How To Create A New Morning Game Plan

Now that you have a pretty good idea of what you want to do in the morning, what you don’t want to or need to do, and where to find the extra time needed, it’s time to put it all together in a new morning game plan.
 
The best place to start is with the new set of tasks that are most important to you. Figure out when you want to get them accomplished. If your goal is to go for a run in the morning, you may decide to do that first thing before getting a shower and having breakfast. If your goal is to meditate each morning, you may decide it would work best after you’ve had a cup of coffee. If your goal is to find some time for reading in the morning, you could carve out some time before everyone else gets up and while you enjoy that first cup of coffee.

Then work the rest of your morning chores around these new plans. It may take some shuffling around and mixing up of your current routine, but with a little creative thinking and a bit of flexibility, I’m sure you can come up with a working plan.

Making over your morning and turning it into a new routine isn’t something that comes natural to most of us. It takes a little while to get into a new habit. We’ll look at this in a little more detail in future posts. For right now, my suggestion is that you write your new morning game plan down. It’s easy to forget what you’re planning to do. Writing it down will not only give you a reference to refer back to, but also solidify your new plan in your mind.

Put the note, or notebook where you jotted down your new plan on your night table or somewhere else where you’ll see it first thing in the morning. It will serve as a reminder of what you’re intending to do and do differently in the morning now.

Even though you’ve written your plan down, it’s important to realize it’s not written in stone. The well-laid out plans don’t always work when put into action. Adjust it and make changes as needed until you come up with a new morning game plan that works well for you and the rest of your family. Once you have that, it’s time to make it the new routine… something we’ll talk more about.

What Should You Be Doing In The Morning?

We have talked about finding the time in your busy morning to do the things that are important to you. Today I want you to think about what you should and what you shouldn’t be doing in those first few hours of the day. That’s an important idea to ponder. So often we get stuck in a rut or a routine and do things because that’s what we’ve always done. We do it without really thinking about whether or not it’s the best use of our time. 



It’s Not About Cramming More Things Into Less Time 



Making over your morning isn’t about figuring out how to cram more tasks into fewer hours. When you read books and articles on productivity and time management, that’s often the main message. While it can help in the short term, it isn’t a good long-term strategy for meaningful change. Very soon you’ll hit the limit of how much faster and how much more efficient you can get. 



Shift your thinking and don’t try to add to what you do in the morning. If you want 15 minutes for meal prep, meditation, or exercise, don’t just think about getting up 15 minutes earlier, or shaving 15 minutes off your morning routine by showering faster, getting dressed in record time, and rushing through breakfast. In other words, don’t add to your already lengthy list of things that need to get done. You’ll only feel more rushed and stressed if you do. 



It’s About Making Smart Choices About Using Your Time 



Instead, what you should be thinking about is the best use of your time in the morning. Compare your perfect morning with your current morning routine. What aren’t you doing on your ideal morning? If you can start by cutting things out, finding time to do what’s important to you becomes much easier. 



There are two great ways to find things you can stop doing. The first is to look for busy work. This is something you do out of habit that doesn’t necessarily need doing every day. Maybe it’s checking your email first thing in the morning or playing around on Facebook for half an hour while you drink your coffee. If that’s how you choose to spend your time, that’s perfectly fine, but if you’re doing it out of habit it may be time to rethink it. 



The second way to quickly earn back time is to see if you’re doing things for others that they can do themselves. Kids are the perfect example. We start out fixing their breakfast, making their lunch, cleaning up after them, picking out their clothes, and making sure their backpack is packed and ready to do. When they are very small, we have to do these things, but all too often we continue to do them long after they’re capable of doing things on their own. The same goes for things we do for our spouse. Maybe there was a time when you had less to do in the morning and it made sense to take on the majority of morning chores. Did things change and if so, is it time to lighten your load and get help from your partner? A few small changes may be all it takes to make the time in your busy morning for what’s important to you.

How to Find More Time in Your Busy Morning

Mornings are busy. In fact in my house, they can be a little bit crazy! If you have a young family and plenty of people to get ready and out the door, you know this first hand. I don't anymore but I remember! The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way, no matter how busy you think you are first thing in the day. In the first post in this series, I shared with you how the first few hours in the morning set the tone for the entire rest of the day. Do you want that to be rushed, frantic, and feeling like you’re constantly running and trying to catch up? Or do you want it to be calm, collected, productive, and with a feeling that you’re in control? It’s up to you and it’s all about embracing two simple concepts.

