Lifestyle

The 15-Minute Morning Routine That Changed My Life

I’m sharing my five trainer tips to become a morning person; as a fitness trainer and mother, I swear by starting my day with this 15-minute morning routine. Get the full morning routine — from when I get up, to what I do first thing in the morning, my nutrition and supplement routine, and more!

How do you become a morning person? How do you workout early in the morning? How do you do it?

You know what my secret is? Early-risers don’t use willpower to get up early. They use habit!

Willpower and motivation are powerful tools, but they require an active decision making process: you have to consciously wake up and decide you’re going to go to the gym that day, and decide you’re going to eat healthy.

Have you heard of decision fatigue? It’s a psychological concept {especially common in mothers!} that shows up as physical and mental fatigue as a result of constantly making small decisions.

You know what’s easier than making all those decisions? Habit.

While I think it’s fair to say that some people are more naturally inclined to be productive in the morning or the evenings, the vast majority of us can ‘train’ our bodies to operate on the schedule that works best for our lives.

I’ve talked about the compounding effect {small, consistent changes over time add up to a big impact!} when it comes to exercise, but it’s true of any habit, including your sleep schedule and wake-up time! That said, I don’t jump out of bed, filled with energy, every single morning.

And while it’s tempting to set your alarm for as late as possible, or hit the snooze button; I’ve found that the solution to being the best version of me each day is irritatingly simple: set my alarm 15 minutes earlier. 

After almost two years of motherhood and trial and error with my morning routine {although the first few months don’t count because you’re just surviving days with zero routine}, I’ve finally found the answer to my best start to the day. 

My son can wake up anywhere from 5:30-7am, which means I can roll the dice and try and get a few extra minutes of sleep and then start my day annoyed when he wakes up early. Or I can get up at 5:15am every morning, knowing that I get at least 15 minutes of ‘me time’.

Trainer Tips: My Morning Routine

I’m calling these my ‘trainer tips’ because these are the recommendations I make to people looking to ‘become a morning person’ or start living a healthier lifestyle. And it has now become my staple piece of advice for all moms who reach out with questions about maintaining a healthy lifestyle while being a mother.

My daily morning routine goes one of two ways.

Daily Routine #1

• 5 AM – Wake up, drink the remaining ounces of water in my water bottle that was on my nightstand, brush my teeth, put in my contacts, and throw on the workout clothes I laid in the bathroom the night before.
• 5:05 AM – Make a warm mug of my detox tea and sip on it while I read and make a few notes in a daily devotional.
• 5:15 AM – At home, 30-minute workout in my basement.
• 5:45 AM – Jump in the shower and get ready.
• 6:15 AM – Take my morning supplements from NOW® and eat breakfast {typically a slice of sprouted grain toast with half an avocado and two baked eggs}.

Note, this is one of my ideal morning routines, but my son can wake up anywhere from 5:30-7am. So this all depends on when he wakes up. Total transparency if he wakes up before I’m done with my workout, I’ll throw on a movie for him to watch while I finish my workout and shower.

Then I’ll make both of us breakfast and continue on with the morning and getting us out the door to daycare and wherever I’m working for the day. If he by chance sleeps in for me I’ll get a few extra minutes to get ready and usually jump online to start responding to messages, emails and start diving into some work or household chores {unload the dishwasher or throw in a load of laundry} before he wakes up. 

Daily Routine #2

• 5:15 AM – Wake up, drink the remaining ounces of water in my water bottle that was on my nightstand, brush my teeth, put in my contacts, and throw on the workout clothes I laid in the bathroom the night before.
• 5:20 AM – Make a warm mug of my detox tea and sip on it while I read my Bible.
• 5:45 AM – Take my morning supplements from NOW® and eat breakfast {typically a slice of sprouted grain toast with half an avocado and two baked eggs}.
• 5:50 AM – Start diving into emails and work or some household chores until Brody wakes up.

Then I’ll get Brody and I out the door for daycare drop off and either head to the gym for a 40-minute workout, or teach class later that day, depending on what time I’m teaching at.

After a year or so of this morning routine, I can without a doubt say that the decision to wake up earlier to have 15-minutes or more of ‘me time’ every day has positively changed my life.

5 Trainer Tips to Become a Morning Person

1. Be prepared. Set out your clothes, workout and work clothes the night before.
2. Have a game plan. Set your alarm, know the workout you’re going to do, or have your morning read laid out.
3. Meal prep. The only reason I’m able to have detox tea and baked eggs as part of my morning routine is because I’ve meal prepped them. I prep a batch of my detox tea almost every weekend and store it in a large mason jar in the refrigerator so I can pull it out for daily sipping {it’s great for keeping your digestive system regular in the morning if that’s something you struggle with}. I also, prep a dozen baked eggs every weekend and store them in a glass-lock container in the refrigerator. For more breakfast meal prep ideas check out this post.
4. Support your body with good nutrition and supplements. We expect a lot from our bodies on a daily basis and in order for them to perform we need to fuel them with whole, nutrient-dense foods, and supplements to fill nutritional gaps. I’m sharing my full NOW® morning supplement routine below.
5. Coffee and sleep. I don’t know about you, but I’m always motivated to get out of bed by looking forward to my post-workout coffee {I personally love adding collagen peptides to my coffee}. And I think I equally look forward to that moment my head hits the pillow at 9pm most nights. I strive for that 9-5, eight hours of sleep on the regular.

