My Morning Routine

My morning routine helped me rethink breakfast.  We know that eating a healthy breakfast each morning is a great way to start the day. When we sleep, our body goes in to a state of fasting. Eating a healthy breakfast breaks the fast our body has been undergoing while asleep and kick starts thermogenesis in our body. Thermogenesis boosts our energy and metabolism setting us up for good weight management. Our first meal of the day does not have to be huge, eating small meals at regular intervals keeps our metabolism burning all day. If you regularly suffer from a morning energy crash, reflect on what you ate for breakfast.

Many of the “breakfast food” items Americans consume on a daily basis are sugary cereals, bagels, muffins or pancakes with sugary syrup.  These food like substances lack the nutrition our bodies are craving. As we rethink what we eat for breakfast, we must let go of the notion that there are only particular foods we can eat at certain times of the day.  We should avoid all of the processed, sugary cereals first of all.  We want to start our day with nutrient dense foods that will sustain us until lunch.  For this reason my morning routine is unconventional. Consider incorporating soups into your morning routine, make a salad or eat last nights leftovers the next morning.  Here are a few of my favorite outside the box breakfast options:

A great way to start our morning is to have fruit.  The body utilizes different enzymes to break down fruit than the enzymes needed to break down proteins or carbohydrates.  Eating fruit first thing in the morning will help ensure optimal nutrient absorption of the fruit.  Click this link to learn more about proper food combining. An apple in the morning is more effective at waking us up than the coffee we tend to reach for and an apple won’t drain our adrenal glands like coffee will.

A bowl of fresh fruit or a morning smoothie is a great option.  Focus on adding the blue and purple food groups to your morning routine.  Make a smoothie with blueberries, blackberries or purple grapes.  The blue/purple foods are the food we get least in our diet and are an important source of phytochemicals for the body. Get our free Juicing and Smoothie Guide here.

My morning routine often includes one of my favorite breakfast meals, Quinoa Salad.  It’s great, I can make enough for 5 days and keep in it the fridge, all I have to do is warm it up each morning.  The quinoa is high in protein, I get lots of nutritious veggies and healthy fats to sustain my energy. It is so easy to make. Simply cook the quinoa per the package instructions.  Set aside. Sauté your veggie mixture in coconut oil.  My favorite mix is zucchini, onion, peppers, cilantro, black beans, tomatoes, garlic and cilantro.  I mix the veggies into the cooked quinoa and breakfast is ready for the whole week. Each morning I add sliced avocado so I get some healthy fats. For a little kick, add some hot sauce. It is so good!

Chia Seed Pudding with fresh fruit is another one of my favorite morning treats.

My Morning Routine

Having an uncompromising morning routine will set us up for success throughout the day. Here is my morning routine. I start the morning with a large glass of water. Water first thing in the morning helps push toxins out of the body and refreshes our internal organs. Our goal is to drink half our body weight in ounces of purified clean water daily. I go downstairs and turn on the tea kettle. While the water is heated I read my daily devotion. I like the water to be warm but not boiling. Drinking water that is warm but not hot allows the body to assimilate the liquid quickly as the temperature is closest to our body temp. I have a big cup of warm water with the juice of one lemon in it and a dash of cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper is an added boost to my metabolism. This cup of tea helps energize me. I am typically pretty full after all the liquids I consumed so I will go get ready for the day and then come back downstairs for breakfast about an hour later.

Benefits to adding lemon to your water.

My morning routine helps minimize stress. A little planning the night before will make breakfast fast and nutritious. Implement a new morning routine for the next 21 days and rethink breakfast. In the comments, let us know how your mood and health has improved. Let us know some of your favorite unconventional breakfast ideas.