Get Up Early Enough

It’s tempting to hit the snooze button and catch a few more minutes of sleep, isn’t it? It’s hard to set the alarm early enough that you have plenty of time for everything you want and need to get done. I get it. If, like me, you’re not a morning person, moving up the alarm by 30 minutes to carve out a little extra time can be tough. Trust me though, after the first few mornings it’s not nearly as hard as you think and something you’ll quickly get used to.

Getting up early enough and avoiding the snooze button at all costs is the key to an unrushed morning. Here’s the problem with cutting time too short, or worse hitting the snooze button a few times. It gets you behind from the very start. You have to rush to make it out the door in time and any little problem or speed bump along the way turns into a huge problem. Not being able to find the car keys is suddenly a major crisis because it could cause you to be late for work and the kids to be tardy at school. Remember, your morning sets the tone for the rest of your day. If you start it chasing down time and things, that’s likely how you’ll spend the rest of your time - all day long.

Getting up early enough on the other hand puts you ahead of the game. You’re in control. You can take care of everything that needs doing in a calm manner and still have time for the important things you want to work on. In short, getting up early enough sets you up for an amazing, productive day.

Restructure Your Routine

Spend a little time thinking about your current morning routine and where you’re spending time. Look for things you can change and tweak to find more time for the things you really want to do. For example, if you want an extra 20 minutes in the morning to meditate, look at what you could take care ahead of time, eliminate, or delegate to make that time. If you spend a lot of time getting breakfast for everyone, get in the habit of setting the breakfast table the night before. Get your spouse to get the coffee ready, so all you have to do in the morning is push a button. Teach the kids to make their own breakfast and take the dirty dishes to the sink, rinse them, and put them in the dish washer. Make sure clothes are set out the night before (including yours), and that book bags, purses, briefcases, and car keys have a designated spot and that they are where they need to be before you turn in for the night. Small changes like this to your morning routine can make a big difference. I challenge you to come up with a few small tweaks that will save you at least 30 minutes in the morning.

What Does Your Perfect Morning Look Like?

It's day two of the Makeover Your Morning Challenge and I have a question for you. What’s most important to you? What is the one thing you really want to do on a daily basis that would make a big difference, but you just can’t seem to find the time for?


In short, what good habit do you want to cultivate that would make a real impact on your health? Think about this for a moment. It could be in any area of your life from exercise and healthy eating to self-improvement or getting ahead in business or at your job. It could be working on your relationship with your kids, finding time for creative pursuits, or getting in the habit of reading every morning. Believe it or not, all of these things can impact your health so it's okay to include them in your makeover considerations!


Once you’ve figured out what you want to work on, what you want to improve, and what’s important to you, we’ll think about how you can make it part of your morning routine. Sit back and imagine your perfect morning. It isn’t stressed or rushed. It’s a day when you have time for everything on your list. Maybe it means having time for a long shower. Maybe it’s going for a run before breakfast. Maybe it’s having a few minutes to connect with your spouse over coffee or maybe it’s carving out 30 minutes first thing in the morning to meditate.


That’s a lot of “maybes” but the key is to start with what’s most important to you and think about how you could fit it into your morning routine. Remember, you’re just dreaming and imagining at this point. We’ll work on figuring out where to find the time to fit it in and how to make it all work out later on. For now I simply want you to paint a vivid picture of what your new morning could be.


I want you to become very clear on what you want that perfect morning to look like. Imagine it in as much detail as you possibly can. Write it down in a journal or on a piece of paper that you can refer back to as needed. In short, define your perfect morning. 

Why is this so important? Because you can’t start to make any meaningful changes until you know what your goals are. You need to know your destination before you can start to pick a route and figure out how you’ll get there. That’s what today’s task is all about. It’s figuring out where you want to get to. Don’t stop until you have it figured out and firmly pictured in your mind

The Makeover Your Morning Challenge

I love mornings - as long as they start after 10 am! But seriously, I really do love mornings. Each new day brings new opportunities and it’s a chance to start fresh and do better. How you start your day, or more specifically how you spend those first few morning hours, has a big impact on the rest of it. You are setting the tone for your entire day. That’s why making over your morning is so important. It's why I never miss my morning Power Hour.  It’s about much more than those first few hours.


