You’ve been grateful. You’ve hydrated. Now it’s time to move. Movement is a circadian cue that lets your body and brain know that you are in wakeful hours. Hours in which our ancestors would have been hunting and foraging. Don’t wait on your body to decide you are awake; instead give it the signals it needs to know that. Most every morning, I complete the two previous steps and follow that up with around a 30 minute causal walk weather-permitting in the sunshine with my dog. For more on walking, check out this earlier blog post Easy, Cheap, Effective Means to Fat Loss.

Easy is Ideal

Why not crush a high-intensity workout first thing? Don’t let me dissuade you from getting a good a.m. sweat session in, but realize that cortisol levels peak in the morning hours. A high-intensity workout increases cortisol levels which if you tend to be a highly stressed individual, then it may do more harm than good long-term.

After the walk, you are ready to start your day whether the next step is breakfast or coffee or both. Depending on what time you have available, you may want to consider some light stretches or simply be present with your family before you depart. Having a morning routine is a key to setting the tone for the day. If you win the morning, you set yourself up to win the day. Conversely, losing the morning leads to many losses throughout the day and if that is habitual, your quality of life suffers dramatically.