Why A Healthy Morning Routine Matters
Adopting a healthy morning routine complete with a balanced breakfast is one of the best ways to set yourself up for a successful day. It can be a hard adjustment at first to adopt better morning habits, but once you get into the swing of things, it only gets easier.
There are lots of great reasons why you should wake up early and get your day started with healthier habits:
- One of the main reasons why people want to adopt a healthier morning routine is to boost their productivity. If setting aside time in the early morning hours helps you focus on a new project, exercise, start journaling, or cook a healthy breakfast, it’s a worthwhile investment of your time!
- Starting your day at a slower pace and taking time to review your daily to-do list will also help with stress management and lower your anxiety.
- Your overall health and wellbeing will also be impacted by adopting better morning habits. There is a lot to be said for eating a healthy breakfast—they don’t call it the most important meal of the day for nothing! And starting your morning with hydration, exercise, and quiet time are all great ways to prepare your body for the day ahead.
- When you start your day off on the right foot, it sets you up for a successful day where you feel in control and organized. When we have a rushed morning, it’s easy to forget things or be put in a bad mood that will affect the rest of your day. By waking up earlier and starting your day with a healthy morning routine, you can start your day feeling confident and fresh!
Now that you know why you should start adopting better morning habits, let’s look at how you can start creating your healthy morning routine!
How to Create Your Healthy Morning Routine
Before you start creating a plan for your new morning routine, think about a few of these details:
- What time do you plan to wake up?
- Will you prepare anything the night before?
- How much time will you dedicate to each part of your routine?
- How will you keep yourself accountable?
Once you’ve answered these important questions, you will be in better shape to start creating your plan!
Healthy Morning Routine Checklist
We’ve put together a healthy morning routine checklist to help you create the perfect routine that works best for you.
Hydration
As soon as you wake up, one of the first things you should do is drink a glass of water! Drinking water first thing in the morning helps flush out our system and rehydrates us after hours without food or drink. Drinking water also helps to wake us up, so if you struggle with rolling out of bed early in the morning, a tall glass of water will help give you the push you need to start your day.
If you don’t like drinking plain water first thing in the morning, try slicing up some lemons or Cucumbers the night before and adding them to your water to give it a refreshing flavor.
Do you find yourself forgetting to drink water first thing in the morning? Try one of these tricks to keep hydration a top priority during your morning routine:
- Set an alarm or reminder on your phone.
- Before you go to bed, put an empty water glass in the middle of your counter. When you see the empty cup in the morning, you’ll be reminded to fill it up with water!
- Before you go to bed, fill up a water bottle and put it in the fridge. When you wake up you will already have a big bottle of ice-cold water waiting for you.
Moving Your Body
Moving your body should also be part of your healthy morning routine. Getting your body moving first thing in the morning will help you wake up, warm up your muscles and joints after hours without movement, give you an energy boost, and can even kickstart your metabolism!
Getting active early in the morning looks different from one person to the next–some people can easily jump out of bed and complete a full body workout, while others prefer a more relaxed workout involving meditation or stretches. Choose the activity that works best for you and that will best prepare you for the day ahead.
If you find it a challenge to motivate yourself to exercise first thing in the morning, here are a few tips:
- Plan your workout ahead of time so you know exactly what activities you’ll be doing. It’s easy to press snooze if you don’t have a workout plan in place!
- The night before, lay out all your workout clothes beside your bed and make sure all your equipment is ready to use.
- Find an accountability buddy so you can motivate each other to get up and get active!
- Create a playlist that motivates you and gets you in the right mindset for your workout.
And don’t forget: eating the right foods before and after your workout is an important part of living a healthy lifestyle! Check out our best pre-workout and post-workout snacks and meals so you can properly fuel your exercise routine.
Brain Exercises
You may also want to dedicate some time during your morning routine to exercising your brain. When the house is quiet, some people find it easier to work on a new project, read a book, or write in a journal. Using your brain early in the morning can help you clear your mind, improve your focus, and even unleash your creativity!
Here are a some ideas for how you can incorporate brain exercises into your daily morning routine:
- Dedicate time towards a new project or task. This could be anything from learning about a new subject, to reviewing your daily schedule, to planning your meals for the week! Finishing a task first thing in the morning will give you a sense of accomplishment that helps motivate you for the rest of the day.
