How to Stay Healthy: Morning, Noon, & Night
I’m keeping it short and sweet today. Here are some ideas for staying on track during each phase of your day:
AM Tips:
Set your alarm 5-10 minutes early to stretch.
My husband sets his alarm 10 minutes early to allow himself time to snooze. Don’t be that guy.
And no, you don’t have to be one of those people who wakes up at 5 AM to go to fitness boot camp or some shit. That’s some crazy talk (at least IMO).
If you can convince yourself to just be up and mobile a little early, it will allow you time to wake those muscles and joints up. Start small with leaning side to side, then slowly working your way to touch your toes, standing quad and calf stretches, etc. Get the juices flowing and loosen up the stiffness (my fellow old people feel me on that).
Drink 1-2 glasses of water before even touching the coffee.
I know, hate me all you want, but you know it’s probably true — starting your day with water helps your detoxification system, helps to rehydrate you after (hopefully) 8+ hours of no water consumption, and brings natural energy!
Bonus — add electrolytes to it to keep yourself balanced.
Additionally, delaying coffee helps you rely more on your natural hormone cycles (think: cortisol spike) first thing in the morning and begins to balance your energy equation.
Depending on where you are in your nutrition/health journey, consider intermittent fasting for a couple more hours.
Especially if you’re adding those electrolytes (or sea salt… or lemon essential oil) to your water, you could delay your first meal a bit. I’ve written extensively on the kinds of fasting and the safe ways to do it, so check out those old posts first.
Look at it this way — you’ve already been fasting for (again, hopefully) 8+ hours since you’ve been asleep all this time, so if you can push it a couple more hours with no problem, it’s a good way to give your digestive system a break and do some cellular clean-up.
Still want some more direction on this? Comment, email, or message me on social media. I’m happy to help.
If you’re not gonna fast, eat a nutrient-dense breakfast.
What does that mean? It means skip the high-carb muffins and focus on quality proteins and fats.
Examples include:
Yogurt bowls (either Greek or plant-based milk like coconut or cashew, unsweetened) with coconut flakes, protein powder, and gluten-free granola.
Eggs fried in bacon grease (save it in a mason jar!) or coconut oil with feta-stuffed olives and some berries.
2-3 egg omelet with sautéed spinach, mushrooms, and cheese with half an avocado.
Pork bacon, turkey bacon, all the bacon — or any other breakfast meat.
Leftovers! Yes, leftovers from last night’s dinner can make a perfectly good breakfast.
Workout… or don’t.
If it fits into your morning schedule to get a workout in, do it.
If you prefer to do it fasted (and it doesn’t put your stress levels over the edge), do it.
If you’d rather eat breakfast first and THEN workout, do that.
If the morning isn’t the right time for you, do it later.
Noon Tips:
Try to avoid too much snacking.
How much is “too much”? As usual, my annoying answer is that it depends.
If you’re ravenous, obviously eat something. But now that much of the world has been working from home, or causally going in and out of the office, snacks and food abound because there’s no structure to the day or distance from the pantry.
Snacks are fine and dandy. I snack. I have snacks in my desk drawer. It’s a thing that happens. Just don’t be nibbling for 3-4 hours straight, you know?
This keeps your blood sugar and insulin steadily high and never gives your digestive system the cyclic break it requires to remain normalized and hormonally balanced.
That being said, make sure you have a hearty lunch (and that’s easy to do if you wait until you’re hungry!).
I don’t want anyone to misconstrue my “minimal snacking” message as “eat less food.”
One of the biggest points I’m always harping on about is eating enough calories, because the majority of us aren’t, believe it or not.
In the media and diet industry’s efforts to keep us under their proverbial thumb, they tell us to eat less and exercise more. That does not work, my friend. I’ve talked about this before and you can read more about it here.
Don’t under-eat, please. If there’s any message you ever take away from my posts, it’s this. (And electrolytes.)
Don’t drink water or other liquids with your lunch.
This goes for all meals, but I include it here because it’s usually around lunchtime that one of two things occurs:
We realize we haven’t drank shit all day and are packing it in because now we’re consuming stuff and it just seems to make sense, or…
We often pair “a burger and a coke” or whatever together as a “lunch combo” at a lot of restaurants, and those habits can transfer into non-takeout lunches.
