All Episodes

September 14, 2025 14 mins

Save 10% off GOOD IDEA blood sugar balancing drinks with code KAIT (US only) https://hckait.com/goodidea 

Are you struggling with insulin resistance, prediabetes, or PCOS and wondering how to start your day the right way? In this video, I’m sharing my ultimate morning routine for reversing insulin resistance step by step. From sunlight exposure and hydration to delaying breakfast and eating a protein-rich first meal, I’ll show you the simple but powerful habits that set you up for stable blood sugar, fewer cravings, and more energy all day long.

These are the exact strategies I use myself and with my clients to lower insulin, boost metabolism, and make healthy choices easier. You don’t have to do everything on this list, but even one or two of these practices can make a huge difference in reversing insulin resistance naturally.

Beast Mode Soap (10% off: KAIT10)

Website: https://www.beastmodesoap.com/s/85794f

Amazon: https://amzn.to/46T2Pfw

Electrolytes https://hckait.com/sodiielectrolytes 

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:20 Start your morning with intention

02:51 Sunlight exposure

04:25 Hydrate before coffee

05:51 Movement and resistance training

09:03 Cold exposure 

10:13 Delay breakfast

11:26  Protein-rich meal to break your fast

12:51 Flexibility and habit stacking

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey guys, and welcome back to the Healthy Not Complicated
podcast. My name is Kate and I'm a
nutritionist who helps people toreverse insulin resistance
naturally. And today I'm sharing something
pretty special, my ultimate morning routine for reversing
insulin resistance. And this is so important because
how you start your day has a ripple effect on the rest of the
day. Think about it.
If you grab your phone first thing in the morning, you're

(00:22):
scrolling, you have a coffee anda muffin right away.
You rush out the door. You're starting your day on the
back foot. Your blood sugar spikes, your
stress is up and you're running behind.
And by lunchtime, you're wondering why you're starving
and craving sugar. And those are just the effects.
You can see what's going on inside your body when you start
your day like this. It's even worse.

(00:43):
On the other hand, if you're starting your day with intention
instead of reaction, you're changing how your metabolism
functions and for the better. Your blood sugar stays steadier,
your energy stays steadier, and you feel better overall.
And inside your body, your insulin and your cortisol are
going to stay lower. So in today's video, we're going
over the ultimate morning routine for reversing insulin

(01:03):
resistance. But that doesn't mean you have
to do everything that we talk about.
Pick and choose what will fit into your lifestyle, what you
can easily incorporate, and that's what's going to make the
biggest difference. You don't have to do everything,
but choose a few things from this routine and you're going to
see a big difference. All right, so the first step,
when you wake up, don't grab your phone right away.

(01:24):
I know, I know, it's so tempting, but think about what
happens when you do this. Before you even stand up, your
brain is flooded with notifications, messages.
There is a lot going on in that tiny device.
You're starting your day with a reaction instead of intention.
And here's the science part. When you start your day checking
your phone, you're spiking your dopamine and your cortisol.

(01:47):
That stress hormone cortisol, it's already high in the
morning, and this is normal. It should bump up at this time.
It does this because it helps your body to wake up and be
alert in the morning. So that's not a problem on its
own. But if you add more stress on
top of that, your blood sugar regulation can take a hit.
That means you're hungrier, crankier, and more likely to
crave sugar later. Instead, it's a good idea to

(02:09):
keep your phone in a different room overnight.
That way, at the very least, youhave to get up out of bed before
you can check it. Even better if you can put on
aeroplane mode or mute notifications so they don't pop
up right away when you grab it. And that's where intention comes
in. Try to do something like
reading, meditating. You can even journal for a

(02:31):
couple minutes. Go for a quick walk.
Doesn't have to be for a while, but try to do something that's
intentional, like I said again, instead of something that's
reactional. Then once you've done that, even
for just five, 5-10 minutes, youcan check your phone.
But even this small tweak can make a really big difference for
your hormones, cortisol, insulinincluded.

