Do you mind me asking what age you are?
>last December I became a morning person using early morning light and exercise //
Where do you live that gets light on December mornings?
>last December I became a morning person using early morning light and exercise //
Where do you live that gets light on December mornings?
It could just be that stretchwithme just turns on all the lights, etc. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I know all about waking up and leaving in the dark and coming home to the dark in the winter time.
I do a similar thing in the mornings, though I didn't ever consciously decide to be a morning person. I go to bed at pretty normal times between 9 and 10PM most nights. If I wake up any time before 1:30 or 2AM and keep all the nights off and fumble through the dark I'll be able to get back to sleep no problem. If I have to flip on a light it will take me much longer to get back to sleep.
If it's after about 2:30 or 3:00AM, there's no way I'm going back to bed- and I'm going to be supplementing with copious amounts of coffee to keep my face from dragging on the floor all day.
After about 4:00, I'm fine. Without an alarm I usually start waking up a little after 4:00 and my routine usually has me out of the house about 30 minutes from deciding to get out of bed.
The first thing I do is review my To Do list for the day on my phone. 2 reasons: 1) I start crunching on it in my head as I'm going about the morning routine, and 2) the blast of light (even w/ night mode still on) is like a jolt to get me moving when it's otherwise pitch black.
You can even go back to sleep after ten minutes and your circadian rhythm will start making you feel like going to bed earlier. And you need to go to bed when you feel that effect.
Just kidding. I'm 53.
My bedroom gets light at 6 am when I wake up and turn on the light net to my bed. :-)
So I have an alarm that goes off then. You just need to keep your eyes open for several minutes for the cells in your eyes to recognize that there is enough light to start shifting your circadian rhythm.
It really works. Just be sure to stick with it.
And to go right back to it if you forget. Habits are everything and some habits have a lot more power than others.