Day 909 & 21 Day No Alcohol Challenge Complete (Or Is It?)

Day 909 Record Keeping
Day 881 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 755 Writing (2/30 - hard)
Day 295 Rowing (HIIT, 17 min, 30s:60s, 3100 m)
Day 36 Mobility/Stretching 79 (Couch stretch)
—–
Eating
Day 133 Pantry Check
Day 131 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 64 Bacon & Water
Day 64 Sleep Recording (1|1:20/2:50|12|12:40)
Day 37 Bedtime Curfew 71 
–
Fantastic sleep, good wakeup.  

21 Day No Alcohol Challenge Complete
The Challenge I began early this month (21 Day No Alcohol Challenge) is complete. I didn’t drink a sip of alcohol. 

There were some really interesting things I learned. 
1) I can have just as much of a good time drinking water or tea or nonalcoholic beverages - even late into the night.
2) It’s not really that hard here. Most places offer sparkling water, or tea, or mocktails and nonalcoholic beer. It’s pretty easy.
3) I can concentrate more on the conversation.
4) Conversation is the high, not alcohol. I gain an immense amount of pleasure just with conversation and camaraderie alone. And matting the two together isn’t necessarily a good thing.
5) I get an odd, perverse sense of accomplishment and pleasure from not drinking. I believe Nietzsche talks about this in one of his books where he talks about asceticism. He doesn’t like it and rails against it. I’ll have to look it up.
6) I lost weight. I’ve been in a long plateau with losing weight even after doing HIITs. 
7) I’ve definitely spent a lot less money
8) My other former vices have definitely been itched, but it’s not as bad as I thought it was. 
9) I didn’t get better sleep, which I was hoping for - my sleep actually got noticeably worse. I don’t know if that’s some sort’ve withdrawal or due to something else. 
10) I binge eat much less - my nights have much more of a sense of control.

I read this interesting article today about women and alcohol:

http://qz.com/762868/giving-up-alcohol-opened-my-eyes-to-the-infuriating-truth-about-why-women-drink/

I think it’s fascinating in how we let ourselves view alcohol as a treat, as a reward, as a well deserved break for everything. In a weird way, it saturates every other form of pleasure - watch a movie? Why not indulge in a drink too? Talking with friends? Do it with a drink. Bored and want to go for a walk? Why not stop in for a drink.

There’s something really disturbing about that. I think we do this for other things like food as well. But in bleeding into other activities, I feel we dull or desensitize ourself to those other pure pleasures. Completely outside of the benefits of not drinking to this project, it’s not how I want to live life.

I don’t know if I’ll go completely sober. But I do know I want to experiment with it more. So I will be continuing the challenge for a full 30 days and see how I feel then.  Today is Day 22.

Day 905

Day 905 Record Keeping
Day 877 Fixed Meditation (20 min - time restraint)
Day 751 Writing (3/30 - hard)
Day 291 Rowing (HIIT, 17 min, 30s:60s, 3000 m)
Day 32 Mobility/Stretching 77 (Couch stretch)
—–
Eating
Day 129 Pantry Check
Day 127 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 60 Bacon & Water
Day 60 Sleep Recording (1|4|11:50|1)
Day 33 Bedtime Curfew 68 
–
ABYSMAL sleep, good wakeup. 

Day 18, No Alcohol Challenge. Met a friend at 2 bars and a restaurant. Ordered two sparkling waters and one tea. 

Day 904

Day 904 Record Keeping
Day 876 Fixed Meditation (DID NOT DO)
Day 750 Writing (DID NOT DO)
Day 290 Rowing (DID NOT DO)
Day 31 Mobility/Stretching 75 (DID NOT DO)
—–
Eating
Day 128 Pantry Check
Day 126 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 59 Bacon & Water
Day 59 Sleep Recording (1|2:30/5|12:40|1:10)
Day 32 Bedtime Curfew 70 
–
ABYSMAL sleep, bad wakeup. Incredibly sore from the couch stretch and hamstring smash - that with my HIIT on Monday left me incredibly sore, and I had a lot of problems falling asleep because of it. Totally drained and sore the this morning, I was totally drained, failed to discharge any of my major habits.

