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5 Reasons A Morning Routine Is Meaningful (And 8 Ideas To Get You Started!)

In high school and college, I used to consider myself a night owl. I loved staying up late— it felt like I was experiencing so much more and getting to live by my own rules. It gave me peace and solitude and the chance to catch up on assignments or personal projects that I just could not get to earlier on in the day.

Several years after I graduated college and got a job, things changed. Or more accurately, I changed. I needed boundaries.

After many sleepy (okay, crabby) mornings, I realized something profound — I was starting my day off on someone else’s terms. I was tired and felt like my circumstances controlled me rather than me honoring my own time (and I think I was oddly starting to appreciate the early morning rise). I slowly started rising earlier, spending a few quiet moments alone before the bustle of the day began.

Before long, I found that I felt more focused, patient, and peaceful. I gained a clarity and presence that had previously eluded me. I became much more intentional and productive, without changing much other than my morning routine. My mornings felt more purposeful and the effects lasted throughout the day.

Not enough time to read the whole article right now? Scroll below to skip to ideas to get your morning serving you!

How a morning routine changes you

A good morning routine creates consistency in your day. Starting your day out with a set plan and then listing out what you want to accomplish that day increases your productivity and your ability to be consistent with what you say that you are going to do. You also allow yourself to say “I am a priority” by setting aside time for you and getting in a consistent routine of valuing yourself.
You improve your physical and emotional energy. Creativity and indulging in what inspires you creates energy —positive, uplifting energy. When you can start your day off on a high, your emotional energy raises and, in turn, you have more physical energy. If exercise is part of your morning routine, then that is even more physical energy you are creating and more endorphins that you are allowing to flood your brain!
You develop strong discipline. Let’s face it — when you can consistently pull your butt out of bed and engage in your morning routine day in and day out, your willpower and discipline enhance significantly. This discipline is likely to then spill over into other areas of your life, leaving you feel more accomplished and productive.
Stress decreases throughout your day. Starting your day out with positivity helps you to be more likely to decrease potential stress throughout the day. It is shown that the first 20-30 minutes from when you first wake in the morning is the most influential to your subconscious (the part of the brain where your ego likes to hide out). When you can influence your subconscious, you are better able to begin retraining your brain and your old thought patterns. And, when you begin to retrain your brain, you are more likely to begin perceiving stressful situations differently- learning how to respond rather than react to a situation.
Learn self-love and self-compassion. When you create time to learn about yourself and put yourself first, a funny little thing happens — you learn to appreciate, respect, and love yourself a little more. Life feels different and self-respect begins to flourish.

A huge misconception is that you need a ton of time to set aside in the morning. But if you commit to the idea that you have to set aside 2 hours first thing in the morning to be successful, you will most likely fail before you even begin. Start with 20-30 minutes. That’s it! As you progress and you see what feels right and what fits in your schedule, you can adjust from there. The key is to just start!

