How Your Morning Routine Shapes Weight Loss & Health

Woman stretching upon waking up in the morning.

If you’ve scrolled through your social media feeds lately, you’ve probably seen the viral morning routine trend where people engage in multiple drastic activities when they wake up, including dunking their heads in ice water and rubbing banana peels on their faces. While it’s questionable whether these things are actually beneficial in the long run, the importance of setting up a consistent morning routine has been proven to help you unlock your best self. When you’re on a weight loss journey, making the right choices to set yourself up for success is crucial. Establishing healthy habits upon waking up does wonders for your energy, your motivation, and even helps kickstart your metabolism.

Why A Morning Routine Matters

Increase In Overall Energy and Activity

Most people can identify with waking up and feeling sluggish, grabbing their coffee to wake up, and dragging themselves through the day until their next cup. It doesn’t have to be like this! Establishing a morning routine that includes healthy habits and empowers you with the energy needed to tackle your day will do wonders for you. If you take the time to establish a consistent routine before your school or work day begins, you set the tone for the rest of the day. Your productivity and engagement in interactions will be positively impacted, and you’ll feel much clearer (less brain fog!). You also set the tone to complete your goals for the day, like getting exercise or cooking a healthy meal. If you start your day on the right foot, you’ll have the energy to go the extra mile for yourself.

Helps Keep Motivation Up

Starting your day off strong will help you achieve your goals, whether they be small feats or something bigger. Everyone has something they are working towards, and sometimes it feels like you just don’t have enough hours in the day to accomplish everything you’d like to. By establishing a routine that stays consistent, you unlock more time in your day to do what drives you. If you can complete small and consistent habits before your day starts, you can go out and tackle anything. The psychological snowball effect proves that small habits will add up over time, just like a snowball. Use this to your advantage to help you complete those goals you have, including weight loss. Waking up and establishing healthy routines will keep you motivated on your weight loss journey, even when it feels impossible.

Kick Starts Your Metabolism

Having a healthy morning routine helps you out just as much physically as it does mentally! If you’re on a weight loss journey, boosting your metabolism will be key to helping you achieve your goals easily. The right habits upon waking up from a good night’s sleep will get your body up and running, including your metabolism, helping you burn more fat throughout the day. You’ll also get your digestion up and running for the day, which slows down as you’re sleeping, and this will help you process the food you eat throughout the day properly and effectively.

Habits to Implement

Moving Your Body

Starting your day by moving your body is one of those habits that doesn’t sound super appealing (especially if you’re not a morning person…) but even a simple 5 minutes of stretching in the morning can do wonders for your body and overall health. Studies have shown that setting time aside to exercise in the morning is correlated with increased focus throughout the day, decreased appetite, and increased fat loss over a 24-hour period! Try making small changes, like a quick low-impact workout in the morning, to see a significant difference in how your day plays out.

Hydration

There are tons of benefits to reap from starting your day off with a glass or two of water. Hydration is essential, and grabbing coffee first thing in the morning doesn’t exactly help us keep hydrated. Instead, try drinking 8 ounces of water to help replenish your body from the lack of hydration during sleep. Drinking water in the morning, especially cold water, has been shown to help stimulate your metabolism. It also promotes healthy digestion, and can enhance your skin (goodbye, morning puffiness!).

Eating A Nutritious Breakfast

We all know what they say about breakfast, it is the most important meal of the day! It’s easy to leave in the morning and forget to eat, and having “just a coffee” is not enough! Eating breakfast will help you power through the day. You’ll be able to keep your energy up, and even lose weight by preventing mindless snacking. Try prepping a breakfast that is rich in protein and fiber to keep you full. A quick, easy, and delicious breakfast to try is something like a greek yogurt bowl. Top it with some fresh fruits and nuts to get your protein and fiber in!

Journaling/Mental Health Check

Most people, whether they like to admit it or not, wake up and immediately grab for their phones. Scrolling through social media first thing in the morning has a huge impact on the course of our day, and adds up over time. Instead of reaching for the phone, try waking up and having a screen-free moment to yourself. Try to reflect on your goals, how you’re feeling, and listen to your body and what it may be telling you. Journaling is a great way to start your day in order to have a quiet moment with your thoughts and truly understand what you might be feeling. Starting your day off like this will help you keep your feelings in perspective, and keep your goals in the front of your mind. Weight loss can feel like an insurmountable task, but by taking the time to regroup every morning and collect your thoughts, you can empower yourself to keep going.

Prepping Meals For The Day

One of the biggest struggles when trying to lose weight is figuring out what to eat. Most times, if you don’t take the time to plan out and prepare meals for yourself, you end up going out and grabbing the quickest thing you can find (not always the healthiest choice!). These days where you don’t prepare add up, and can slow down your weight loss efforts. Try setting aside time in the morning to cook yourself a healthy lunch that will keep you fulfilled and won’t have you running to the nearest fast food restaurant. It will make a world of difference when you have a healthy meal ready for you whenever you need it during your day.

Conclusion

A healthy and consistent morning routine is the key to setting yourself up for success, especially during your weightloss journey! Small continuous habits will add up over time, and you’ll notice the difference once you start to put your best foot forward upon waking up. There are things you can do to make your life easier and reach your goals quicker, including using The Difference App to help keep track of your daily intake! Your goals are within reach, you have the power to achieve them if you put your mind to it.