What’s interesting is how automatic all my other “Identity Habits” are - did all my small tasks automatically. Worth thinking about.

Lydia had a thought of maybe splitting up tasks or doing them at even lower levels. My thought was maybe switching to microcycling something like writing, which is the really hard task for me to do when I’m depleted. I do need some sort of widget that sweeps in and gives me a protocol to follow when I have a lingering failure to start. Because often the additional tasks aren’t so difficult - working out or meditating - there’s just no cut-off point when I can’t force myself to work on writing.

Day 17, No Alcohol Challenge. Yesterday I had water at a hookah lounge - interesting how predictable other vices become as a matter of course. Very interesting seeing that connection.

Today I met a friend, moved quite a bit and caught up with her in 4 locations - 3 bars and one restaurant. I had non alcoholic beers three times and a water at the restaurant. 

I really didn’t miss alcohol at all. It wasn’t awkward at all as she went through drinks. I do need to stop with the go-to of non alcoholic beer - I think it’s needless calories, but I feel it’s better than the excessively sugar alternatives. I might try juice or tea.

Day 903

Day 903 Record Keeping
Day 875 Fixed Meditation (20 min)
Day 749 Writing (1/30)
Day 289 Rowing (20 min/3200 m)
Day 30 Mobility/Stretching 73 (couch stretch)
—–
Eating
Day 127 Pantry Check
Day 125 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 58 Bacon & Water
Day 58 Sleep Recording (1|1:50|8/2|2:30)
Day 30 Bedtime Curfew 66 
–
Ok sleep, horrible wakeup. Did some foam rolling the last few days right before going to bed. Starrett says it’s good because it’s like a massage, it puts your body into sleep mode. Since I finished Deskbound a day or two ago, I understood that the fascial tissue is like a net, and to loosen one part of the net you should work on parts around the direct area of tightness. 

So I foam rolled my hip, my back, and my hamstring. I must’ve had tight hamstrings because I woke up feeling someone had beaten me with a pipe. Which made me feel exhausted so I just passed out again after I woke up early. 

I felt sore the next morning after foam rolling my sides. I think adjusting to this system is going to take some work. I have better spinal organization and I’m becoming more regular with sitting up straight at any given time, but it feels weird - it feels like I’m working muscles I’ve never worked before….which I probably am.

And that’s great - I just think a heads up might be in order for those trying to change. It’s exhausting in weird ways. And it negatively affected my other habits - today I had no will and had to do minimums in multiple habits. Ah well, you live and you learn! At least with this, unlike some other routines, you can feel change occurring. 

Day 902

Day 902 Record Keeping
Day 874 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 748 Writing (3/30)
Day 288 Rowing (HIIT, 17 min, 30s:60s, 3000 m)
Day 29 Mobility/Stretching 72 (banded distraction hip capsule ext)
—–
Eating
Day 126 Pantry Check
Day 124 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 57 Bacon & Water
Day 57 Sleep Recording (1|1:50|11:30|12:50)
Day 29 Bedtime Curfew 65 
–
Ok sleep, good wakeup. I think my hip is starting to slowly get better. Day 15, No Alcohol Challenge

Day 899

Day 899 Record Keeping
Day 871 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 745 Writing (1/30)
Day 285 Rowing (15 min/ 2300 m)
Day 26 Mobility/Stretching 72 (banded distraction hip capsule ext)
—–
Eating
Day 123 Pantry Check
Day 121 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 54 Bacon & Water
Day 54 Sleep Recording (1:20|2:10|1:40|2:20)
Day 26 Bedtime Curfew 61 (LATE TO BED)
–
Horrible sleep, very slow wakeup. Lowered several of my habits because of the resulting lack of focus.

I’m noticing that my bedtime curfew is defaulting a few times to my old time. This has happened many times when I’ve tried extending my habits. If I step up, when I default, I’ll default to my old time (or number of sets).  This is particularly interesting in seeing the lay of the land in skill pushing (if this is a clear pattern).

