My Healthy Morning Routine
It’s more critical now than ever to start every day with a good, positive energy! And, many more of us have the time to start incorporating a morning routine into our daily lives! So whether the kids are going TO school or logging on - or if you’re commuting or telecommuting - give yourself even just 10 extra minutes to incorporate one or all of these ideas into your morning to give yourself the best chance at a great day! You can download my Healthy Morning Guide here or just keep reading!
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5 Habits for A Healthy Morning
1. Drink water! This is probably my number one tip across the board for two reasons. One: it’s easy! And two: the benefits are MASSIVE! In terms of starting your day, 16oz. of room temperature or warm water (try not to start with cold water) helps wake up the digestive system and get it flowing. It also helps your morning coffee do its job by keeping you hydrated (coffee is a diuretic). This way, the caffeine can kick in without making you crash later from dehydration - the number one cause of headaches! Our bodies are about 60-75% water, so keeping ourselves hydrated impacts our skin, hair, nails, eyes, brain, digestion and even our emotional and mental health! Bonus points if you add in a capful of apple cider vinegar as it helps balance blood sugar and can aid weight loss!
2. Start with Appreciation. We often launch right into our days, with the to-do lists, the deadlines, the chores…but that sets us up to only be looking at the things that still need to be done. Our brains have a filter, one that we can control. So when we start every day by acknowledging what’s not here yet, we set our filter to dissatisfaction, not enoughness, and frustration. But if we take a few minutes to train our brains towards the good, we can actually adjust our filter to see MORE of it throughout the day! I know this can be hard. If you’re struggling with it, I would encourage you to drop the idea that someone is grading, or even looking at your list! Be simplistic! Be VAIN! Be honest! If you hate your job but you need the paycheck, appreciate that you get a paycheck! If your kids drive you crazy but they’re damn cute, appreciate what cute babies you have! And if your partner is grating your last nerve but at least they make you laugh, then appreciate that you can laugh. Even the smallest detail can be focused into something bigger!
3. Eat a meal that works for YOU! I know at least 30 people who are “keto” these days. Good for them. It’s not for me. And that’s OK! No one diet works for everybody! It’s why we’re ALWAYS looking for that silver bullet, the next great thing, the newest fad! Try this instead: eat a variety of things, check in with yourself! How do you feel after you eat? Are your tired or energized? Satisfied or still hungry? How do you feel 2-3 hours later? Did your meal give you gas or pass easily? We outsource all of our expertise to doctors and coaches and bloggers (I know, I’m the latter two!) when really, the ONLY expert on you, is YOU! My guide includes a fun experiment where I give you a different breakfast idea for 5 days and a little place to jot down how you feel. But you can certainly do it on your own as well! Try things like grain based, dairy, eggs, fruits, I even once had a client try salad for breakfast! Yes, really. Look at different traditional breakfasts from around the world - people eat soup, salad, fish and meat to start their day all over the planet. So find what works for you! And don’t forget to acknowledge that it can and will change! Age, gender, nationality, geographical location and many more can all factor into what makes an individual’s diet “healthy”. Women especially, this can change along with our cycles so do’t be surprised when what worked one week does nothing for you the next! Just take note and keep working with your body!
Bonus tip - when I created the video I initially had “sit quietly” in there as well. And later added movement in it’s place. But sitting quietly for even the 5 minutes it takes to sip your coffee can be tremendously calming! When you quiet your mind, you actually create new connections in your brain! Seriously, they can measure this! You think better, you react better, you forget less - all because you took 5 minutes to stare at a wall! I like to take my coffee out to my (very) tiny porch and just watch the birds while I drink it. Seriously, no one really needs me for that 7-10 minute period!
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4. Prioritize Your Day! I write EVERYTHING down - if it doesn’t get written down, it will not happen. But sometimes the list is so long I want to cry. That overwhelm lands me on the couch being angry at myself that I can’t possibly get it all done. And that’s when nothing gets done. So instead, prioritize! What NEEDS to be done TODAY? Pick three things. What can you put on the schedule for later in the week or even month? What can you ask for help with? (I know, that one’s not my favorite either - I like to think I can do it all on my own, hear me roar and all!). Then, make sure you’ve given yourself a reasonable amount of time for each! If you know you’re a full hair and make up daily kinda girl, don’t give yourself 30 minutes to get ready when you KNOW it’s going to be an hour! And if you like to take it easy on the drive to work, maybe stop for coffee and a chat with the cute barista, don’t budget 15 minutes for your commute! Be honest with yourself about how much time YOU need for each thing. Finally, make sure you schedule in some time for FUN! That means ANYTHING that makes your soul happy! Dinner with the family (cooking, in my case!). A movie on the couch with the kids. Painting, meditating, journaling, reading, playing an instrument - whatever it is you do that just makes you smile - give yourself time for that too! It’s usually where your best ideas come from ANYWAY, so it’s never wasted time! My guide has a full page where you can do this!
5. Get Moving! We hear this a lot but I don’t mean it in the way I think most people do. Sure, if you want to start your day flipping a truck tire, go for it (hell, sometimes I’d like to flip some things right off the bat)! But that doesn’t HAVE to be your “movement”. It can be some gentle yoga or stretching. It can be a walk around the block with the dog or a friend. It can be dancing in the kitchen while you make breakfast and embarrass the crap out of your kids! They ALL count! But it is good to start the day with some simple, fun, easy movement to get the juices flowing and put a smile on your face! Increasing the heart rate and a bit of sweat release feel-good hormones into the body, boosting our mood and setting us up for an awesome day!
I hope this list helps you start the day, the new school year (and the rest of this wild, wacky year!) off right! You can pick any one of them to start - baby steps folks! By creating a healthy morning routine we can change the course of our day to day and as a result change the course of our lives and the lives of those around us. Because honestly, happy people make good partners, good parents, good bosses and good workers. And since none of us know exactly where this “new normal” is going to take us, it makes sense, and I think, feels better, to take some control of our own lives. To create a healthier, better world going forward. Enjoy!
xoxo
~Cara