(02:51):
The next step is sunlight. So as soon as you can after you
wake up, try to get outside. Morning sunlight is like a reset
button for your circadian rhythm.
And this is going to help you towake up and be alert in the
morning. It's going to help to set your
hormones for the day. And it's also going to help you
sleep better that night because when we're exposed to light

(03:12):
first thing in the morning, thissets a timer for when melatonin
and sleep hormones will be released later that evening.
And this is because light is oneof the biggest triggers for
syncing our circadian rhythm, for keeping our hormones
balanced. And there's also an insulin
resistance connection, which is why we're talking about this.
A good circadian rhythm means better insulin sensitivity.

(03:33):
Your body handles glucose more efficiently when this clock is
aligned. Plus getting the sunlight in
your eyes, not through a window.It has to be direct, and by that
I don't mean you're staring directly at the sun, but glass
actually philtres out the wavelengths that help to set
your circadian rhythm and that help to boost serotonin.
And the serotonin boost, of course, is going to put you in a

(03:55):
better mood. Who doesn't want that?
Now? Even better, if you can add
movement to the sunlight exposure.
A 10 to 15 minute walk outside gives you double the benefits.
You're getting sunlight and muscle contraction.
This helps to shuttle glucose into your muscles, which is
going to help to improve insulinsensitivity and glucose uptake
throughout the day. Like we spoke about earlier in

(04:15):
this episode, there's that ripple effect, and this is just
a small habit that again, makes such a big difference.
All you have to do is get outside, go for a quick walk.
Now let's talk about coffee because personally, I love
coffee. It has been shown to have a lot
of benefits, insulin sensitivitybeing one of them, but you have
to use it in the right way. And this starts from when you

(04:37):
have your first sip. You don't want to have it first
thing in the morning right afterwaking.
You want to wait at least 90 minutes until you have it
because like I said before, whenyou wake up, your cortisol
naturally rises. But if you add caffeine on top
of that spike, it can cause it to go even higher.
You get the jitters and then a mid morning crash.

(04:57):
If you wait until after this 90 minutes, the caffeine hit is
smoother. It's not not as harsh and you're
going to get more benefits from it.
So what to do instead of having your coffee first thing in the
morning? Hydrate.
Have a big glass of water. Bonus points if you add in some
electrolytes and a tablespoon ortwo of apple cider vinegar.
Sodium, potassium, and magnesiumare the electrolytes you want to

(05:18):
focus on. They're going to keep your
energy up and your cravings down.
Proper hydration also helps withbetter insulin sensitivity.
So don't start your day dehydrated.
Don't start your day caffeinating right away.
Focus on that hydration portion and have the coffee a little bit
later. Now, apple cider vinegar and
vinegar in general has been shown to help with insulin
sensitivity and glucose control.And when you have it first thing

(05:41):
in the morning, again, that's going to help you throughout the
whole day. It also helps with digestion.
Just make sure you're not havingit straight.
Dilute it in water, add in the electrolytes, and you're going
to feel awesome. Next, let's talk about movement.
So we already spoke about how you could incorporate a walk
into your morning routine. This is also going to help to
reduce stress and it can lower your fasting glucose.

(06:01):
If it was a little, a little bitelevated when you first woke up,
your muscles are basically usingthe excess glucose that's in
your bloodstream for energy. So that will bring your blood
sugar down a little bit. So if you can go for a walk,
that's awesome. But even better, if you have the
time to incorporate some resistance training now, lifting
weights, body weight exercises, resistance bands, you can go to
the gym or do it at home. Any movement here that's using

(06:25):
your muscles is going to help because our muscles are like
glucose sponges. The more you use them, the more
sensitive they become to insulin.
And this is going to help with controlling your blood sugar and
also improving your insulin sensitivity long term.
Again, this doesn't have to be along session.
We're not talking about extremeshere.
We really want to focus on smallhabits because these are going