I’m sure you’ve experienced this yourself. Now that you've decided to finally take charge of your health, you have to find time for exercise, food prep, meditation, and maybe even some much needed "me time". And so you set an early alarm to make sure you have time for everything you need to do. You have every intention of getting up and doing whatever you’re setting out to do when you set the alarm in the first place. Some mornings - hopefully most mornings - you get up when the alarm goes off and go for that walk, do your meditation, exercise, or read. Then there are those days when you just can’t make yourself get up. You hit the snooze button multiple times, or turn the alarm off altogether and go back to sleep. Sound familiar?

Think about how the rest of those days went. Did you notice a difference in how you felt? How much did you get done on the mornings when you got up when the alarm first went off? Were you able to do all the things you set out to do? How did those days compare to the ones when you hit the snooze button over and over again?

If I had to take a guess, I’d say that the mornings when you got up as soon as the alarm went off went a lot better. I bet you accomplished what you had planned to do. Sure, you may have been tired. But once you started your routine, I'll bet you noticed you felt more energy. And chances are that sleeping through the snooze button didn’t just affect your morning, but the entire rest of your day. You set the tone for how your day is going to go first thing in the morning. That’s what the old saying about getting up on the wrong side of the bed is about. So let’s make sure we get up on the right side and start our day off in a positive and productive way.


Over the course of the next seven days, I want to guide you through the process of making over your morning. As we’ve already established, this is an important task and a good thing to work on. Not only will you enjoy your mornings more even if the alarm goes off much earlier than you’d like, it will make the entire rest of your day go much smoother.

Ready for the Morning Makeover Challenge? Let's do this!

Metabolism and Metabolic Rate

Do you know what your metabolism is? Many people think it’s just to do with weight gain or weight loss, but it is far more complex than that. The dictionary meaning is,

“Your metabolism is the way that chemical processes in your body cause food to be used in an efficient way, for example to make new cells and to give you energy.” – Collins Dictionary

What many people don’t realize is that the body burns calories even when it is resting. The body doesn’t just burn calories when performing rigorous physical training. Our body requires calories to produce energy for many body processes.

Your body constantly needs energy just to stay alive. The problem is, many people take in more calories than their body needs for fuel or energy, which raises a very good question.

How do you know how much energy your body needs every day for good health? This is vital for weight management, as ingested calories which are excess to energy requirements will very likely be stored as body fat.

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate refers to the amount of energy needed by the body while it is at a resting state. When the body is at rest, it is still burning energy, as it performs the vital processes to keep us alive, such as breathing, the heart keeping beating, brain function, and more.

For most people, the Basal Metabolic Rate, or the calories that the body needs for automatic functioning, is what comprises the largest amount - more than 60% - of total energy that the body burns every single day.

Measuring BMR

The BMR is measured during the post-absorptive state, which means the digestive system is at rest. Therefore, if you want to determine your BMR, your body has to undergo at least 12 hours of fasting prior to testing.

Most experts use a formula called the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation to determine an individual’s BMR. However, others prefer to use the Harris-Benedict equation, although the first is considered more accurate than the latter. It is for this reason that the Mifflin-St. Jeor is now deemed to be the standard BMR calculator.

Formula for Calculating BMR

If you’re interested in calculating your BMR, here are the 2 different types of formulas for making the calculations.

For Men

The Mifflin St. Jeor Equation

BMR = 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (years) + 5

The Harris Benedict Equation

BMR = (13.75 x Weight in kg) + (5 x Height in cm) – (6.76 x Age) + 66

For Women

The Mifflin St. Jeor Equation

BMR = 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (years) – 161

The Harris Benedict Equation

BMR = (9.56 x Weight in kg) + (1.85 x Height in cm) – (4.68 x Age) + 655

Factors to Consider in Calculating Your BMR

Age

An individual’s metabolic rate may tend to decrease with age. It is because as we age our muscle mass declines, as much as 5-10% every ten years starting at age 30. However, this decline in muscle mass can be prevented or at least reduced through strength training.

Gender

Gender is another important factor, as men and women differ in ratios of muscle, fat and bone mass.  Studies reveal that a man’s BMR is higher than a woman’s, as much as 12%. Research also shows that the BMR of a woman changes before and after her menstrual cycle.

Weight and Height

The heavier you are, the more energy your body needs in order to fuel itself at a maintenance level. If you lose weight, your Basal Metabolic Rate will reduce as your body requirements will become less.

Body Temperature

An increase in body temperature causes an increase in Basal Metabolic Rate. This means that if a patient has a fever, their BMR is also higher.