Just double check that you’re getting in enough water throughout the day, though. If not, setting reminders on your phone might be a helpful solution.
Cut off the caffeine.
Sorry, pal. Even if you’re a fast metabolizer of caffeine, you don’t wanna be consuming this much past noon-ish — 3 PM at the LATEST, and that’s for those of you who are superheroes.
If you normally catch the afternoon slump, try a cup of hot tea, a warm mug of bone broth, or a high-protein snack like jerky and nuts. Or straight up drink some of that electrolyte water — you’d be AMAZED how much energy it brings.
Try moving your workout to the afternoon, if you’re not already doing so.
This is the time we have the most energy and nutrient reserve available, and it can help you stave off that afternoon slump we just talked about.
At the very least, set reminders to get up and move every once in a while if you work a more sedentary job.
This could mean utilizing that feature on your Fitbit or Apple Watch, or literally setting reminders on your phone to move every 20-30 minutes. Just standing and stretching for a second is helpful to maintain blood sugar balance.
PM Tips:
Don’t eat too late into the evening.
As the day comes to a close, our metabolism begins to slow down and our bodies become less and less sensitive to insulin. That essentially means that the later we eat, the harder it is to digest and use that food for fuel.
This is a good adaptation, because we shouldn’t be “fueling up” for a bunch of energy expenditure because the day is ending and so are our activities. The body is preparing for sleep, and avoiding food 2-3 hours before bed helps you sleep more soundly.
But THIS is why it’s not a good idea to eat late — you end up not digesting well and straining the system overall. Not because of “calories” or whatever other reason the diet industry gives you.
I will say, though, that cutting off consumption earlier in the evening is also good for those looking to do intermittent fasting, because you jumpstart the fasted window before bedtime and squeeze a couple extra hours in.
On that note… don’t make dinner your biggest meal of the day.'
I know, wtf? Does this girl even know what she’s talking about?
Along the same lines as above, shoving in mountains of calories when our body is winding down for the day can mess up digestion and hormones. By all means, keep the food nutritious and eat that glorious steak, but don’t be downing a three-course meal with 1,000 calories.
Caveat: If you’re under on calories for the day and this is your only time to get them in, do what you gotta do to ensure you’re eating enough… including re-evaluating the structure of your day. I promise you, even someone with the most complicated job, can find room to improve.
If you’re going to be using ANY screen after dark (phone, tablet, computer, TV), wear blue blockers.
And not the $9 pair you can get on Amazon.
That is not going to block near enough wavelengths (if any) of blue light to keep you healthy. Check out this brand instead.
Why do we do this? Well, blue light wavelengths into the eyeballs suppress the hormone melatonin from being secreted by the pineal gland. Melatonin is the “sleep” hormone that helps you fall asleep and stay well-rested all night long.
Disrupting this balance is one of the major players in most insomnia disorders. Blocking those wavelengths helps support healthy hormone balance while allowing you to remain a modern human well into the night.
Enjoy that hot tea or bone broth again, if you like.
It helps promote rest and relaxation, as long as you’re not drinking it too close to bedtime, so you don’t have to get up to pee.
Go for a walk after dinner.
Not like, immediately after, but you get what I mean.
This tip helps you digest your food, get some gentle movement in as you wind down, and maybe even catch the last light of the day!
If you’re a nighttime Netflixer, do some stretches or mobility work while you watch.
This could include floor exercises, massaging tight muscles, foam rolling, or sprawling out in different directions.
Bonus if you spend time sitting on the floor — sinking into couches is terrible for our posture and digestion!
Take the right supplements at the right times.
Don’t take vitamin D or certain B complexes in the evening, as these can sometimes bring an energy boost along with it.
But things like magnesium or lemon balm help calm the body down and are good for supporting healthy sleep patterns.
Save some time to read, meditate, reflect on the day, etc…
It’s important to have stress-relieving, unwinding activities that aren’t wine and binge-watching Mad Men.
Don’t get me wrong, that’s great too, but little habit changes we can sneak in here and there make a big difference in our overall health.
I love this reading light that my brother and sister-in-law got me for Christmas — makes reading in bed with a significant other nearby (or not) easy!
What tips have you tried from this list — and have they worked? What do you find helpful that I forgot to include? Comment below or share your tips in my free Facebook community, Every-Day Thriving!
