Your morning routine matters.
The first thing you do in the morning has major effects on your body…
A closer look at what’s happening in our brains and bodies the rest of the day may convince you to shift your morning habits.
There’s one morning routine that seems to trump the rest. It’s quick, effective, and even addictive once you feel the results.
Today, I want to introduce you to my 10-Minute Metabolism-Boosting Morning Routine.
Can I convince you to test it out for yourself? Let me try…
The Problem: Your Morning is Messing Up Your Metabolism
We’ve got a few issues. Our morning routines are setting us up for failure throughout the day. And we’re doing this by making two big mistakes.
The first is going to bed too late, then tapping snooze the next morning.
One study of 3 million sleep sessions found that 56% of people snooze their alarm in the morning two to three times, delaying getting up by around a half hour.
But “just 5 more minutes” might be a problem.
Habitually hitting snooze can disrupt your metabolism through fragmented sleep and altered stress hormones. It forces your body into a new, broken sleep cycle, causing sleep inertia (that groggy feeling), increased cortisol, higher insulin, and higher risks of abdominal fat and metabolic disorders.
So, get those five more minutes on the front end. Go to bed a little earlier and significantly improve your metabolic health. Solid sleep will regulate your hormones and increase fat burning.
The second big mistake we make in the morning is grabbing our phone.
About 85% of us are on our phones within minutes of waking up.
That doesn’t sound great. But what does it have to do with your metabolism?
Cortisol.
Cortisol naturally rises in the morning–it acts as a gentle push to get us alert, out of bed, and moving.
But our phones give us a big boost in our levels of this stress hormone. Too much cortisol slows down metabolism. It promotes fat storage (especially belly fat) and triggers muscle tissue breakdown (which hugely damages metabolism).
High cortisol causes insulin resistance, raises blood sugar levels, lowers energy expenditure, and triggers cravings for high-calorie, sugary foods. All this leads to weight gain.
Practically, time spent on your phone will replace healthier, metabolism-healing morning habits, like the ones you’re about to learn.
The Solution: A 10-Minute Morning Routine That Boosts Metabolism Before Breakfast
Hydrate Immediately
Drink 16-32oz of water immediately. Because it’s powerful for metabolism.
Water rehydrates your body after sleep, boosting metabolism by 30% for the next hour! Here’s how a simple glass of water boosts metabolism in the morning:
- Water-Induced Thermogenesis: Drinking water forces your body to expend energy to warm it to body temperature. Drinking cold water may possibly result in a higher metabolic boost than warm water because the body expends more energy to bring it up to your body temp.
- Noradrenaline Surge: Drinking about 2 cups of water can trigger a surge of the hormone noradrenaline, which elevates your metabolic rate, similar to caffeine.
- Rehydration After Sleep: Sleep causes mild dehydration. We lose about one liter of fluid each night. Rehydrating first thing restores your blood volume and allows metabolic processes (like energy production and fat burning) to function efficiently.
- Improved Digestion: Drinking water before breakfast can aid in priming your stomach for digestion, improving nutrient absorption.
This is where a water bottle on your nightstand can be helpful. Fill it with filtered water the night before. In the morning, your water bottle should be the first thing you touch (after your alarm clock).
Step Into the Sunlight and Walk (Barefoot)
This is a three-for-one metabolism booster. So let’s look at each part more closely.
- First, let’s talk about morning sunlight. Sunlight is energetic information that tells our brains and cells how to function. The sun has a direct physical relationship on the structure and action of your body. And the sun has the power to set your circadian rhythm.Your circadian rhythm impacts everything! From food intake, insulin sensitivity, and glucose control to energy expenditure.It’s a powerful player in your metabolism, especially when you catch rays first thing in the morning. Sunlight in your eyes and on your face acts as a natural reset button for your body’s internal clock, setting up optimal daytime hormone production and energy expenditure for the rest of the day.
Morning sunlight also regulates appetite hormones, lowering the hunger hormone ghrelin and increasing the satiety hormone, leptin.
By stabilizing your circadian rhythm with morning sunlight, your body will be primed and ready for high quality sleep that night, which is crucial for your metabolism and losing body fat.
- Next, let’s talk about walking. If strength training is the king of all exercises, walking is the queen. It is a powerful movement that brings long life, healing, and (of course) a stronger metabolism.A morning walk tells your body to tap into stored fat for energy, especially if you walk in a fasted state. It increases the amount of calories you burn for the rest of the day. It initiates an “afterburn” effect, so your body burns through more fat that day than on days you skip your morning walk. Walking lowers blood sugar, aligns your circadian rhythm, and improves your overall metabolic function.
- Finally, let’s talk about your feet, and why you should leave the shoes behind. If you’re lucky enough to have a place you can walk barefooted, you’ll also gain all the metabolic benefits of grounding in your morning routine.
Simply touching the Earth puts your body into a healing state. Grounding (standing or walking barefoot on the Earth) acts as a regulator for all your metabolic processes by shifting your nervous system from “fight-or-flight” (sympathetic) to a “rest-and-digest” (parasympathetic) state. This stabilizes your internal energy consumption.
By connecting physically to the Earth’s electrons, your body can better manage blood sugar, reduce metabolic waste, and lower chronic inflammation.
Want Morning Goodness? Follow the Groundrules.
If you want in on this goodness, you have to follow a few rules.
First, phones are a no-go. Stick your phone on the charger outside of the bedroom. An alarm clock (or this little bot that opens the blinds at a set time) will do you better.
Second, bedtime is important. Your morning routine can’t fix last night’s recklessness. If you went to bed extra late, your morning routine (and the following day) will take a hit.
Third, don’t be a perfectionist. These steps are to help you thrive, not put you in a bind. Try this ten minute routine for a week or two, and write down whether you feel the difference. My guess? You’ll be hooked.
Ready for more realistic steps you can actually take to improve your health and drop body fat? That’s the central theme that runs throughout everything we teach in LEAN. (If you can’t do it and stick to it in your real life, what’s the point of health tips, right?)
Let’s get real, and get healthy, together. Join us, and start making visible progress.