- Reading a book or completing a daily study is another great way to flex your brain’s muscles. Many people find reading very relaxing, so this may be a good option for you if it takes your body a little bit longer to wake up in the morning.
- Work on a puzzle like a crossword, word search, or sudoku. While it’s easy to download one of these on your phone or tablet, buy a puzzle book so you can limit your screen time first thing in the morning.
Journaling has also become a very popular way for people to start their day! You can approach journaling in a number of ways:
- Start a gratitude journal where you write down 5 things you’re grateful for each morning.
- Outline your short-term and long-term goals to keep you motivated. This will also put your focus on what you want to accomplish for the rest of the day, week, month, and year.
- Your journal can also act like a brain dump. By writing down whatever is on your mind when you first wake up, you can declutter your thoughts and start your day with a fresh perspective.
Healthy Breakfast
One of the most important parts of a good morning routine is preparing a healthy breakfast! There’s a reason people say breakfast is the most important meal of the day: the food you eat at breakfast is what replenishes your body after hours without food or drink, and it fuels your day ahead.
While eating a healthy breakfast is incredibly important, many people feel like they don’t have time in the morning to prepare it, or they have no idea what foods will give them the best start to their day. By dedicating time during your morning routine to preparing and eating a healthy breakfast, you can make eating healthy a top priority!
If you’re looking for simple, tasty, and nutritious breakfast ideas, check out these 5 fast and healthy breakfasts to fuel your day.
5 Fast Breakfast Ideas to Fuel Your Day
Whether you need something easy to eat while walking out the door, or you’re looking for a healthy breakfast you can sit down and enjoy with the rest of your family, here are 5 fast and healthy breakfast ideas to help energize you for the day ahead!
Grilled Pepper & Tomato Frittata
If you want to prepare breakfast for everyone to enjoy together, a veggie-heavy frittata is the way to go! Our Grilled Pepper & Tomato Frittata is loaded with juicy Peppers, sweet Tomatoes, and fresh arugula, but you can add your family’s favorite veggies to the mix to make it your own.
Frittatas are simple, filling, and full of flavor. They’re a great healthy breakfast option if you want eating a family breakfast to be part of your morning routine!
Sweet & Savory Pepper Pancakes
These Sweet & Savory Pepper Pancakes are a great healthy breakfast option that subtly sneaks in some extra nutrition. By adding pureed Sweet Peppers to your pancake batter, you add a natural sweet flavor to a classic breakfast option, plus a healthy dose of vitamin C!
If you want to cut down on the prep time for this pancake recipe, you can make the batter ahead of time and put it in your fridge to pull out on a busier morning.
Tex Mex Egg White Bites
Egg white bites are a highly nutritious option for breakfast, and they can easily be eaten on-the-go or served with other breakfast foods. Our Tex Mex Egg White Bites are packed with high quality protein, fiber, and lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants!
If you want to save some time while preparing this healthy breakfast option, prepare the ingredients while cooking dinner the night before and bake the egg white bites fresh in the morning.
Breakfast Sandwich
Everyone loves a fresh breakfast sandwich! Our classic Breakfast Sandwich recipe features fried eggs and smoked ham topped with a juicy Tomato slice and mashed avocado, all served on a toasted English muffin. You can prepare this quick and simple breakfast option for the whole family or make it for yourself to eat on-the-go.
Smoothies
Smoothies are the ultimate on-the-go healthy breakfast option. You can add a wide variety of healthy ingredients to smoothies to make them taste exactly how you like, but they can also be enjoyed while on your way to work or dropping off the kids at school. The options are endless!
Here are a few of our favorite healthy smoothie recipes:
Hydrating Cucumber Mango Smoothie
Strawberry Bell Pepper Smoothie
Download Our Grocery List
Feeling inspired to start cooking some healthier breakfasts? Download our free grocery list so you don’t miss any of the ingredients you’ll need for these 5 fast and healthy breakfast ideas!
Don’t Wait for Monday—Start Tomorrow!
Now that you have the tools you need, it’s time to start planning and executing your healthy morning routine. Don’t wait for Monday morning—tomorrow is the best day to get started!