Meanwhile, my mobility routine has hit the 70s after 26 days. Not bad at all. I’m really eager to push this, but I’m still reading quite a bit and watching videos online. 

Day 12, No Alcohol Challenge. Went to this fancy rooftop thing on top of a Gaudi building nearby. The event had free canapés and cava (a Spanish sparkling wine). It was a perfect moment to indulge, with the city spread out in front of me at sunset. But I did not.

Day 898

Day 898 Record Keeping
Day 870 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 744 Writing (1/30, really good)
Day 284 Rowing (30 min/4400 m)
Day 25 Mobility/Stretching 67 (hip opener, lower back pressure wave)
—–
Eating
Day 122 Pantry Check
Day 120 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 53 Bacon & Water
Day 53 Sleep Recording (1:20|2:30|7|1:30)
Day 25 Bedtime Curfew 65
–
Horrible sleep, very slow wakeup. Lots of pain from pulled muscle yesterday, had a really bad night’s sleep, intended to cut down everything to minimums, but only ended up doing that for writing! 

Day 11, No Alcohol Challenge. Had a late night with friends yesterday. Met at a brewery, moved to eat, then went to a roof top bar. No drinks - ended up ordering a non-alcoholic beer and had waters the rest of the night.

Day 897

Day 897 Record Keeping
Day 869 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 743 Writing (2/30, really good)
Day 283 Rowing (HIIT, 14 min, 15s:60s, 2500 m)
Day 24 Mobility/Stretching 69 (hip opener, lower back pressure wave)
—–
Eating
Day 121 Pantry Check
Day 119 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 52 Bacon & Water 
Day 52 Sleep Recording (1|2|11:40|12:20)
Day 24 Bedtime Curfew 63
–
Good sleep, ok wakeup. Pulled something in my lower back doing my HIIT. I’ve been focusing on good form, but I’m slowly beginning to see where my weak spots are. Today for rowing I realize that I don’t properly brace my spine when transitioning between a slower pace to an all out pace, so of course something would happen. It’s nice seeing a clear if-then for all this stuff. I finished my workout and then did a lower back pressure wave with a foam rower, which relieved the pain. These twinges are bound to continue occurring, so I’m happy to have found this mobility stuff, and I want to be able to memorize all the self care for injuries and tightness. I’ve also found some other coaches that talk about all this stuff from a friend, so I’m eager to read about their techniques.

Day 896

Day 896 Record Keeping
Day 868 Fixed Meditation (DID NOT DO)
Day 742 Writing (DID NOT DO)
Day 282 Rowing (DID NOT DO)
Day 23 Mobility/Stretching 66 (DID NOT DO)
—–
Eating
Day 120 Pantry Check (DID NOT DO)
Day 118 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 51 Bacon & Water (DID NOT DO)
Day 51 Sleep Recording (1|3:45|11:20|12)
Day 23 Bedtime Curfew 64
–
BAD sleep, ok wakeup. Met a friend visiting form out of country. It messed with my schedule and I did not do many of my routines, but I’m perfectly fine with that. :)

No Alcohol Challenge Day 9. Meeting a friend, drank water and coffee. I feel meeting people and being social is part of the challenge. It’s an additional stressor, so it’s always good to test it and see if you’ll default to old patterns.

Day 895

Day 895 Record Keeping
Day 867 Fixed Meditation (35 min)
Day 741 Writing (2/30 min)
Day 281 Rowing (HIIT, 14 min, 15s:60s, 2600 m)
Day 22 Mobility/Stretching 66 (hip opener)
—–
Eating
Day 119 Pantry Check
Day 117 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 50 Bacon & Water
Day 50 Sleep Recording (1|3|9:40|10:40)
Day 22 Bedtime Curfew 64
–
Good sleep, ok wakeup. Really slow and distracted with writing today. 

No Alcohol Challenge, Day 8.

