Wellness Wednesday: Morning Routine

I hate waking up early in the morning. You would never know it thanks to the magical elixir that is coffee, but I am a hot mess first thing in the morning. My caffeine addiction is probably not something that I should be including in my Wellness Wednesday blog post, but I am human. I am certainly not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I have my vices…and coffee is definitely one of them. 

Waking up early, for me, helps immensely with wellness and weight management. When I wake up early, it allows me to exercise a bit before I start my day. Even if all I’m doing is taking a walk or doing the elliptical for 20 minutes, early morning exercise has proven to be a game changer for several reasons.

1. My days tend to go sideways. One thing that I have learned is when work gets crazy for me, I tend to skip my afternoon workouts because I run out of time and I’m exhausted at the end of the day. Sometimes I have a couple of weeks in a row that get seriously chaotic at work, I skip several workouts, eat like crap, and gain weight. If I get out of bed and go work out, even just a little bit, in the morning, it helps to mitigate this problem. I still go to the gym after work, but if my day goes sideways – I’ve already done something in the morning. I’ve learned that this has to be a routine for me, because I generally do not know when my day is going to go sideways and because it is easier to get up early every day rather than to get up early only when I think I need to.
    
2. Higher energy. I have more energy, my mental acuity is higher, and my focus is better when I work out in the morning.
   
   
3. My stress level is lower. When I exercise in the morning my stress level is lower and I feel better, emotionally. It makes my days much more enjoyable and much more productive, even when they go sideways.
   
   
4. I feel good about myself and it helps my motivation to make healthy choices for the rest of the day because I feel better and I don't want to ruin my good start.
   
   
5. I love to hike (hence the name of the blog), getting into the habit of waking up early has allowed my husband and I to do some amazing, longer hikes, avoid the hottest part of the day, and see some extraordinary sunrises. 

The most difficult part of exercising in the morning is not exercising in the morning – it’s getting out of bed. It is especially difficult when it is freezing cold and I am snuggled comfortably in my soft, warm quilts. I just have to get out of bed, get my coffee, and get ready for the gym. Once I’m out the door, I’m on my way, it's easy from that point on. Try it – try it for two weeks and see how it goes.