far fetched ramblings 1 week before PRISM ends [updated]

[UPDATE: deb corrected me by telling me that Lisa's maiden name was 'Ecklund" and that her new married name was 'Kindleberger' - sorry Lisa. :-)]

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[disclaimer: in case you couldn't tell from the title sarcasm and silliness are fully intended here. don't be 'flaming' me because you might get offended] ;-)

contrary to the "fat slob" mental picture i have in my mind, skinny people sleep more! indulge me, and i'll explain . . .

the past few weeks i've had the hardest time getting out of bed. and for me this isn't normal. i'm usually quite a 'morning person'. i get my best thinking, working, and focus in the morning. part of that is because i'm 'made' that way; and part of it is because everyone else is still asleep and thus i'm not distracted.*

so i've been trying to peg the reason why i've been having such a hard time. ideally i like to wake up between 5 and 5.30am. this gives me plenty of time to exercise, get ready, have my devotional time, and check the web/email, etc. that doesn't always happen, but i usually get myself out of bed by 6.00am. (btw, i'm supposed to be a work by 7.15am) but recently i've been lucky to drag myself out of bed by 6.30, usually 6.50, and sometimes as late as 7.10!**

so what's been wrong with me?? i've had several theories.

1) i haven't regularly exercised during the winter because i like to go running, but it's just plain cold. so my body isn't producing the endorphins to give me more energy during the day. (i know, i know that's just an excuse and 'hardcore' runners would mock me for not being 'dedicated' enough; but i don't think i have very many 'hardcore' runners on this blog so i shouldn't get to much flack. and i could have just done a different kind of exercise inside, but i didn't)

2) the days are so much darker in the mornings during the winter time so it's harder for my body to 'naturally' wake up on it's own.

3) deb and i have recently been on a '24' kick and at times staying up very late to watch episodes. (but this shouldn't make that much difference since when i was waking up early i was still able to go to sleep around 11pm - 12am)

4) and finally i've decided on this final theory: skinny people sleep more.

for those of you that don't know, i've been participating in the PRISM program at our church and have lost around 16-17 lbs. in the last 5 weeks. (let the cheers and congratulations begin, although i'll still be working on losing another 20-25 lbs.)

my thoughts went like this . . . i figured that since i've been losing weight and also having a hard time waking up; the two were related. i thought that it was the "fat-sos" (i know not a very pc term) that were slothful and slobs and slept in all the time. but i had it all wrong . . . since fat people require more calories to maintain their weight, i figured, they had to wake up earlier because they were hungry already. and at night they were hungry so they had to stayed up later to eat. sounds logical, right? plus i had some proof to back up my claim. i was sleeping longer and i had lost weight. deborah likes to sleep and she's a sexy, skinny woman. and finally my sister LOVES to sleep (she'd sleep till noon everyday if she could) and she's a skinny as a rail. and then there's this article: ABC News: Lose Weight in Your Sleep

i told this far-fetched idea to deborah and she said i had it all wrong. she said that i had it all backwards. skinny people don't sleep more because their skinnier. they are skinnier because they sleep more. in her mind, she's much rather sleep than stay up, or get up to eat. so since she's in bed for more hours of the day she doesn't eat as much and thus is skinnier. fat people are up longer and thus spend their time eating more, thus more calories.

so . . . am i destined to a life of sleeping in? will i ever see another sunrise again in anything less than a size 40 waist? will it ever get warm enough for me to start running again?? are you skinny and a morning person? are you fat and a like to sleep in too? speak up tell me about your theories in the comments below!


// today i'm thankful for:
1. life as i know it
2. friends fulfilling their destiny
3. getting up at 6.30 this morning
4. quicksilver
5. sarcasm
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* i don't remember always being a 'morning person'. in fact i would have categorized myself as the complete opposite. it wasn't until i was in college and was 'killing' myself staying up normally till 1am or later and then waking up early for class that slowly my thinking changed. to be more exact it was a girl named Lisa Ecklund (if she ever reads this, i know your married now lisa but i don't remember your current last name). a group of friends invited her to some activities we were doing that evening, but she declined because she would go to sleep earlier in order to wake up early. i asked (read: teased) her later about, "why in the world do you wanna wake up so early for?" and she responded, "there's just SO MUCH of the DAY that you miss out on if you're still sleeping" i think i remember her going on to comment about how beautiful God's creation is in the morning as well as the focus, distraction-free work, etc. so i tried it.

** 1st period at school doesn't start till 7.25am so i have a little flexibility of when anyone will actually notice i'm not there yet. and i don't live far from the school, which helps. :-)

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