Day 892

Day 892 Record Keeping
Day 864 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 738 Writing (4/30 min)
Day 278 Rowing (HIIT, 14 min, 15s:60s, 2600 m)
Day 19 Mobility/Stretching 67 (hip opener)
—–
Eating
Day 116 Pantry Check
Day 114 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 47 Bacon & Water
Day 47 Sleep Recording (1|1:30|11:20|11:40)
Day 19 Bedtime Curfew 57
–
Fantastic sleep, late wakeup. I ate really late last night, and I’ve heard that can help sleep quality. Fantastic sleep, and really quick time from wakeup to getting up - I feel that’s key for some reason when it comes to quality of sleep. 

Had an excellent swath of writing despite having an interrupted start - chatting with friends that I don’t often talk to (so I feel obligated to break my routine). I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of dividing the act of writing and scamping from editing. This makes a huge difference when it comes to work output.

Day 5 No Alcohol Challenge. Got bored and wanted to get out - took a walk and drank some water with lemon. It’s weird how much boredom and a change of pace plays into wanting to get a drink. It’s not really the drink I want - it’s an excuse to get out or a change of flavor on my tongue. The problem with the latter is that at night it’s harder to get something that’s refreshing and not juice or something sugary.

Day 891

Day 891 Record Keeping
Day 863 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 737 Writing (3/30 min)
Day 277 Rowing (25 min, 3900 m)
Day 18 Mobility/Stretching 66 (hip opener)
—–
Eating
Day 115 Pantry Check
Day 113 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 46 Bacon & Water
Day 46 Sleep Recording (1|1:30|5:30|6:45)
Day 18 Bedtime Curfew 59
–
Bad sleep, super early wakeup. Day 4, No Alcohol Challenge. Yesterday’s sparkling water at dinner. It’s funny, there’s actually a big thing here about the particular brand of sparkling water you choose. The old man brand, Vichy is particularly salty. Red and white labels for some reason seem to not be salty (and taste good), which I prefer. I might just turn into a water connoisseur by the time all is said and done.

Day 890

Day 890 Record Keeping
Day 862 Fixed Meditation (45 min)
Day 736 Writing (3/30 min)
Day 276 Rowing (HIIT, 14 min, 15s:60s, 2400 m)
Day 17 Mobility/Stretching 67 (hip opener)
—–
Eating
Day 114 Pantry Check
Day 112 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 45 Bacon & Water
Day 45 Sleep Recording (1|1:30|12:30|12:45)
Day 17 Bedtime Curfew 58
–
Bad sleep, late wakeup. Day 3, No Alcohol Challenge. Increased time in meditation, attempted an easy HIIT on rower, first since tweaking my hip flexor and the first using Kelly Starrett’s strict form advice as advocated in his book, Becoming a Supple Leopard. Worked out really well.

I really really want to do another 8 week HIIT course, but A) I might be pushing too many things and B) I have to figure out a method to continue that course through the travel I’ll be doing in the next few months.

I have two goals - to be able to push multiple habits in skill level and intensity AND to be able to push and maintain habits while traveling. I think both are delicate operations but may be do-able.

Day 889 & Day 2 No Alcohol Challenge

Day 889 Record Keeping
Day 861 Fixed Meditation (47 min)
Day 735 Writing (3/30 min)
Day 275 Rowing (20 min/3100 m)
Day 16 Mobility/Stretching 63 (hip opener)
—–
Eating
Day 113 Pantry Check
Day 111 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 44 Bacon & Water
Day 44 Sleep Recording (12:15|12:30|8:30|10|1:20)
Day 16 Bedtime Curfew 55
–
Horrible sleep, horrible wakeup. Ended up waking up early after tossing and turning, then went back to sleep. Had almost no willpower, had failure to start on writing. Decided to reverse the order of my main habits - meditation, rowing, stretching, then writing with an easier subject (blogging). Ended up working really well and I did everything.

Day 2 No Alcohol Challenge
Yesterday went to the liquor store. Had an urge to get wine, got chocolate and water instead.

