10 Habits that Can Make Up the Best Morning Routine for Weight Loss
There’s always some diet claiming to be the best way anyone can lose weight. Just hop on social media and you’re bound to see at least one celebrity, influencer or guru endorsing a new drink, super food or way of eating that will miraculously let you shed pounds easily in no time. We’re not saying none of them works, but there is one way that’s guaranteed to help you get fit without costing a lot of money or drastically changing your lifestyle:
Create and follow your very own morning routine that promotes weight loss.
Not only is it easy, it can even be fun. Just choose the habits that best suit you so that your mornings become just a bit brighter while you watch yourself slim down.
Since we know everyone’s different, here are 10 healthy morning routine habits that have been proven to be effective in losing weight. Follow them all or pick the ones you like to make the best morning routine for weight loss for you.
Get Some Sun
As soon as you wake up, open your curtains or blinds and let the sun in or step outside to soak up some rays. It turns out that sun exposure helps with weight loss.
A study revealed that sunlight helps burn fat. That’s why many people tend to gain weight during the holidays, which fall around winter, when there isn’t much sunlight.
Another study also found that the vitamin D we get from sunlight not only helps with weight loss, but even prevents weight gain.
To enjoy these benefits, expose yourself to sunlight for 10–15 minutes each morning.
Have a High-Protein Breakfast
You need to always have breakfast. Considered the most important meal of the day, it keeps you feeling full until lunch, preventing you from becoming sluggish until then. But if you also want to lose weight, you need to make it high in protein.
Whether it’s eggs, cheese, nuts or Greek yogurt, a high-protein breakfast keeps us feeling full longer. The less cravings we have, the less food we eat. The less we eat, the more weight we lose.
Drink Water
Although it doesn’t have any calories, water can make us feel full. If you drink a glass or two before breakfast, you won’t want to eat a lot, helping you lose weight.
Aside from curbing your appetite, drinking water can also stimulate your metabolism, or the chemical processes in your body that turn the food you eat into energy. The higher or faster it is, the more calories you burn.
Exercise
It goes without saying that practically anyone can lose weight if they exercise. But did you know that it will be more effective in helping you keep your weight down if you do it in the morning?
Exercise helps keep our blood sugar levels steady. If they get too low, we’ll get really hungry. We might eat too much if we’re too hungry, making us gain weight.
The best time in the morning to exercise is before breakfast. Not only will you get more from your workout if you do it on an empty stomach, http://localhost/thrivefull-wp/you’ll burn more calories when you sit down to eat.
Weigh Yourself
Weighing yourself every morning is a great motivator to keep with your morning routine.
If you see you’re losing weight on the scale, you’ll keep going even when it gets hard.
If you aren’t seeing the results you want, it will drive you to try harder or change things up with the habits that might actually work.
You’ll stay focused either way, making sure you achieve what you set out to do.
Practice Mindfulness
When you practice mindfulness, you focus on what you’re doing. It’s surprisingly effective in helping keep a proper weight.
Try it out when you eat breakfast. Turn away from your computer. Put your phone down. Chew each bite slowly. Appreciate all the tastes and smells you experience.
You’ll notice you’ll get full faster. That’s because your meal was more satisfying. The more satisfied you feel, the less you need to eat.
Pack Your Lunch
It’s hard to always eat healthy when you’re at work or in class. It’s easier to just have fast food, especially if you’re on a deadline.
Avoid this by making your own lunch. Doing so lets you choose only healthy food to eat.
Since they’re not as processed as most of the “food” we get at fast-food joints and convenience stores, home-cooked meals won’t have any excess fat, salt and sugar. The less of these unhealthy ingredients we consume, the less we’re at risk of gaining weight.
Keep a Food Diary
Many of us used to keep a diary when we were kids. We’d write in it about memorable things that happened to us or our thoughts on certain things we aren’t exactly comfortable sharing with others.
Now that we’re older, we can start another diary. Not to document our day-to-day, but to keep track of what we eat.
Doing so is great at keeping yourself accountable. If you slip up and eat something you shouldn’t, you’ll see it in your diary, showing you need to eat healthy again the next day.
Change the Way You Commute
Driving might be the easiest way to go somewhere, but it’s not great for your waistline. You’ll just end up sitting most of the day, drastically reducing your physical activity.
When it’s nice out, walk or bike instead. It’s effectively another workout session, lowering your risk of gaining weight even more.
Get Enough Sleep
There are those who are proud whenever they have to stay up all night. It’s like a badge of honor for them, proof that they’re hard workers. But it’s never really worth it.
Lack of sleep is awful for overall health. Its negative effects include increased risk of depression, hypertension, stroke, diabetes and obesity.
To make sure you always get enough shut-eye, schedule when you go to bed and stick to it.
References
- “Morning Habits to Help You Lose Weight” by Brunilda Nazario, MD for NOURISH by WebMD
- “10 Morning Habits That Help You Lose Weight” by Rachael Link, MS, RD for healthline
- Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem, National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NIH)
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