At Five — the first Primal Stride Challenge of 2010. Sound like a boat load of misery? It won’t be. Misery would be me making yet another New Year’s resolution that dies by the second week of January because I didn’t set realistic goals or get my friends involved.

This challenge seeks to fix that.

What’s the big deal about Primal Stride challenges?

Each challenge is only seven days long and has two parts:

1. Exercise – Each challenge will include a physical element. A certain distance to cover, number of crunches, plie squats, or possibly sitting still and watching TV (unlikely).
2. Health – From food to friendship, body image to sleep, we’ll be tackling a different side of health each week!

Instead of trying to make a change for an entire year, Primal Stride challenges will give you the opportunity to try something new for a week. If you like it, you can keep doing it! If not, that’s okay. We’re trying to discover what works for us as individuals, not create another rule book.

HUGE NOTE: This is a community thing. If enough of y’all decide you want to take a week for a single challenge, we can give that a try. I really want to avoid challenges that are directly weight-related though.

What are the rules?

Some general rules:

• Each challenge is seven (7) days long.
• Each challenge will include an exercise and general health task to be completed each day.
• You get one free pass each week to use in case the sky falls and you can’t complete one of your tasks. If you don’t use the pass, it cannot be carried forward to the next week.
• Sign up for each challenge is done by leaving a comment on the challenge post on http://primalstride.com.
• Daily check-ins are not mandatory but strongly suggested. If you are blogging about your experience, make sure to leave a link in your comment so we can come fiiiiind you! If you’re not blogging but want to keep up with each challenge, I’ll be publishing a challenge post each day that you can update with your progress.
• You may customize the challenges to work within the limitations of your life. When you leave a comment to sign up for a challenge, just make sure to include your changes so we can hold you to them for the coming week!

Individual challenge rules trump those listed above in the case of a dispute.

Make sense?

Now, for the first challenge!

Primal Stride Challenge I – Five At Five

Begins: 12:01am Friday, January 1st, 2010

Ends: 11:59pm Thursday, January 7th, 2010

THE CHALLENGE:

Exercise: 5 kilometers each and every day – You may walk, jog, run, sprint… whatever gets you to the goal.

Health: Get out of bed at 5am each morning – It’s your chance to start the year off as an early riser! Try it for a week!

Remember: You can customize the distance and waking time to suit your needs. Just make sure to include the changes when you sign up by leaving a comment!

THE RESULT:

It’s possible that by day 7 you will either be grinning or groaning. Perhaps both. No matter how you feel, if you are able to complete this challenge you will have solid proof that you can follow through on things you promise yourself.

Additionally, you’ll meet other cool people, perhaps make a new friend, and have joy in the knowledge that you’ve made a real effort to improve your health.

Does that sound good to you? I hope it does! I want some friends to celebrate with at the end of the week! =)

If you have any questions, thoughts, or just want to sign up for the challenge, leave a comment!

UPDATE: Look for a post on Friday (Jan 1) morning with a list of all “registered” participants with relevant contact information (Twitter & blog). I’ll be updating each day during the challenge so we’ll have a space to discuss our progress.

If you are going to be blogging about your Challenge experience, make sure to send me a link so we can come over and encourage you!

::raises hand::

Well, I was. The only emotions I have about eating these days are joy and exultation. I really like eating. I had a problem though. I was eating whenever I felt stressed, frustrated, or anxious. Get this, I even ate when I was disgusted with myself for losing control over my body and turning into a mega chubster.

Talk about a vicious cycle!

I needed a solution. I found it in exercise. This should make sense to you at a very basic level because most of us, at one point or other, have expressed our feelings about a stressful situation in a physical way. As kids we were pretty good about letting our stress out. We screamed, slammed doors, knocked things over, lay down and pounded the floor with our fists (my favorite), or just sobbed wretchedly.

Then we grew up. We learned that if we wanted to be like Mr. Knightley we’d have to stop knocking things over and screaming when things didn’t go our way. (Okay, that may have just been me?) We learned to internalize everything. Nobody told us that we could let out our frustrations in a productive way. If they did, we were already too deep in the double fudge chunk ice cream to hear them.

You don’t need to be overweight for this to apply to you. I have quite a few slim friends who eat, drink, or smoke when life is jerking them around.

It’s easy to be an emotional eater. Life is stressful, you have to eat anyhow, and the process of eating gives you something to do while you’re thinking about life. Sitting down with a big dish of ice cream to watch Love Actually for the 35th time might sound good at first. Do you really need a high cholesterol catharsis though?