Day 888 & 21 Day No Alcohol Challenge

Day 888 Record Keeping
Day 860 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 734 Writing (5/30 min)
Day 274 Rowing (20 min/3200 m)
Day 15 Mobility/Stretching 57 (hip opener)
—–
Eating
Day 112 Pantry Check
Day 110 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 43 Bacon & Water
Day 43 Sleep Recording (1:30|8|9:15)
Day 15 Bedtime Curfew 52
–
Good sleep, good wakeup. TECHNICALLY a little late on the bedtime curfew, but I’m letting it slide. AND I’m going to push it a little by going to bed at 1 AM from 1:20. I’m also starting a

21 Day No Alcohol Challenge
Why 21 days? Cause I got friends coming in that time, though I might continue and make it an even 30 - we’ll see how it goes.

Why no alcohol? I first mentioned my interest in not drinking HERE (”Habits of Omission”) and more recently in An Identity Approach to Alcohol Part I and Part II. But this time it’s not really about long term changes - I just think I’m getting fewer gains than I should, and several bloggers talk about it in terms of stubborn belly fat. I’m also curious if it will positively affect my sleep, because several people mention this as well.

In my contemplation about this I’m normally quite binary - Lydia brought up that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing forever - I can quite easily test it out for a short period and see how I feel. 

So I checked out a number of bloggers who talked about doing a 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge. THIS was the main guy that kept coming up, and though I like his many explanations for why he did it, I was disappointed that he was charging around $60 for a program that involved a bunch videos that don’t seem really helpful (based on the titles). And his site’s excessive sales tactics really turned me off. Which is too bad, because I think it could be a very useful program, like NaNoWriMo or the  more advanced Whole Life 30.

So I’ll be doing it my way. 

It’ll be a very simple flash diet - I’ll be taking pics of whenever I could have alcohol but don’t. For 21 Days. This is day 1. No SRHI will be necessary, I’ll just write a short note on how it’s going.

Here are a few links for people who have done it in case you’re interested:

http://30daynoalcoholchallenge.com/
https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2014/12/30-days-no-alcohol-experiment-part-1-happens-quit-alcohol-cold-turkey/
http://homebrewacademy.com/30-days-no-beer/
http://www.medicaldaily.com/life-without-alcohol-2-women-one-30-day-physical-and-mental-challenge-307734
http://www.refinery29.com/quit-drinking-for-a-month#slide
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/no-alcohol-challenge/#axzz4G5pqksOw
http://jasonsissel.com/30-days-no-alcohol-results/

Day 885 & Starting Habits I’m Pushing Skills In

Day 885 Record Keeping
Day 857 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 731 Writing (3/30 min)
Day 271 Rowing (20 min/3400 m)
Day 12 Mobility/Stretching 55 (hip opener)
—–
Eating
Day 109 Pantry Check
Day 107 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 40 Bacon & Water
Day 40 Sleep Recording (12:40|1:30|11|11:20)
Day 12 Bedtime Curfew 53
–
Good sleep, good wakeup. Day before yesterday had a late night with visitors from the States. Had a fantastic time, but it caused the next day to skew off track. I did all my initial habits, but writing failed to start, which caused everything else to fail as well, haha.

Starting Habits I’m Pushing Skills In

It’s interesting that drains on willpower have repercussions the next day. It’s also interesting that deep work - advancing in skills -  has such a draining effect. I’ve been having problems starting writing the last several weeks. I do find that once I dive in, it’s no problem.

Recently in meditation, as soon as i get into the room I start my 30 minute timer, which forces me to start quickly, when normally I’d dawdle. I’m thinking I might have to do something like this for writing. Instead I usually dither around for a long time to avoid starting.

I think my flirting with ritual (I still haven’t really written about that, have I?) was interesting because it was a nano-behavior that helped me transition from one task to the next. This is particularly important if the task is difficult and uncomfortable. The beginning of the 30 minute timer obligates me to start meditating, and acts like this. 

There’s something to all of this, but it’s not clear now - I’m sure it will be once I start doing more intense pushing of skills.

Day 883

Day 883 Record Keeping
Day 855 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 729 Writing (3/30 min)
Day 269 Rowing (15 min/2400 m)
Day 10 Mobility/Stretching 53 (hip opener)
—–
Eating
Day 107 Pantry Check
Day 105 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 38 Bacon & Water
Day 38 Sleep Recording (1:20|8:30|10:20)
Day 10 Bedtime Curfew 47
–
Good sleep, good wakeup.

