Good morning! Have you ever noticed that when you sleep well and wake up feeling rested, your day seems to go more smoothly? Or that, conversely, when you have a hectic morning, the following hours seem scattered and intense? The way you start your day can really set the tone for the rest of your waking hours.
As a person who wakes at 5 am daily, I can tell you, there are a few routines that can leave you feeling less than ideal throughout the day. So, if you’re trying to make the most of your time, here are some examples of bad morning habits you should skip or lose entirely, and what you should do instead.
Bad habit: Drinking coffee with loads of sugar
Drinking coffee in the morning is a routine for me. I mix it with flavored creatine for palatability.
For others, coffee would be mixed with a splash or two of milk and that is a good way to start the day. But when your daily drinks are loaded with a heap of sugar, cream, syrups, and all the other ingredients that premium coffees typically contain, it’s easy to pack on calories without even realising it. And that’s before you’ve had any solid food.
When you opt for these health traps masquerading as coffee, all the sugar and preservatives leave you feeling hungry, so you still end up chowing down on food, even though you’ve already eaten the caloric equivalent of a meal (or more!). When you multiply that by all the coffee drinks you’re consuming, the numbers really add up.
Bad habit: Having dessert for breakfast
I don’t mean eating cheesecake or cookies, obviously, but a lot of breakfast staples – like sandwiches (peanut butter and jelly), corn flakes and muffins are packed with sugar and carbohydrates. While these ingredients taste delicious, once you come down (crash) from your sugar high (which happens a lot sooner than you’d think!), you’ll be left irritable and hungry for more food.
Your best bet here? Instead of a sugary, carb-heavy meal, I recommend a healthy smoothie. Thanks to the wide array of fresh fruits you can find at Stabroek or Bourda Market or leading supermarkets nationwide, you can satisfy sweet-loving taste buds, while also getting in a serving of the macros.
Bad habit: Eating if you’re not hungry
We’ve been brought up to believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and for some people, it is. Others, however, prefer not to eat in the morning, and forcing themselves to chow down for breakfast would probably be more harmful than helpful.
If you find yourself in the latter group, instead of beating yourself up over not loving breakfast, a better option might be intermittent fasting (IF). There are several different types of IF, but one of the easiest is time-restricted fasting, or 16/8, during which you refrain from eating for 16 hours (usually post-dinner through lunchtime) and eat only for 8 hours during the day.
In addition to being a more palatable option for non-AM eaters, intermittent fasting benefits include weight loss, reducing inflammation, maintaining heart health, and stabilising blood sugar.
Bad habit: Skipping morning workouts
Mornings aren’t for everyone. But if you’re an evening fitness fan – or if you avoid working out altogether – you might want to consider setting an alarm clock.
Getting your blood pumping first thing in the morning is actually a great way to boost energy levels sans caffeine. Unfortunately, evening workouts can lead to tossing and turning if you’re hitting the gym too close to bedtime. But switching to a morning sweat session can lead to deeper, higher-quality sleep.
Additionally, morning workouts help boost your metabolism, burning more calories throughout the day and increasing productivity. You’re also more likely to make healthier choices at mealtime if you’ve exercised first thing.
To make mornings easier, I suggest getting as much done the night before as possible. That means having breakfast and/or lunch packed and ready to go in the fridge, laying out workout clothes, and completing any other necessary preparations for the next day. Minimising early morning tasks means getting more shuteye and making it less likely you’ll hit snooze and skip that all-important workout.