(06:47):
to make a big difference over time.
So even if you can do 15 minutesof somebody weight exercises at
home, or if you can go to the gym for just 30 minutes, that's
going to make a big difference. Now, something that I'm often
asked is should you eat before aworkout?
And it depends on your goals andyour current metabolic health.
So in the context of today's video, we're focusing on

(07:08):
reversing insulin resistance. And for people in this
demographic, not eating beforehand is going to be ideal.
In general, when you're working out fasted, this is when your
body is more likely to dip into your stored energy.
Elite athletes, bodybuilders, that is a completely different
story. Carbs can be beneficial for
people who are metabolically healthy and have different goals

(07:31):
that aren't centred around reversing insulin resistance and
improving metabolic health. But for the average person, and
unfortunately the average personis insulin resistant, Fasted
workouts are the ideal. That said, if you feel like you
can't perform to the best of your ability during your workout
and you do need to eat somethingbeforehand, that is fine.

(07:52):
There's nuance here. Everyone's different.
You need to figure out what works best for you.
Because if you eat before your workouts and you're seeing
results, if your insulin resistance is reversing, if
you're losing weight, if you're progressing towards your goals,
then that's working for you. Keep doing what you're doing.
Because if you do need a few carbs to get you through a
workout, the best time to eat carbohydrates if you're insulin

(08:15):
resistant is honestly around a workout.
Because like I said, our muscles, they're like glucose
sponges. So they're able to use that
energy pretty efficiently at this time.
They can actually use glucose without insulin.
So This is why it's so beneficial for insulin
resistance and improving insulinsensitivity.
So don't feel bad if you need toeat around your workout to feel

(08:37):
your best, that's totally fine. Like I said at the start of this
episode, you need to pick. You can choose things from this
video that are going to work best for you, that you can
actually stick to, that you can incorporate.
There's no point trying to be perfect because that's not going
to happen. If you can stick to something
for a week, if you can stick to something for two weeks, but

(08:58):
then you crash and burn after that, what's the point?
Small changes, that's what we'refocusing on O After a little bit
of movement, now you're probablygoing to want to have a shower,
and this is a good time to add in some cold exposure.
And this can mean just finishingyour shower with at least 60
seconds of cold water. I know this isn't my favourite
practise, but it is very beneficial and can help to

(09:21):
improve your metabolic health and your insulin sensitivity.
It's brutal, but it works. Cold exposure activates brown
fat, which helps regulate blood sugar and our metabolism.
It can also lower inflammation and improve stress resilience,
so you respond better to stressful situations in the
future. And honestly, you do feel
amazing after it. You might not feel amazing in

(09:42):
the moment, but once you get outof the shower, you feel pretty
good. Now a quick note here because
we're talking about showers. Recently I've been using Beast
Mode soap. And just like with food, natural
is usually better. A lot of soaps are filled with
chemical and junk that we absolutely don't want.
Our skin is our largest organ, it absorbs a lot, so we really

(10:03):
need to be at least a little bitmindful of what we're putting on
it. Beast Mode is made from beef
tallow. It's clean, it's natural, and it
smells great. I'll put the link to shop it in
the description box down below. Now let's talk about breakfast.
Or more specific, specifically delaying it.
If you haven't already eaten before your workout, then
pushing your breakfast back justa little bit further can help to

(10:23):
extend your fasting window. This gives your body more time
for your insulin levels to come down to stabilise and more time
for your body to be in a fat burning state.
Now you don't have to skip breakfast completely.
Even just pushing it back an hour or two can have a big
impact on your insulin sensitivity, on your blood sugar
control. We're not talking about extreme
fasting here, just giving your metabolism a little bit of a

(10:44):
break. You've already fasted overnight,
and if you can extend that even just an hour or two more, that
can really help with your insulin sensitivity.
But again, if you wake up and you are starving, if you really
find intermittent fasting hard, then this isn't for you.
There's nuance. It's not black and white.
I actually find that a lot of people do really well pushing

