4 Steps to Become a Morning Person (Heal your Metabolism)

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For the longest time, mornings were the worst. Sometimes they were literally the worst part of my day. The alarm was terrible. Getting out of bed was terrible. Making coffee was terrible. I felt terrible. It usually wasn’t until an hour and 2 cups of coffee later that I felt ok about life. Every morning felt like I had slept only a couple of hours, even if I got 8 hours! On the weekends, I would always sleep as late as I possibly could. Even if I got 9 or 10 hours of sleep, I still felt groggy and exhausted when I first got out of bed.

For a long time, I thought this was normal, and that there was really nothing to do about it. Mornings are just terrible. The end.

However, my husband would always pop out of bed! Immediately ready for the day and a good chat! When I would get to work at 8:00 am, several of my coworkers were chipper and also ready for the day. It didn’t make any sense to me!

It wasn’t until I started making other changes to my lifestyle, that slowly, overtime, mornings became easier and easier. It was just a happy side effect of balancing my hormones, healing my metabolism, and getting healthy!

In the past, I’ve tried to become a morning person. I tried all the things the internet says to do. I had a nighttime routine. I went to bed at the same time every night and set my alarm for the same time in the morning. I didn’t snack right before bed. I laid out clothes to exercise in the morning. I had a big glass of water first thing in the morning. Etc. Etc.

And NOTHING worked!

Here are the 4 things I’ve done that actually worked! And you can do them too!

1. Eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking!

I believe this made the biggest difference for me. I used to drink coffee first thing, and then wait at least an hour (if not 2 or 3) to eat anything. What was happening was the coffee was spiking my stress hormones, while my blood sugar was low, and got lower and lower until I finally ate. Eating first thing when I wake, up gives my body the fuel it needs!

Skipping breakfast might be fine for a short period of time, but eventually, you deplete your body and your adrenals, leading to chronic fatigue.

Eating breakfast also kickstarts your metabolism for the day, waking your body up by giving it fuel to burn. A good breakfast should include a high-quality protein, a complex carb, and a bit of fat. My go-to is scrambled eggs with a bit of cottage cheese, a piece of fruit. I also make sure to snack every few hours to keep my blood sugar steady, leading me to my next point.

2. Keep your blood sugar balanced

Many people, myself included for years, walk around with fluctuating blood sugar. For years, I would do things that spiked and then tanked my blood sugar levels, all through the day. The result was I was always fatigued and struggled with my weight.

Keeping blood sugar balanced keeps the body well-nourished and feeling safe. A body that has fluctuating blood sugar will run off stress hormones just to keep going. Again, this depletes our adrenals, leading to chronic fatigue. Going a long time without eating will lead to a drop in blood sugar, and the body will slow down the metabolism to preserve the fuel it has left. Our metabolism is linked to so much more than just the rate at which we burn calories! The metabolism is a health marker, and determines our energy levels!

The key to balancing blood sugar is to eat a balanced meal or snack regularly. A balanced meal/snack includes both a carb and a protein. Fat is also necessary, but most of the time, there is plenty of fat in the carb or protein to suffice. Do NOT eat keto or intermittent fasting! These are two other fad diets that do not promote stable blood sugar and do not support hormones. Women especially, need carbs.

Read my post here for 5 healthy pro-metabolic snacks.

Read here how to speed up your metabolism.

3. Eat whole foods

Equally as important as keeping your blood sugar balanced is eating high-quality, whole foods. Again, this is to nourish our body and keep our metabolism running hot!

An undernourished body is a fatigued body!

Cutting out processed foods is key. Start reading the ingredients on the back of the packages. Most foods have a ton of additives, such as artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colorings, and seed oils. All of these things are terrible for our health. I like to center my meals around nutrient-dense foods. One thing I did was stop a vegan diet and start incorporating animal products again. Veggies are great, but most of your nutrients really come from the proteins and carbs you're consuming, so make sure they are high-quality. I’m talking high-quality, organic meats, raw dairy, homemade bone broths, organic fruit, and organ meats. Delicious, and incredibly nourishing! See my article here for 5 Books that Led Me to an Ancestral Diet. Food is the foundation of our health, and the fuel that keeps our body’s going! So we need to prioritize it!

Read here about how to avoid processed foods.

4. Light

The kinds of light we are exposed to throughout the day have a HUGE impact on our sleep, but is almost always overlooked. Our bodies, like most other mammals that don’t live in caves, need natural sunlight during the day, and darkness in the evening. Light triggers hormone responses in our body, so if we’re not getting sunlight during the day, we won’t get the correct hormones we need. If we’re getting blue light at night, our body produces hormones to keep us awake, interpreting the light as daylight.

The key is to get sunlight in the day, and not expose ourselves to blue light in the evenings. Our bodies need direct sunlight anyways for the production of vitamin (really hormone) D. Try and get at least 15 minutes of direct sunlight during the day. Go on a walk during your lunch break. Eat your breakfast or dinner outside if you can. In the evenings, use a red light and read a book in bed. Red light is the only light that does not disrupt our natural circadian rhythm. Here is one you can purchase, or just use candlelight! Before you actually get in bed, wear blue light-blocking glasses (these are my favorite). I always put on blue light glasses as soon as it gets dark outside because even the light in our homes can be disruptive to our hormones.

The more we can mimic nature in our own homes, the happier our bodies will be!

And that's it! 4 Easy Ways to become a morning person! I'm not going to lie, I still wake up many mornings feeling groggy, but I'm so much quicker to revive and feel like a person again (especially after eating breakfast). It's all about nourishing and taking care of our bodies. A depleted body is going to be fatigued. We need to take care of our bodies so that they can take care of us. What's made the biggest difference in your morning energy levels? Let me know in the comments!