155 | Small Morning Changes for Big Health Benefits

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Could simple morning habits really transform your midlife health journey? Discover how exposing yourself to morning sunlight can naturally regulate your circadian rhythm and boost cortisol, setting the stage for a better day. Learn about an effective movement routine that involves lifting your arms overhead to improve posture and support lymphatic drainage. Plus, find out why postponing your first cup of coffee until after breakfast might be a game-changer for managing cortisol levels, especially for those practicing intermittent fasting. We tackle these essential habits to help you feel more energized and balanced as you navigate midlife.

In the second part of our discussion, we delve into three straightforward actions that can make a significant impact on your health without overhauling your diet or exercise regimen. These small steps are designed to lower cortisol levels, reduce inflammation from high glucose, and stabilize blood sugar, leading to less stress and a heightened sense of well-being. Join our Moving Through Midlife community on Facebook or visit movingthroughmidlife.com for more insights and personalized guidance. If these tips resonate with you, share the episode with a friend or leave a review to help us support more moms flourishing through midlife.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you listened to last week's episode, you will
know that I shared three thingsthat you can start to do to help
you live a healthier life andlose weight.
If that is something you'reinterested in, and it is
something that we all can do,those three things, three things

(00:27):
.
Today I want to talk aboutthree things that you can do
first thing in the morning.
That is also going to help youwith your weight loss journey
and your overall health journey.
So let's get started.
Welcome to Moving ThroughMidlife.
I am your host, courtney, apersonal trainer and movement
specialist who wants to help youmove through midlife with more

(00:50):
grace.
Each week, we will discuss wayswe can show up better for
ourselves and our childrenwithout the burnout.
We will focus on overall healththrough habit stacking to help
increase energy, providemovement snacks to help you move
more throughout the day, whilealso moving your body more, and

(01:10):
learn from professionals onmoving through midlife with ease
so that you can feel confidentwith aging gracefully.
Grab your earbuds and join meon a leisurely walk while we
discuss moving through midlife.
On a leisurely walk while wediscuss moving through midlife,
all right.
So the first thing that you aregoing to do when you wake up,

(01:39):
and this is going to depend onthe sunlight.
If you wake up before the sun,then you can go about your
morning, do whatever younaturally do and then when the
sun rises, you will go outside.
If you wake up and the sun isalready risen, I want you to get
outside.
Get outside as quickly aspossible and it doesn't matter
how long we're not, I'm going tosay even just five minutes If
you can just go outside and getinto the sunlight.

(02:02):
And what happens is yourmorning eyes are going to sense
the sunlight and this helps torelease cortisol so that your
body really starts to wake up.
It also helps to regulate yourcircadian rhythm.
There's a whole process thatoccurs where it signals to your

(02:25):
body and brain that it's time tostart the day and then it
allows for the body to alsoproduce the melatonin once the
lights go down at night.
So we have a circadian rhythmthat's usually about 24 hours
long and, depending on when youget that first light in the day,
will depend on it'll like fireon that circadian rhythm and

(02:50):
then the melatonin then comesduring a period after that time.
So we want to make sure that weare getting that morning
sunlight to help that naturalmelatonin, sleepy time start to
occur, and melatonin is producedbased on the light in the

(03:13):
evening, but without thatmorning light it does diminish
the effect of it.
So we want to make sure we'regetting that morning light.
Now what I would recommend iswhen we go outside.
One thing that many of us don'tdo is we don't put our arms up

(03:34):
over our head a lot throughoutthe day.
So I think it is a great ideawhen we go out into the sunlight
, first thing in the morning isto bring our arms up over our
head.
For a lot of us, if you are aside sleeper or a back sleeper,
you will probably have a roundedposition, so we want to get the

(03:58):
body into extension.
So bringing your arms up overyour head like you're going to
start, say, a sun salutation inyoga and you're going to lift
your heart up towards the sky,that is going to create some
extension.
Now, for those of you who arebelly sleepers, you probably are
in extension a little morethroughout the day, so you don't

(04:21):
need to focus on this as much,but it's just a great way to
kind of reset your posture is byjust bringing those arms up
overhead, extending up throughthat chest to where the heart is
reaching towards the sky andthen just kind of allow your
body to drop over to one sidewith the arms staying up

(04:42):
overhead, and then to the otherside and then bring those arms
back down and roll thoseshoulders back.
You'll do that about threetimes.
It will help to allow for goodshoulder movement.
It will allow for the lymphaticsystem, where many of us tend

(05:05):
to get a lot of the lymphdrainage around our upper arm
chest area can get very stagnantbecause we don't lift our arms
up over our head a lot.
So this is going to help withthat whole experience, allowing

(05:26):
that lymphatic system to kind ofdrain a little bit more
effectively and then it justshould feel really good.
So that is the first thing whenyou wake up in the morning, get
outside, don't look at the sun,but get out into the sunlight,
allow that natural cortisol tobe brought up naturally and get

(05:49):
those arms up over your head.
The second thing that we'regoing to do, so when you come
back in from getting thatsunlight, you're going to.
For those of you who are coffeedrinkers, now, if you are a
greens drinker or lemon waterdrinker, go do that, enjoy that.

(06:11):
That's amazing.
I wish I could be you.
But for those of you who drinkcoffee, like myself, it is not a
terrible thing.
I will not be one who everdoesn't promote coffee, but
there are some caveats.
So when we went outside, we gotthat natural cortisol boost.

