How do you wake up 'refreshed'?

You don't!

 

Maybe you are just getting old?

It usually takes about 9 hours of sleep before I wake up feeling refreshed.....

 

Quit the smoking habit...that will help. Also, get a couple more hours of sleep. Eat better during the day. Basically, living a healthier lifestyle (I'm not judging your current lifestyle, I'm just talking) will help you get good sleep.

If all else fails....morning sex!

 

Though the view from your place ought to be enough to get you going, I'm going to suggest sacrilige + sacrifice = sacriligifice.

Substitute "month" for "week" if you're so inclined.

Cut down on coffee.
@ 5 cups a day this week
@ 4 cups next week
@ 3 cups next next week
@ 2 cups next next next week

I'm not going to suggest cutting back on smoking, as I just lit up a More Menthol. It puts the MEN in MENthol, dammit & kindred spirit that you are smoke about the same amount day in/out. I raise my lighter in your general direction.

I'm going to send you a long-overdue PM, regarding 2 things:
A site to tap your creative side.
A diet that provides you with huge amounts of energy from the get-go. You'll be an animal, sleep well, awake refreshed & rarin' to go.

 

Hey Wax....can you send that diet info to me as well. Just curious to see it!

Jay

 

Mu Mu Muahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa!

 

It's normal. Me for example I also feel queasy if woken up early. Sometimes almost to the point of barfing. You are just not an early morning person.

 

I am useless in the AM if I get more than 7 hrs of sleep. I feel tired all day. I feel much much better on 6 or less.

 

Does this diet involve eating, ah, well, TUNA, yeah, that's it... tuna.

 

THIS I gotta see too!!!

I don't smoke, drink etc. and I'm eatin' Tuna like a........ah.....a fish of some sort I guess!?!
What are you talking about? Can't wait to hear.

 

I'm having a relationship problem... with my alarm clock.

Other tips - no tv / no computer for a half hour before going to bed. The light makes your mind feel it is still daylight and that you are not ready for bed yet.

 

For me:

9 hrs - perfect
8 hrs - ok
7 hrs - tired
6 hrs - headache

Never drink coffee or any caffine in the am.

I think cutting out smoking will help, but you really just need more rest.

 

The Key:

Wake up around 10:00, smoke a bongload of Fruit Loops and watch the mid-morning movie!

 

Definately cut out the coffee, aside from caffeine being a carcinogen, it screws with your energy levels and natural blood sugar in bad ways. I was mildly insomniatic for a little over 8 years until I cut out my almost gallon a day Coke and Snapple habbit ... I've been sleeping more consistantly, more deeply, and waking up better ever since.

If you have any sort of dust in your house, get one of those ionic breeze air purifier thingies from Sharper Image. I've got two by our bed because of a really bad dust problem we have from the fire retardent crap on the ceiling of our loft, and the difference they made in our sleep was noticible. Every now and then I get lazy and don't clean one when it "fills up" ... I just turn it off for a day or two and I don't feel as good in the morning.

Quit the smoking, a pack a day is a lot. Do it for your health, do it for your family. Nicotine is a depressant. The trace amounts of ammonia and cyanide in your Marlboros give you a short and very temporary "high" when you take your first drag ... when you're done with that smoke, the high is gone and what's left is the depressant. (which of course makes you want another smoke) .. but its very likely that that is causing your sluggish morning too.

And as quite a few already said, 6 hours isn't enough. It might be what you're used to now, just as my father is used to 5 hours a night, but it's not enough. Most sleep specialists recommend 8 hours, give or take an hour. Start going to bed an hour earlier (cutting out the caffeine is going to help with this), once you've spent a good two to three wakes getting 7 hours, see how you feel in the morning compared with when you were doing 6 hours. Then move up to 8 hours. It may seem like you're losing too much of your week sleeping an extra 2 hours every day, but the quality of your "awake" time should improve significantly ... mine has since I've made some good changes.

Oh, and sex in the AM is soooooooooo much better than in the PM.

Bill in Brooklyn

 

The cigarettes and the coffee are overstimulating with nicotine and caffeine. Those are terrible for your heart and nervous system and probably the cause of your problems more than anything - to balance out, your body has probably cut back on releasing many natural chemicals because they now have potent substitutes...