8 morning practices to create a satisfying morning routine

Practice gratitude. Gratitude for yourself, gratitude for the ones you love, gratitude for your enemies, gratitude for your environment. Have you recently had a work success? Did your child have a great day at school? Was the sunrise beautiful this morning and you were fortunate enough to awake to see it? We have so much to be thankful for and beginning your day in a place of gratitude instantly raises your mood and your emotional state.
Write it down. Journaling is a creative way to get the junk out of your head and onto paper. You can journal with words or pictures or lists. You can write stories or poetry. Pouring your thoughts (and hearts) out onto paper for even a few minutes a day can help you clear your mind and support your well-being. There is no right way to journal, there is only your way!
Read or listen to inspirational words. Words are powerful, especially when you can fully engage in them through a time of quiet. You can read your favorite motivational quotes, self-help books, devotionals, poetry, or enlightening books. You can even listen to inspirational podcasts or interviews or audio books. Truly the choices are abundant, as long as they are uplifting and positive.
Body movement. The options are endless — go for a run, hit the mat for a yoga practice, do a series of push ups or strength-building activities, dance, or stretch your body. To really boost the power of body movement, combine this with a meditative walk outdoors to fully engage in the stress-reducing power of nature.
Meditate. How amazing would it feel to clear your mind from constant chatter? Health experts, athletes, physicians, spiritual teachers, and more emphasize the effects of meditation. Beginning your day with it can increase your likelihood of returning back to it throughout the day, too. Consider a class or a guided meditation app (i.e., Headspace) to get started.
Start to visualize your future. What would your ideal day look like? How would you like your future to unfold? Dwelling on it for a few moments each morning not only helps you to learn about what you really want out of life, but it also helps you to stay connected to it — to stay on track. Creating a vision board (a collage of photos and words that represent your goals) is a great way to bring your visualization into the here and now and allow you to keep you on track.
Set your daily intention. As you think about the day ahead, with its various demands, how do you want to carry yourself? Choose a word that represents who and how you want to be throughout the day, then focus on it throughout your day. Words I have found powerful include: energized, joyful, focused, worthy, and calm.
Create SMART goals. SMART goals are a simple acronym that helps you get super down and dirty with specific goal setting. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Create 1-2 SMART goals for your day that will help you to enhance your feelings of productivity and to help you get closer to creating the life that you visualize. When you have a plan and achievable goals set in place, it is much easier to take action and to honor yourself!

How you begin your morning sets the tone for your entire day. Choose one or two of the items above, or ask yourself what would best serve you.

Then, tonight, set yourself up for a peaceful night’s rest in confidence knowing that you will start your morning off on a good foot!

Are you tired of feeling stressed out and overwhelmed as soon as your feet hit the floor in the morning?

Get my instant download of the “5 Simple Morning Tips To Instantly Create Your Distressed Day” (It’s Free!)

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How To Get Flabuless Abs After 35

Did you know that sarcopenia, the natural loss of muscle, begins in your 30s and continues throughout your later years? You lose about 1 pound of muscle every year.

Did you know that the “middle-age spread” can appear at any age, but women may notice it most as they hit 50? You have hit the spread when the number on the scale is the same as, but your waistline may expand and the proportion of body fat to lean muscle changes.

The good news is is that it is possible to navigate through this natural process and maintain lean muscle mass while avoiding the extra belly fat that slowly creeps in during the “middle age spread. ” But how?

In a hurry? Scroll down to the tips below to learn some easy action steps to help you get flabuless abs!

“Why can I not get rid of this fat on my stomach?”

I get asked this question all the time, especially from women and especially from women as they are getting older. Tell me, do you:

Feel constantly bloated and puffy around your midsection?
Crave more sweets and carbs, especially when you are stressed out?
Feel like you have no willpower?
Pangs of guilt every time you indulge in some of your favorite not-so healthy snacks and treats?
Feel like you are no longer as attractive as you used to be and are afraid that your significant other will lose interest in you?
Get discouraged because it doesn’t seem to matter how hard you exercise or how little you eat, you still maintain your belly fat?

You are not alone — These are all common complaints that I hear frequently and that have been plaguing the human spirit for decades.

Photo by Victoria Heath on Unsplash

Information overload keeps us overweight

With the information overload that exists in our world, it is completely understandable why you would be confused or frustrated with your results. Some experts tell you to do one thing and other experts tell you to do the exact opposite. The reality is that not all weight-loss advice is appropriate for women and their delicate hormonal balance.

What might work for a woman in her 20’s may not be the best formula for the 50 year old woman. This is true for men as well.

Women are more likely to gain excess belly fat, especially deep inside the belly (visceral, intra-abdominal fat), as they go through perimenopause and into menopause. This is due to the fact that as estrogen levels drop, body fat is redistributed from the hips, thighs and buttocks to the abdomen. This fat can surround the organs and create more of a risk for disease.

For men, the natural reduction in testosterone that occurs as they age means excess calories are often stored as visceral fat and thus the accumulation of belly fat occurs.

