So I do things differently on the weekends. No waking up super early, hard workout sessions, meticulous morning routine or strict food regimen. At least that was my plan. But it didn’t exactly go as I had envisioned. In my plan, Friday night to Sunday afternoon are supposed to be my rest, recharge, and relax days.

I told myself that if I stuck to my workout routine everyday during the week, Friday night I get to treat myself. I get to indulge in the decadent meal of my choice. [Side note: I’ve been really disciplined about what I eat all week as well. Next week I’ll include some descriptions of that as well because exercise is only half the battle to getting healthy.]

Last night I ordered a pizza from a local pizzeria. They make amazing thin crust, wood-fired oven pies. But I did two things that I traditionally wouldn’t have done, which made it a tiny bit healthier.

First, instead of ordering a pie with all the meat toppings that most of us love, I chose to go plain cheese. Why? To cut a significant amount of unnecessary calories and artery clogging cholesterol. Yeah, it would have tasted amazing. But the pizza was just as delicious without it. In fact, it was one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. The flavor kinda reminded me of Blondie’s on Market & Powell, by the Cable Car turn-around, back in the day. If you know, you know!

Second, I walked to pick it up instead of getting it delivered. It was only a half mile away. A good 10 minute walk each way. Can you guess why? Two things. One, I saved money. Always a good thing. And two, I got in extra steps. Another mile for the day. Great way to burn at least a few extra calories (maybe 100?) before eating a TON of calories.

To say it a different way, I used the pizza as my incentive to go for an extra walk. I think it kinda tricked my brain because all I could think about was the delicious reward that awaited, especially after I picked up the pizza. The smell was mouth-watering, cheesy and with the char of a crust baked to perfection! I almost ran back home, lol. It was definitely worth it and I’ll probably do that again. You should try it next time you order pizza.

Anyway, back to this morning…

I swore I was going to sleep in and take it easy because I went to sleep at about 11:30pm or midnight. I was exhausted by 9:30pm, but I let myself get sucked into the YouTube vortex. That kept me awake for an extra two hours. Watching garbage. Definitely not a habit I recommend if you want to wake up early on a regular basis. In fact, this is one of the habits that I cut out completely during my evening routine this week. Actually, I’d say it’s the number 1 unhealthy habit that I cut out: binging on any kind of social media for entertainment. I’m actually trying to listen to a lot more audio books. A little more on that below…

Anyway, I never set an alarm on the weekends (that didn’t change with my new routine). My theory is that I can replenish whatever sleep deficit I have by waking up when my mind-body tell me it’s time to wake up.

Guess what time I woke up?

5am! No alarm. Just awake. Still a little tired, but not at all sleepy. The upside… I guess my routine is really working, lol. So what did I do? Did I go back to sleep? Nope.

I didn’t plan to do this, but I basically ran through most of my morning ritual (other than going to the gym). Ten minute meditation. Drank water. Put the hot water kettle to boil. Coffee in the pour-over filter. Restroom. Wash my face. Make my coffee. Did 2 sets of sit ups. Drank coffee. Listened to final chapter of an audio book, The Compound Effect. [Side note: Got to give credit to this book and Atomic Habits for sparking me to design this new routine.] Took a shower. No shaving today, yay! Re-arranged my bedroom. Looks like habits are starting to stick.

After that things went a little different than my normal routine.

Talked to my brother. He let me know that we might be able to watch our niece’s wrestling match live. She’s 13yo trying out for the under-15 U.S. National Team for the Panamerican Games in Colombia this year (in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestling). She’s carrying on the family tradition and already doing way better than any of my generation ever did at her age. Super proud of her!!! Unfortunately, no luck. But I’ll watch it on delay later. Rest of my family are all still asleep. It’s only 8:15am. Can’t believe I’ve already been up for more than 3 hours.

But it works out because my original plan was to sleep until about this time and go for a walk before it gets too hot. Alright, I’m out the door. I’ll be back after my walk…

Okay, I’m back from my walk.

It’s about 10:15am. That’s pretty good. A 2 hour walk. But actually I laid down and sunbathed for about 10-20 minutes, so not a full 2-hour walk. Still it was a few miles each way, with elevation. I’d estimate about 300 feet of elevation change. Good hill. Nothing huge. But a great view.

Very pleasant weather. It wasn’t hot or cold. But with the uphill walk, I had a light sweat going. Also, got a sun tan to even out the farmer tan I’ve been developing, lol.

Now that my walk is done, the rest of Saturday is mine to do whatever I want. A nap sounds divine right now. We’ll see.

Hope you have a great Saturday!