Day 882

Day 882 Record Keeping
Day 854 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 728 Writing (3/30 min)
Day 268 Rowing (15 min/2500 m)
Day 9 Mobility/Stretching 51 (hip opener)
—–
Eating
Day 106 Pantry Check
Day 104 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 37 Bacon & Water
Day 37 Sleep Recording (1:20|9:40|10:20)
Day 9 Bedtime Curfew 46
–
Good sleep, good wakeup.

Day 881 & Entering and Conquering “The Monastery”

Day 881 Record Keeping
Day 853 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 727 Writing (5/30 min)
Day 267 Rowing (10 min/1500 m)
Day 8 Mobility/Stretching 46 (hip opener, pelvic reset)
—–
Eating
Day 105 Pantry Check
Day 103 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 36 Bacon & Water
Day 36 Sleep Recording (11:40|12|10:40|11:20)
Day 8 Bedtime Curfew 37
–
Good sleep, good wakeup. 

Entering and Conquering “The Monastery”

I usually do not talk about the specifics of skill progressions, but that might be something I should change. The last 2 months or so I’ve been on a specific phase in my book proposal involving chapter summaries. I’ve been at a loss on how to do them, because every time I do I end up reworking all of it. Or I get confused and read more about how to do it. I’ve taken a few courses, read a book on plot and structure, and have really gotten nowhere. It all hit a breaking point last week when I had several critical failures to start my writing habit at all.

Some of the classes I’ve been taking are from Holly Lisle, a fantastic resource on the art of writing. She’s one of a handful of people I refer to in my own head as Hidden Progression Masters, people who have dissected and demystified the process of mastering a skill and describe learning it progressively in a cogent manner. Why “hidden”? Because they’re often only talked about in the contexts of specialized groups of people, mentioned in subreddits, or talked about in forums dedicated to that particular craft.

In one of her courses she talks about my particular problem when reworking a book. Her solution is called The Monastery, where you enter a period of contemplation with no notes with only your muse to guide you. She has specifics in her course (How to Revise Your Novel) which I will not go into, but Lydia recently entered and emerged from it with a reworking of her book. I skeptically did the same, and I’ve got to say, it was terrifying. I had to directly face my fears, but I came out with a solid knowledge of what I want my book to look like.

It also appears to have my writing habit back on track!

Check out her site for other classes, some are only available a few times a year.

Day 879 & Half Steps, Mobilization, and Slow Cookers

Day 879 Record Keeping
Weekend Habits
—–
Eating
Day 103 Pantry Check
Day 101 Food Recording (did not do last night)
—
Early to Rise
Day 34 Bacon & Water
Day 34 Sleep Recording (12:45|2|10|11:45)
Day 6 Bedtime Curfew 27
–
Fantastic sleep, fantastic wakeup. Last few days I’ve been off. On Thursday I was running around town dealing with administrative VISA issues. It’s interesting that it’s often the next day that my will gets more depleted, which occurred yesterday. Unfortunately all the biking I did running from one government office to the next caused my hip/back to flair up again.

Half Steps, Mobilization, and Slow Cookers

I am doing my best to get through Becoming a Supple Leopard as fast as possible - I think it’s a genius book, and can’t wait to really get into a regular mobilizing routine. I’m very interested in using the daily 15 minute sessions he advocates to jump into a continual habit - he talks a lot about having proper posture while walking and not sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time because of the level of damage it causes (his other book, Deskbound, is also on my must-read list). It’s an interesting problem that I think no one has talked about - at what point do discrete behavior changes “flip over” to being online all the time. And what’s the most optimal and efficient manner in which to advocate such a change? Everyone slides past this critical step in its particulars.

I also got my pressure cooker/slow cooker today, which I’m really excited about, because it gives me a very clear half step forward after nailing down having pre made lunches. Some healthy eating blogs talk about doing a few slow cooker meals during Meal Prep Sundays, so that when you need a meal you just throw it in the pot in the morning. By the time dinner rolls around your meal is already done!