Something easily overlooked when trying to lose weight is the importance of a morning routine. Not only does having a specific routine help boost your metabolism, but it helps set your whole day up for success! Getting your mindset right, plus developing healthy habits first thing in the morning is crucial to long-term success when it comes to weight loss.
The path to health is filled with all sorts of detours. This is particularly true when weight and energy are concerned. Many people want to do things like be able to play tennis, go for a hikes, or even get down in the floor and play with their grandkids, but don’t have the energy to do what they love. Much of this is due to having a poorly functioning or inefficient metabolism. Let’s get you started off on the right foot with tips for improving your metabolism with a solid morning routine.
Choosing Whether or Not to Eat Breakfast
There used to be a saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It turns out that, most likely, breakfast is just another meal.
“The current body of scientific knowledge indicates that the proposed effect of breakfast on obesity is only presumed true” (Source)
In a large cohort, 4-year long study based on Japanese insurance statistics, self-reported breakfast-skippers had a lower incidence of all diseases (including metabolic diseases) as compared to breakfast-eaters. In the same study, a link between late eating and poorer health was demonstrated.
It can be beneficial to intermittent fast, at least once in a while, by skipping breakfast. One of metabolic effects of intermittent fasting, besides your body beginning to use adipose fat as fuel, is intermittent ketosis—known for its appetite suppression effect.
That said, if you wake up hungry, by all means, eat breakfast. You can either delay breakfast by just 90 minutes, or eat dinner 90 minutes earlier to experience positive effects. It doesn’t have to be something drastic!
The opinion paper above concludes that it is reasonable to suppose that skipping breakfast could be as metabolically beneficial as excluding late eating.
In conclusion, if you’re only eating breakfast to boost your metabolism, you can stop. That myth has been debunked! (Source)
Move Your Body in the Morning
One of the best things you can do for yourself is to take on some kind of exercise routine in the morning. This doesn’t mean that it has to be an intense, pulse-pounding exercise, just that you get your body moving.
Working out in the morning can help boost your metabolism because our testosterone levels are highest in the morning. Since testosterone promotes muscle growth, working out when it is highest can boost lean muscle production. And the more lean muscle you have, the higher your metabolism!
Plus, if you work out in the morning, there is less time to come up with excuses not to exercise throughout the day. If you plan your workout for the evening, you might lose your resolve because you get tired, maybe you didn’t take enough food to work with you and now you’re hungry, or a myriad of other reasons! Not to mention that working out later in the day or evening raises your cortisol levels which may set you up for sleep disturbances.
Consume the Right Nutrients
When your body has the right nutrients, it will function more efficiently. Part of your morning (or evening) routine likely consists of taking supplements or vitamins. Incorporating the right vitamins into your morning routine can give your metabolism a boost!
- B vitamins can help to stimulate your metabolism by giving your body the ability to metabolize carbohydrates, proteins, and fats into energy that you will need throughout the day. (Source) B vitamins include:
- B-12
- biotin
- folate
- B-6
- pantothenic acid or B-5
- niacin or B-3
- riboflavin or B-2
- thiamine or B-1
- Vitamin D is another nutrient beneficial for weight management. (Source)
- Research suggests that a higher calcium intake combined with vitamin D can be helpful with fat loss as well.
- Since iron helps carry oxygen in red blood cells to the muscles, having sufficient iron is also important.
- Lastly, magnesium creates chemical reactions that produce energy in the body—meaning that magnesium is essential for a healthy metabolism as well.
How to Become a Morning Person
You can’t develop a morning routine if you don’t wake up early enough, or are too sluggish when you do wake up! Becoming a morning person is so much more than just wanting to be more energetic and awake when you get up. It allows you to take full advantage of the first few hours in the morning, develop a healthy routine, and start your day off with a positive attitude. Here are some tips to help ease you into becoming more of a morning person, so you can create your own metabolism-boosting morning routine.
Get Better Sleep
Naturally, the first place to start is getting good sleep the night before! If you struggle getting to sleep, staying asleep, or getting high quality sleep, it can wreck your morning. Check out my sleep tips in my article here, Why You’re So Tired and What You Can Do About It. In it I give ideas for why you may be struggling with sleep, plus how you can work toward fixing it.
Find Your Why for Becoming a Morning Person
It helps us stick to a goal when we know the deeper reasons WHY. Are you trying to lose weight? Great! Why? To live a healthier life? Awesome. Why? So the time you have on this earth is spent doing things you love, with people you love? Now we are talking. Dig deep to the core motivation for changing your behavior. Write it down and keep it by your bed.
Reward Yourself in the Morning
When creating a new habit, it helps to have a reward. What is something you can reward yourself with in the morning if you get up and stick to your routine? Maybe you’ll spend a little extra on your favorite blend of coffee and reward yourself with it when you get up on time. Maybe you tell yourself you can’t get on your phone until you complete certain tasks in the morning. Get creative! Think about something small that excites you, and use it as a motivator for completing your morning routine.
Do you have a morning routine you love? How did you develop it? I would love to hear about it in the comments!