By Pat Aguilar

@pataguilar_

Hello, Lifelover crew! I hope you are all well, and can you believe we are halfway through the yea!? It feels like just yesterday we were talking about new years and many of you were setting your new year’s resolutions. For many, a common new year resolution is to try to get up earlier than usual, or to become an early bird. As an early bird myself, this month I will talk about that: the benefits and how to combine this with your diet.

The benefits of being an early bird 

Let’s start with benefits of being an early bird: the first being that we definitely end with  more time. I start waking up early as a way to fit in a yoga class before going to work, but then I notice I am more creative in the mornings, so slowly I start moving the clock to wake up early (if you want to start waking up early this is a good tip: change your alarm 10 minutes early for two weeks, then again another 10 minutes, and so on until you reach the time you want. It worked for me, so I hope it works for you too. This also goes with going to bed early, but that is a topic for another time) 

Now my alarm is set at 4:40 am, and one of the first things I do is to have a small glass of warm water, to activate my digestion. If we have a late meal or a heavy meal the night before, the chances are that our stomach is still going through its digestive process, so warm water can help to stimulate that. Warm, rather than cold water, is recommended because the stomach will process warm better. Personally, I have tried both and I always get a stomach-ache when I drink cold water, so yep, I’m talking from experience with this tip.

One of the other benefits of waking up early is that it can boost your confidence. Waking up early can feel like an accomplishment, same as making your bed in the morning, it provides the sense of already accomplishing your goals which can help toward setting your mood throughout the day. 

The morning workout

To fast or not to fast… that is the question 😉 research says fasting is best, others say it is not. I recommend going according to how you feel. Personally, I cannot eat before I go to class in the morning (my first class is at 6 am) but if you need to fuel your body before a workout (depending on your goal probably you will need to have something to help you speed up your metabolism) it is recommended to have a banana, apple, dates, dry cereal, or yogurt. 

But what about breakfast?

If you are an early bird, it is recommended to have a breakfast fuelled with high quality carbs to keep your energy levels high. And don’t forget the proteins to keep you full for the busy hours of the morning.

If you’re looking for an easy yet tasty breakfast which is great for early birds, then I recommend Overnight Oats.  A simple overnight oats made with oat milk, banana and berries will do the trick. You can also add peanut butter if you are looking for that protein hit. 

Smoothies are also a good option, because you can add a few veggies like avocado and spinach for those proteins and good fats to keep your brain working.  Toasts are also good with avocado, my favourite! Although I can eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner, hahaha.

Because we are up early, it is common for us to have the “2-3 pm crash”. Many opt for a coffee to have that kick of energy to keep going, but basically you are only rising your levels of cortisol that will cause your energy levels to crash again later, and also the caffeine can remain in your body up to 8 hours and this will affect your sleep patterns. In this case, the recommendation is an apple, which will give you more energy than coffee. This energy comes from the sugar in the fruit, but don’t worry, this is good sugar, because it is not processed like in other foods or even the one you add to your coffee. 

Talking about our friend coffee, according to studies, it is not good to have coffee first thing in the morning. Our body is naturally releasing cortisol hormone in the morning (cortisol is the hormone related with our regulation of stress and regulates the sugar levels in the blood) because this hormone naturally helps us to have more energy, we don’t need that extra shot of energy that the coffee gives us, it will create a disruption that can affect us during the whole day. It’s recommended to have our delicious cup of coffee 1 or 2 hours after we wake up or even later.  

I used to be a massive coffee drinker, we are talking about 5 cups a day, and it was the time I was having a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Once I stopped this, my body stopped needing the coffee, and now I have it to enjoy it because I just love the taste of it. 

But let’s go back to breakfast. Because it’s recommended to have a light dinner, we need to fuel our body with energy in the morning.  As I mentioned, A nourishing and well-rounded breakfast will contain a balanced combination of whole grain carbohydrates – which generally also dish up a side of fibre – to avoid energy slumps, combined with a serve of protein. Here are a few ideas for you:

• Overnight oats with berries and nuts. (You can add any topping, to be honest: banana and cinnamon also taste well)
• Scrambled tofu with avocado and toast.
• Porridge with banana, walnuts, and cinnamon.
• Beans on toast.
• Breakfast burrito (wholemeal tortilla filled with avocado, tofu, spinach, tomato, and mushrooms is my go-to, but you can add your favourite toppings, just remember to be balanced)
• Smoothies (I personally enjoy avocado, spinach, protein powder, berries, coconut water. If you want this sweeter, you can add peanut butter. Banana is also a good option to add)

I hope these tips can help you to achieve your goals to become an early riser. Tags us when you try any of the ideas for breakfast or even if you are on your morning walk or whatever you choose to do in your mornings, we would love to see!

Until next time!

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