I decided I no longer needed Taco Bell grilled stuffed burritos in order to feel better. I was getting super fat. I needed a change. But what was I to do? How was I supposed to handle stress if not by eating?

I still had three options:

1. Cry – Oh yeah, sob like a big angry, frustrated baby. There is no shame in tears if things are bad and you need a physical release. It’s not socially acceptable for dudes to cry so gentlemen will want to grow lachrymose behind closed doors. Ladies, if you like to cry a lot, please invest in some quality waterproof eye make-up. A beautiful woman shedding a few tears isn’t frightening. A sobbing raccoon is terrifying.

2. Scream – You’ve probably met at least one screamer in your life. Something about the restaurant industry tends to attract screamers in droves. Screaming at people isn’t cool. Screaming in an empty building, at a sports event, or in your bathroom because life sucks–all quite cool.

3. Exercise – This is my favorite solution to pent-up stress. Want to feel better with just a few minutes of effort? Get your heart rate up and keep it there until you start to break a sweat. Emotional exercising has a few benefits:

• It won’t make you fat – To the contrary, you might get quite fit from this if your life is very stressful.
• It gives you control – You’re no longer the victim of uncontrolled eating. You are choosing health. You have the power.
• It makes you smarter – Increasing blood flow to your brain has a way of helping make sense of priorities and difficult questions.
• It makes you sexier – Instead of being angry and snapping at people, you’ll now have a glint in your eye and a glow to your face. Yum!
• It makes food taste better – When you stop using food as a medication, it regains some of the joy that made it so attractive in the first place. Mashed potatoes with tears in them are too salty, man!

It’s working for me. Food tastes better, I’m losing weight, and my general mood has improved. You see, I’m a rather lazy chap and if I know I’ll have to go for a run if I stay grouchy… I choose happiness. =)

I hope you’ll try it. If you struggle with emotional eating (skinny people fess up!) I hope you’ll take a moment to share your thoughts? I’d love you for it!

If you’d like to receive future Primal Stride articles by RSS or email (it’s free) I’d really appreciate your support!

This picture was taken a few weeks ago during a hike up Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. (4,000 vertical feet, 8 mile round trip) People my size (I still have 100+ lbs to lose) and fitness level don’t climb Mt. Washington. They drive their car up and lose their breath climbing the 60 steps from the parking lot to the summit. Somehow, I made it. That story is for another time though.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what drives me in my pursuit of better health. Why am I doing this now and not years ago? What is it about my current circumstances that allows me to enjoy healthy food and take pleasure in how I feel after strenuous exercise? (Notice I didn’t say during strenuous exercise. I’m a pitiful wreck mid-workout.)

I decided it wasn’t the circumstances. Nothing “allows” me to do this. I’ve chosen it. Did something happen in January that caused me to make the choice? Not that I can remember. I’ve had no near-death experience to inspire a healthier lifestyle. I’m not the middle-aged man who survives a heart attack and seeks health through vivid fear.

I simply want things to change. Once I’d identified the changes I wanted to make, it didn’t take long for me to get some knowledge about the basic tools and techniques required to making those changes. Healthy diet + consistent exercise = healthier Seth. The equation is simple. The execution is dreadfully tedious at times.

In order to brighten things up a bit, I’ve taken to jotting down post-workout notes each day.

Yesterdays:

There is no trainer with voice enough to call out more loudly than the voice inside me calls out for freedom from this bulbous carcass I’ve enslaved it in.

I’m really disappointed by how slow I was today though. No, that’s not entirely true. I was more disappointed by how little I pushed myself. You might think it’s a push for me to be doing this at all…but it’s not. You see, I have this image in my mind of what it’ll be like to run. Fast, flying along with powerful strides. Confident. That’s it, isn’t it? Confidence?

Yes, I write like that when I’m still out of breath and soaked with perspiration. I actually thought the “bulbous carcass” line was pretty good in light of how I view myself. You see, “bulbous” = round while “carcass” really demonstrates my belief that my body is something I have control over.

Michel Angelo took a giant block of stone and figured out a way to combine a few simple tools with his knowledge of sculpting to give “David” to the world.

I have the tools, (exercise, diet) the knowledge, (why some things tend to work while others don’t) and a huge block of me to sculpt. It’s an adventure and I know I’ll make it so long as I keep chipping away.

And what about the confidence? I leave that to you. When you envision yourself at peak health, (think lifestyle, not a specific weight) what is the feeling you imagine first and foremost?

If you have to choose between leaving a comment or drinking a glass of water, choose the water. =)