There is another reason — the increase in stress levels and the cortisol connection that goes with this added stress. Research has supported the hypothesis that cortisol secretion might represent a connection between stress and abdominal fat distribution.

When we have chronic stress, the hormone cortisol is excreted at continual doses and the body is continually on high alert. Cortisol is not bad. It is actually quite vital for the body during levels of stress. Cortisol also increases our appetite for foods that are soothing and comforting. Is it typically a large salad that you crave after a long stressful day? Probably not. Typically it is sugary, salty or fatty foods. High levels of stress often increase anxiety, worry, and anger which, in turn, decreases our ability for deep recovering sleep. It can create a hug imbalance in our hormones.

With knowing all this, it may be safe to say that excessive amounts of intense exercise and extreme diets that are often associated with fat-loss may not be the best choice as we get older. It is all about increasing your body movement without overly stressing it and altering lifestyle habits to help you balance your hormones.

Simple tips to get you started

1. Harmonize your stress. Try a fun and relaxing night out with your friends or engaging in one of your favorite, uplifting activities. Maybe you can take a calming yoga or meditation session. Maybe you can sit with a good book while relaxing in the bathtub. One incredible technique that is scientifically proven to distress and calm your senses—Touch. Maybe it is you asking your significant other for a back or foot rub. Maybe it is going for a massage. Maybe it is you just rubbing your own arm. Whatever it is, destress today and watch how it affects your belly.

2. Simple diet changes can help your body lose it’s fat stores. Eat enough fat. Not all fats are created equal and it is being shown that it is not fat that makes us fat, it is #3 in this list. In fact, eating certain fats can help you in decreasing belly fat. Good fats that you need to be adding to your eating regime include avocado, olives, salmon and coconut oil. Including daily healthy fats will help to keep you more trim and decrease fat stores.

3. Minimize your sugar and sugary drinks. Added sugar is very unhealthy and more studies are connecting sugar with harmful effects on your metabolic health. Studies show that it has uniquely harmful effects on metabolic health. When you eat a lot of added sugar, the liver gets overloaded with fructose and is forced to turn it into fat. This can lead to an increased amount of fat in the belly and the liver; it can also lead to insulin resistance and a host of other problems. Make a decision to minimize the amount of sugar in your diet, and consider completely eliminating sugary drinks (this is like an IV of sugar blasting your body). This includes sugar-sweetened beverages, sugary sodas, fruit juices and various high-sugar sports drinks. Whole fruit is extremely healthy and has plenty of fiber to off-set the negative effects of fructose, but don’t overload on fruit. Too much sugar is too much sugar. I would recommend 1-2 servings of fruit a day.

4. Get your body moving the right way. Too much prolonged exercise can increase your chances of weight gain. Why? It is the same concept as the stress explanation above. When your body is overly stressed and not allowed enough time for recovery on a regular basis, your body starts to react by having difficulty releasing body fat. If you are excessively exercising and not taking in enough nutrients through food, your body will begin to hold onto fat as a built-in defense to make sure that your body is safe. It thinks it is in survival mode. For the average person, I would recommend 4-5 times a week of moderate exercise for 45 minutes to 1 hour a session that consists of strength training, cardio (steady states and intervals), and flexibility. Intervals and HIIT programs are very beneficial because they allow the body to fluctuate between high and low intensities, while not overly stressing the body.

5. Get your sleep. Inadequate sleep affects your appetite and causes your body to hold onto belly fat. A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2006 examined the effect of sleep on almost 70,000 women. It was found that those who regularly got less than five hours of sleep gained significantly more weight than those who slept an average of seven hours a night. Make getting seven to eight hours of sleep a priority to support your belly-fat losing efforts.

6. Eat more fiber. Getting in more fiber has been linked to lower levels of abdominal fat. Eating plenty of soluble fiber helps to slow the movement of food through your digestive system and slow down the digestion and absorption of nutrients. The end result is a feeling fuller longer and reducing your appetite. The best way to get more fiber is to eat a lot of plant foods like vegetables, fruits, legumes, oats, brown rice, and quinoa, for example.