 

Oh, all right... I've sent peters some info already - the site to tap his oft-shared creativity I mentioned is his, you can't have it. Nyaaaaah.

In the classic sense, wild animals wake up next to a scummy pond & have a sip'n'dip. What grows next to this watery source is watery vegetation & fruits thereof. There are no twinkies. I mean, uh, ho-ho's. I mean uh, ding-dongs. I mean, uh, junk food solutions other than no junk food.

But they don't hang out at the pond all day. They also want their meat. In order to have the energy to get some killing & chewing in by the end of the day, they've got to have their energy stores up & minds sharpened.

It's all about order. We are certainly even less um, far removed from our ancient cave-dwelling ancestors. They had to make sure they were close to water. Without water, they'd be dead in days. So, one MUST look to the ancients for guidance.

First: Juice. Real Juice. None of that corn syrup & water & 10% reconstituted crap. Pick whatever flavor you like.

Watery fruits: Strawberry, melon, orange, etc. - whatever you like.

A little more texture & less water: Banana, Cheremoya (if you've never had cheremoya, you've missed out), etc.

Want to make a smoothie? Go right ahead. Climb every mountain. You'll feel like it after you get with the program. Don't overdo it with the yogurt. 1/2 the yogurt you think you need in that blender is plenty.

Crispier: Apple, pear, etc. - again, which variety is up to you.

I recommend starting diet on a weekend. Thanks to apples, over the course of an hour each of the first two days, you'll crap out what's unknowingly been stuck inside, bogging you down, those first two days. After that. Eh - problem? What problem?

When it comes to bread - damn it, TOAST it a little. This converts bad sugars to good sugars. "Raw" bread goes to your gut without sending nutritional benefits. Toasted bread sends good sugars to brain, nutrients are broken down, sending energy & side benefits to other vital organs. It "goes out" properly, too, without gumming up the works like unbeneficial "raw" bread. Remember - flour's only been around thousands of years & not one human can fully digest wheat. Our DNA/genetics haven't figured out how to do that yet & are way, way, way short of figuring out how to digest even more modern convenience foods. But still, TOAST it a little. You'll be much, much, better for it.

Enough preaching, aye? That's just the first few morsels of the day.

Point is - within each food group, there are different water contents. Clearly, iceberg lettuce has more than a carrot.

Have whatever veggies you like in order of water content - water>solid.

When you're having that lunch or brunch, have what are traditionally thought of as "lighter" meats. The inestimable DrWho mentioned Tuna. If you can get albacore that's even better. Still, low-fat tuna or chicken - the "flakier" the better - is easily digested & goes to work for you, not against you.

Same for beans>legumes. Whatever you like. Mix some 1/2 salt peanuts with regular salt peanuts to get the salt the body does need to regulate us & the protein - without the downside of too much salt.

When you have rice - rinse it first - get rid of the starchy components. As starchy foods go, there are potatoes. Don't eat potato chips. Surprisingly, fries can be good for you, say, if you're on a long drive & don't want to have coffee, grab some fries - they'll give you a carb boost & you won't fall asleep at the wheel. The thought of reading anyone's demise here to such circumstance saddens me.

You want to have a nice, big steak to finish the day off with? Go right ahead. It is encouraged. That protein will help you rest & leave you sated & satisfied. You'll make it back to the pond & start the next exciting quest for food & forage the next day.

Be creative. Modify, but don't revrese the fortunes.

What it boils down to again, is this. Eat what you like (no chips, hostess/dolly madison crap!), but do so in order: Water > Solid.

Result: You WILL have energy to spare. You WILL lose weight. You WILL see, feel results and hear compliments like "fnck me again/ harder!" & be able to comply. You WILL be Fit for Life.

You WILL wake up refreshed & be an energizer bunny. Oh, my gawd. The turnaround must be experienced & WILL.

This is, in a nutshell, The Fit For Life diet.

 

You are DEFINATELY talking to me!
I'm gonna try your advice, thanks!

Wes

 

So, ah, no Tuna?

 

Tsk, tsk. Actually, you were even mentioned in context with Tuna. *weeps*

 

I try to get a good nights sleep, which usually does the trick. This means dont eat late at night and dont drink tea/coffe after around 9pm.

A couple of guys have suggested getting a bunk-up first thing in the morning. I couldnt disagree more! Getting some last thing at night might help you sleep tho.