Getting in a routine and a question...

Our sleeping and eating patterns are dictated by society and work/school hrs.


I found years ago that my natural sleep pattern was 5 hrs at night and a 1-2 hr afternoon nap. That was how I rested on camping trips and vacations when I did not need to keep up with someone else's schedule. Of course I could only do that on weekends till I started working online but that has been my 'sleep rhythm' for years now.


Whatever works for you is your normal. To me 4:30 AM is not morning - it's night.

Afternoon siestas are common in a number of countries. Don't think their is anything bad about it. People are more awake and productive in the mornings anyway and having lunch makes you feel sleepy. Schools in some countries allow for an afternoon siesta and adjust their hours accordingly.

The idea that a solid seven or eight hours of sleep is normal only came about since the invention of electric light. Before that - at least in Europe - people would go to bed shortly after dark and get up a few hours later for a snack or some recreation, then return to their beds. So whatever works for you is probably fine.

But I agree with Kay. 4.30 AM is still yesterday.

If your body is waking up with out an alarm. I would say it is fine. If there was a problem your body would rebel and demand more sleep.

This is my way of looking at it but don't look at the naps as making up for lost sleep you are able to spread out the rest periods when your body needs them. If it was unhealthy you're body would let you know. After the middle thirties the body starts to not let you get away with stuff for long without some obvious health issue developing..

If over time you are getting healthy then the sleep pattern is fine . For you.

On another note do you have to eat anything before the run . Or does that depend on what you eat and how many adult beverages you have the night before.

I've been working on the "secret" to all this for myself. I do my best early in the morning like 4:00 AM but that means I start winding down pretty early like 8:00 PM or so.

Lately, due to reasons (see below), I haven't been setting an alarm clock and find that many times I wind up sleeping 9 hours or a bit more. But that feels good. Then I beat up on myself for almost kind or getting old(er) and remembering when 4-5-6 hours was more than enough.

Depending on the day I take naps. But the key for me is to keep them to either about 30 minutes or less or 1 1/2 hours or more. It has to do with our sleep cycles. If you sleep, let's say 50 minutes, you'll feel worse than if you got up at 30 minutes.

I bet you'd find you got to bed earlier if you gave up or cut down on the naps. It might take a little bit to get accustomed to changes.

And I've found out the HARD (did I mention HARD) way that every time work or whatever gets more important than sleep, life throws me a curve ball as if to say, "you will NOT go sleep deprived! Now, we can do this the hard way or the easy way." Spoiler alert: life always wins! The hard way hurts and the hospital bills add up.

We live in Asia and it's common to rest for a couple hours starting at noon, so it's not just Mexico. I always thought it was just them until I moved here.

Mark

Mark have you been in Asia long enough to start wearing long pants and shirts on sunny days too cover your skin instead of trying to use sunblock every few hours during the day.

The break mid day is part of cultures where people work outside in the sun and hot weather and not in door with air conditioning. And instead of drinking bottled water all the time the hydration comes from fresh fruits or soups stews curry or noodles with broth. Flavored with spices instead of salt sugar and fat

My question to this would be...Do you feel healthy? If yes then I guess you have no reason to be worried

This almost sounds like it's turning racist/anti-Asian. Odahh your perceptions are yours but that doesn't mean you are right. Everyone's experiences are different. Some of my family, for example, spend tons of money on getting darker and are a little bit jealous of my wife who has a natural all over "tan".

Many Asians want to be lighter and spend tons of money and effort to try and achieve that while at the same time many of my friends think I'm too white. So, instead of generalizations, which turn out to be false/racist/degrading many times, I think we can agree that many/most people all over the world want things they don't have and they are always looking for secrets and ways to look better according to their culture's norms.

Mark

PS Your perception of how people respect time is another generalization and is NOT true in my experience for most of the people I know. There are those that don't respect other's time in every culture/country but again it has nothing to do with a particular place. I know many Americans that don't respect my time too.

It's not my perception or my belief just do a quick search. It's not that hard to find.