7. Choose the right products. Choose toiletries and cleaning products that are natural alternatives. Chemicals and non-natural materials in make-up, toiletries, house cleaners, pesticides, insecticides, etc can wreck havoc on your hormones when you are exposed regularly. Did you know that chemical additives can directly increase or decrease your estrogen levels? These are called endocrine disruptors and can adversely affect your system. Choose healthier products by checking their safety levels on EPA’s website, Skin Deep.

It really is possible to lose the belly fat as you get older. It takes a will to change and some simple, consistent action steps to help you begin to see results.

What is one thing you can start to do today to create the positive change? Comment below!

Are you tired of feeling stressed out and overwhelmed as soon as your feet hit the floor in the morning?

Get my instant download of the “5 Simple Morning Tips To Instantly Create Your Distressed Day” (It’s Free!)

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4 Effective Tips To Help You Boost Energy And Manage Weight

There can be so much confusion in the health industry.

Eat this. Don’t eat that.

Take this supplement. No — take that one.

It seems that everywhere you turn, there is some new piece of advice that pops up that may contradict a piece of advice that you just heard about the other day.

Eating to nourish the body should be easy, right?

But, sometimes it just feels like the hardest thing you have ever done.

Even as a health professional, it can be confusing and I find myself weeding through the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly.

How do you know what is sound advice and what is sound marketing?

Through a combination of research and experience, you can start to weed out the bogus claims and focus more on what really works. The problem with this is that there are so many things to try!

It can take you a lifetime to wade yourself through the river of health tips and still give each a fair evaluation. Not to mention, your body and your needs are ever changing — what works today might not work in a few years.

Today, I am going to help guide you to a few key nutritional concepts that are not only being backed by research, but have also shown to create positive results of abundant health and vibrancy. Here are four of my many that I coach my clients on:

Incorporate a bit of healthy fats into most meals of the day. Fat is essential for the body to function correctly, the brain to be on it’s game, and to help you sustain your hunger throughout the day. Foods high in omega-3 fatty acids are also linked to raising your good cholesterol levels (HDL) and help to protect the heart from heart disease. Incorporate nuts and seeds (unsalted), avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, flax seed or oil, and fish oil.
Don’t count calories, make calories count. Between basic body functions, your activity level, and the quality of your nutritional plan, your caloric intake needs will fluctuate. Listen to your body and your hunger levels and feed it accordingly. Also, a calorie is not a calorie. The calories from a candy bar are not the same as calories from a fruit smoothie, even if you calculate them to have about the same. Feeding your body with nutrient-dense calories will allow your body to absorb them more efficiently and turn them to sustainable, life-producing energy. When your calories are junk, your body will feel the same — junky.
Watch your stress levels and keep them under control. High stress levels increase cortisol in the body. Cortisol stores glucose as fat which becomes deposited throughout the body. It also increases your appetite and your cravings for high sugar and fatty foods, those known to create a comforting effect on the body. Chronically high cortisol levels will also deplete other hormones, in turn affecting sex drive, fertility, mood, energy, and weight loss. Is weight gain your biggest concern? High levels of cortisol can create insulin resistance. Insulin resistance causes weight gain since carbohydrates are converted to fat rather than burned as fuel. This weight gain is often distributed around the midsection.
Try to limit “cheat meals” to 1-2 times per week. Let go of the negative association with the cheat meal and have whatever you want. Just do it minimally. The experience of food is not only physical and nutritional, but it is also mental and emotional — maybe even spiritual. Allowing yourself to indulge in your favorite meal or a food that connects you to positive memories at planned times in your life can be super healing to the mind, body, and soul. Deprivation is just setting yourself up for failure in the long run!

Having a few ground rules that you follow will help to set you up for future success. It will also help to clear away some of the confusion.

Where will you start?

Are you curious about how to set your day up for less stress on you and your heart? Get my instant download of the “5 Simple Morning Tips To Instantly Create Your Distressed Day” (It’s Free!)

Do you like what you read?

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