(11:05):
their dinner a little bit earlier and extending their
fasting window on that end. Again, not extreme fasting.
We're talking about having a 12 to 16, maybe 18 hour fasting.
Consistency is key when it comesto intermittent fasting.
Yes, you can mix up the times and what time of day you're
fasting, but just doing it over the long term, that's what

(11:26):
matters. Now when you do eat your first
meal, protein is the priority. Aim for at least 30 grammes of
protein in your first meal. But if you can get 40 or 50
grammes in, even better. Protein stabilises your blood
sugar, it helps to keep you fulland it helps you to maintain and
build muscle, which in turn improves insulin sensitivity.
Now, most people make the mistake of having a high carb

(11:47):
breakfast. They reach for cereal, toast,
oats, that sort of thing. If you can keep your carbs low,
that is going to be the best option.
Instead, reach for things like eggs, Greek yoghurt, smoked
salmon, avocado, foods that are high in protein and high in
healthy fat. Add in some low carb veggies or
low sugar fruit and you're good to go.

(12:07):
Now, I'm not saying you can't have any carbs at breakfast.
If you do want to have a slice of bread or that sort of thing,
that's totally fine. The key here is getting enough
protein because that's going to help to slow down the digestion
of carbs. Now, if you can cut back the
carbs, even better, but you don't have to.
Speaking of blood sugar support,today's episode is brought to
you by Good Idea. Good Idea is a sparkling drink

(12:29):
that's been clinically tested toreduce blood sugar spikes for
meals. It contains amino acids and
chromium. They make your cells more
sensitive to insulin. I love drinking it when I'm
eating out or even at home with higher carb meals.
It's fizzy, refreshing, and actually supports your blood
sugar instead of spiking it. Head to
healthcoachkate.com/goodidea to check it out and make sure to
use code Kate 10 for 10% off your first order.

(12:51):
Now here's the cool part. When you stack these habits,
they multiply. You've hydrated, got sunlight,
moved your body, eaten protein, avoided stress, and all of that
makes it so much easier to keep making good choices.
Your blood sugar stays steadier all day long.
Your cravings are lower. If you do have cravings, they're
less intense, you're more energised, you're less likely to

(13:13):
reach for sugar at 3:00 PM. You've built momentum before the
day has even really started. And how good is that?
And remember, you don't have to do everything we spoke about
today. Pick two or three of these
habits and try to incorporate them over the next week.
Maybe it's delaying coffee, going for a walk and making sure
you're getting enough protein atbreakfast.
These are really small habits toincorporate.

(13:35):
They don't take a lot of effort,they're not expensive, they're
basically free. And once you've mastered those,
add another habit into the mix. This is called habit stacking,
layering small doable actions until they become your new
normal. All right, so that's my ultimate
morning routine for reversing insulin resistance.
Wake up with purpose. Get sunlight, hydrate before
caffeine, move your body, maybe mix in a cold shower, delay

(13:59):
breakfast. And when you do eat, make sure
you're getting enough protein. Now, if you can do even just one
or two of these things, you are going to feel a difference.
You're going to see some small results.
Obviously, the more you can do the better, but there is a
tipping point. Again, if you're not able to
stick to it, then it doesn't really matter.
Yes, you might get some short term results, but what we're

(14:20):
focusing on here is long term results.
We want to reverse insulin resistance and keep it reversed
without having to stick to some extreme diet or extreme routine.
But anyways, that's where I'm going to end today's episode.
If you did enjoy it, make sure to give it a thumbs up.
And if you're watching or listening on Spotify, you can
give me a review, ideally A5 star of you.

(14:42):
If you've listened this long, I hope you like that episode.
Thank you guys for watching or listening and I'll see you in
the next one. Bye.
Advertise With Us

Host

Kait Malthaner

Kait Malthaner

Popular Podcasts

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.

Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.