NOW® Morning Supplement Routine

As I just mentioned, I personally expect A LOT from my body — from teaching multiple classes a week {and sometimes a day}, to running a business, being a mom and more. Like most women, ‘I don’t have time to be sick or sidelined.’ Which is why I value fueling my body with good nutrition and quality supplements.

I personally had the opportunity to visit and tour one of the NOW manufacturing plants in Illinois last year, and I’ve been using a variety of their products ever since.

NOW is a manufacturer of sports nutrition products, supplements, natural foods, beauty care products, essential oils, and more.

In this post, I’m specifically focusing on my morning supplement routine, but you can learn more about my pre-and-post workout supplement routine here.

My 3 Morning Supplement Essentials

To be completely honest, I don’t love popping pills so I’m pretty particular about the supplements I take. I try to keep it around 3-5 supplements a day. So here are my three morning supplement essentials:

1. Prenatal + DHA – since starting prenatals almost four years ago when I was trying to get pregnant with Brody, I haven’t stopped taking them. I use them as my daily ‘women’s multi-vitamin’ as they are packed with vitamins and minerals that my body can use whether I’m pregnant, nursing, or just being a woman. I personally switched to NOW Prenatal Softgels + DHA over a year ago because the prenatal I was taking didn’t have DHA, so I had to take a whole different DHA supplement. I love the quality of the ingredients and price-point considering I consume these daily and that can add up.
2. Liver Caps – I started taking Liver Capsules when I was pregnant with Brody because I learned that about one third of pregnant women don’t consume enough vitamin A. And since, organ meats aren’t part of my daily diet, liver capsules are a great way to get more naturally occurring vitamin A, as well as, boost every B-vitamin which is great for keeping up energy levels. *So again I’ve continued taking liver capsules as I feel they add a consistent value to keeping up my levels of naturally occurring vitamin A and B.
3. Vitamin D – it’s the dead of winter in Minnesota so I don’t think I really need to explain why I take vitamin D and make my son and husband take it too. It’s a great way to support your immune system, especially during MN winters. And when I went to see my midwife to chat about getting pregnant again and she said, ‘are you taking vitamin D? You should be taking around 4,000 IU of vitamin D when you’re trying to get pregnant.’ So I was convinced that we all needed to be on vitamin D, and now we are. We use this Liquid Vitamin D-3, as liquid vitamins tend to be more absorbable, and I love that this one has an amazing drop dispenser for infants, babies and toddlers. But NOW also has Vitamin D Softgels if you prefer.

I also strive to eat three Brazil Nuts a day for selenium which is essential to thyroid health.

If you want to give these supplements a try you can get $10 OFF your NOWfoods.com purchase of $40 or more using code: NMLNOW10

If you’re looking to try a few more NOW products, these are my top 5 favorite NOW products {outside of my 3 daily supplements listed above}:

1. Liquid Coconut Oil – This makes cooking, especially baking SO MUCH EASIER. No melting required just add a tablespoon or two to whatever you’re making!
2. Organic Maple Syrup – Because my child loves pancakes and syrup and I use maple syrup as a natural baking sweeter often too.
3. Nature’s Microdermabrasion – I don’t use fancy beauty products, but I use this affordable volcanic sand facial scrub 1-2 times a week and swear it instantly makes my skin brighter.
4. 2 in 1 Correcting Eye Cream – Because I’m 30, and a mom, and dark circles just come with the territory.
5. Clarify + Illuminate Cleanser and Moisturizer – Again I don’t use fancy beauty products, but I love the quality ingredients like olive oil and natural oils that are used in these products at an affordable price for natural skincare.

This is a sponsored post in partnership with NOW®. All words and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting Nourish Move Love, making the content you see on this blog possible.

Note, these are the supplements I personally take on a daily basis, but of course I have to say that you should personally check with your physician or midwife about what might be best for you especially if you’re pregnant or nursing. 

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Receive $10 off your nowfoods.com purchase of $40 or more (before taxes and shipping). Must use coupon code NMLNOW10 in the Promotion Code field at checkout.  Offer only available on nowfoods.com. Offer valid January 1, 2019 through 11:59 PM CT March 31, 2019. Some exclusions apply. Limit one coupon code per transaction.  Offer cannot be used on previous purchases. NOW Health Group, Inc. has the right to end any promotion at any time.