found vivid dream recall, but cant get lucid.

I used to remember my dreams occasionally, but I've found a way to remember them every night in vivid detail. I get up at 4 am for a vigorous cardio workout, then take a hot bath, then go back to bed. I am so relaxed that I easily slip back into sleep, apparently at a level with lots of dreams. I do this in attempt to become lucid and try to obe, because conscious obes are attainable for me, but elusive. I know lots of people have luck getting there from lucid dreams. I have been asking myself regularly during the day ( but without a trigger) " Am I dreaming?" But this doesn't occur to me during dreams. Last night I dreamed about running into Snoop Dogg in my bathroom and seeing myself as a different person in mirror--- you would THINK this would be big clues that I'm dreaming-- but I just don't realize it at the time. I will start using a trigger with my reminder phrase (not sure what though). Any other suggestions? I have read tips on the lucid dreaming websites, but I thought someone here had something else they were successful with. I am keeping a dream journal which is quickly filling up. There are a few things I dream on a regular basis like squabbles with my husband and code blues on elderly people so I will try to consider these triggers to ask myself if I am dreaming. Any other tips? Thanks in advance!

What's always worked for me has been reality checks- asking myself at all hours of the day if I'm dreaming (how did I get here? What did I do this morning?) this type of thing.
Affirmations before bedtime "I know when I am dreaming" also help me when I want to LD. I don't do it all the time, but when I make a point to do it it works.

Here's one I've been working on (no success yet, but I'm trying): in the waking world, I have a lot of chronic pain. In my dreams, it's not there. "Hey, my ribs don't hurt, my back feels fine, my shoulder works perfectly, etc. Must be dreaming, whee!"

Do you have anything like that you could use?

I love your idea of getting up for a workout at 4am, because I'm always waking up early. What time do you go to bed? I'm curious about how many hours of sleep you have for this to work.

I go to bed early-- usually around 9:30 or 10pm. Workout from 4-5 am, then hot bath and back to bed. It has worked great for remembering my dreams.

I haven't tried this. It might help you get lucid but possibly only if you're a coffee/ tea drinker. Don't drink any tea or coffee all day. When you do get up, have one cup of tea or coffee before you go back to bed.

In regards to not realizing its a dream even when strange things are happening. The unconscious mind will accept most situations as reality, no matter how far fetched they are.

I started dreaming lucidly before the internet and didn't know all these different techniques. What worked for me was simply telling myself (my SC, but I didn't even know that at the time) that I would recognize that I was dreaming. To this day I still simply recognize that I'm dreaming, and only perform checks if I'm not certain. The SC is powerful! Often you just need to state your desire clearly and it will take care of the rest.