Stress

Stress causes the body to produce higher amounts of norepinephrine and epinephrine hormones which results in a faster heart rate and increased respiratory rate. In turn, the body experiences an increased metabolic rate to compensate for changes in bodily functions.

Caffeine Intake

Studies have also shown that consuming 5 to 100 milligrams of coffee on a daily basis may cause an increase in basal metabolic rate, up to 7%. The same thing is also true for those who smoke.

Every person has a huge potential control over their energy or calorie usage. While you may not be able to control how many calories your body needs to keep your blood circulating or your heart beating, you can certainly burn excess calories just by exercising and eating healthy foods.

Making little changes to your daily activities can influence your body’s metabolic rate, which will help use more energy even while resting.

It's Not Just About Being Skinny!

I was not fat as a child. Not as a teen. Definitely not as an adult. Being on active duty demands that you stay fit. No...it wasn't until I was well into my 50's that I really began to pack on the pounds.


It's no surprise that as noticed my weight begin to creep up, I noticed the beginnings of some weight-related problems. Joint pain from the strain of excess weight on my knees and hips. High blood pressure. Difficulty sleeping. Fatigue. It's also no surprise that I had absolutely NO idea what to do about it. I had never been fat. In fact, as a child, my parents were told to feed me fattening foods to help me GAIN weight. I knew nothing about nutrition or diet or even exercise. In the military, I just ate what they gave me in the chow hall and did the required PT.


When a doctor finally told me I was beginning to become dangerously overweight, I knew I had to do something. At 200 lbs, I knew he was right. And so I embarked on my journey to get SKINNY! By any means possible. And I tried them all. Every fad diet. Every weight loss product. Every fitness program. And they all worked...for a while. But as soon as I stopped using whatever the current fad was at the time, the weight came back...with some extra just for good measure. Finally at 270 lbs and in total despair, I decided to stop listening to all the stuff and nonsense being promoted and do my own research.


And the first thing I discovered was that I was focusing on the wrong thing. I was so intent on being skinny again, I forgot about my health. As a child, I was told to gain weight because I was TOO SKINNY and unhealthy. In high school and college, you could see my hip bones and collar bones sticking out under my clothes. I was skinny. But I also suffered from headaches and "stomach bugs" and if there was a cold or flu going around, you could be sure I would get it. It took a while but I finally learned that SKINNY does not always equate to HEALTHY.


Yes, there are health risks associated with being overweight. Diabetes, high blood pressure, breast cancer, and heart disease to name a few. So I am not saying it's okay to give up trying to lose weight. What I am saying is stop trying for some idealized number on a scale and focus instead on getting healthy.


First, being skinny does not necessarily mean healthy. I remember one particular employee I had who was absolutely perfectly built. Thin and lovely. And always calling in sick. And I mean legitimately sick. If there was any kind of illness going around, she would get it. And my scrawny, string-bean husband is a Type 2 diabetic. You know...diabetes. The fat people's disease. He also has high cholesterol and heart disease. Both my hubs and my ex-employee are absolutely skinny. And both are terribly unhealthy.


Many skinny people assume that just because they are thin, they can eat whatever they want. They don't think about exercise. They are blessed with a high metabolism and so they don't worry about what they put in their bodies. My husband would eat a pound of bacon at one sitting and drink soda all day. My employee would often skip lunch to keep from gaining weight and then eat a candy bar and soda later in the day to keep her energy up. Healthy habits indeed!


So where am I now in my weight loss journey? Not focusing on weight loss. I am focused on health. I started meditating to help relieve stress and lower my blood pressure. I walk to help relieve the stiffness in my joints. I exercise which helps me sleep better. I discovered the unhealthy foods that were causing my headaches and stomach issues and have replaced them with fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and less processed junk. I have given up soda in favor of unsweetened herbal teas and water.


Is it working? At my last checkup, I had lost a total of 60 pounds. My blood pressure is down 29 points. My blood sugar is normal. My cholesterol is normal. And because I have replaced fad dieting and ridiculously intense crash weight loss programs with healthy lifestyle changes, I know I can keep doing this for the rest of my life. I feel great. I look good. I am stronger and healthier than ever. And while I may not ever be skinny again, I am confident that I will reach a more ideal weight for me. But no matter what my final weight is, I know that I will always choose to focus on my health and not some arbitrary number on the scale. It's not about being skinny. It's about being healthy.