(06:32):
We then do not come inside andcontinue to boost, boost, boost
our cortisol.
That is when we start to getinto more of that fight or
flight response too muchcortisol in the system.
So what we're going to do is youcan make your coffee, but you
have to eat first.

(06:52):
To eat first, you have to eatfirst.
Now for my fasters if you are afaster and you don't like that
I just said that and you'refasting and it's working then
keep doing what you're doing.
I don't want to mess with you.
Do what is working for youright now.
But what I have found with manyof my clients is that at this

(07:20):
age in midlife, when we aredealing with a lot of stressors,
fasting does not work long term.
So for those of you who drinkyour coffee in the morning,
you're going to delay, delaydrinking your coffee, even that
first sip.
Okay, please promise me you'lldo this and eat breakfast first.

(07:44):
Now, if you're not one who eatsa lot of breakfast, I want you
to grab a handful of nuts,something that is going to help
keep that blood sugar morestable when you do drink your
coffee, whether you're puttingcream and sugar in it or not.
Okay, so that is going to helpdiminish the cortisol spike that

(08:10):
naturally occurs when you drinkcoffee.
Okay, so that is two thingsthat you're doing.
I'm going to add another one inhere, because I spoke about it
last week, and it's that slowingdown, and I I mentioned the
fight or flight response where,if you're coming inside from
seeing the sunlight, you alreadyhave a natural.

(08:31):
You've given your body the goodcortisol boost that it needs.
Now, if you're then cominginside drinking coffee and
rushing around like a crazyperson trying to get everybody
else in the household ready, youare naturally bringing up your
cortisol response.
So we want to make sure that weplan effectively, so make sure

(08:56):
that you are giving yourselfenough time in the morning to
get everything done as a prior.
Well, I am still aprocrastinator, but as a person
who always used to push thingsto the edge, I will say that

(09:18):
when you give yourself anopportunity to wake up, say 10
minutes earlier.
It allows you to be a littlebit calmer, allows your body to
be a little bit calmer as youmove through your day.
And I would say I prefer you towake up 10 minutes earlier to

(09:41):
be able to do this, even if itmeans less sleep, because what's
going to happen is we're goingto find it on the other side.
I'd rather you go to bedearlier, okay, so at some point
we're going to find it on theother side so that you can get
that full night's sleep.
So it might be for a coupleweeks that you're waking up a

(10:04):
little bit earlier I'm talking10 minutes, I'm not talking an
hour 10 minutes earlier and thenyou can feel a little bit ease,
have a little bit more easewhile you're getting ready.
So that was your little bonusthere, but it really wasn't a
bonus because we spoke about itlast week.
And then the third thing is whenyou are making your breakfast

(10:27):
and you've heard me say thisnumerous, numerous times, and
the reason you will continue tohear me tell you this is because
it's that important.
It is that important Is you'vegot to get your protein in in
the morning.
You have to Now.
I would encourage you.
The goal is, I would say, 30grams of protein.

(10:49):
Start working on trying to getthat much protein in in the
morning.
What does this mean?
What does this look like?
So, for eggs are always a greatoption.
You can always add egg whitesto increase the protein without
the fat.
I like to.

(11:12):
Personally, I like to have eggswith egg yolk because of the
choline and all the nutrients inthat egg yolk Very important.
But once you get, say, beyond 2, I'm not sure you need all of
those extras, so you can thenadd some egg whites as well to

(11:34):
bump up your protein.
The other thing I lovepersonally is yogurts and
cottage cheese.
Those are, yes, they are dairyproducts, but I don't have an
issue with dairy.
I think they're really greatways.
You get a lot of bang for yourbuck.

(11:55):
So that as well is anothergreat option to add to your
morning to push to 30 grams ofprotein.
If you have questions about this, head over to the Moving
Through Midlife community andask in our community what some
ideas are for some high proteinbreakfast.
I will be happy to share overthere for you, and I'm sure

(12:18):
other people might say as wellwhat they eat for breakfast.
So those are what I'm going torecommend and if you want to
kind of really set off yourbreakfast foods, I always
recommend starting with yourvegetables.
I always recommend startingwith your vegetables.

(12:41):
Eat your vegetables first, thenyour protein, then your carbs,
whether it be fruit or if youhave oatmeal or anything like
that.
That tends to be the way tohelp decrease the blood sugar
response in the body is if youalways eat like that eating your

(13:01):
vegetables first, then yourprotein and then your carbs that
will help with keeping theblood sugar more stable.
So those are my three to fourthings that I would recommend
that you really focus on.
You're not changing.
I'm not asking you to make a bigdiet change.

(13:23):
I'm not asking you to go workout.
I'm asking you to do threesimple things that can start to
make big changes.
Does it mean you're going tolose a lot of weight in the
beginning?
No, but what this does mean isyou are not going to wake up
with as high of cortisol levels.
You're not going to be dealingwith quite as much inflammation

(13:45):
due to high glucose levels, yourblood sugar being through the
roof.
All of that and your cortisolbeing through the roof, you will
be less likely to be in thatfight or flight response.
You will start to just feelbetter if you practice these
three things, so I hope thathelps.

(14:06):
I hope you all have an amazingday and make sure to join me
over in my community MovingThrough Midlife over on Facebook
community Moving ThroughMidlife over on Facebook or head
to movingthroughmidlifecom andsee how you can work with me.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand found something to take

(14:30):
away to help you practicehealthier habits, move more or
handle the midlife and agingwith grace.
If you enjoyed this episode,please share it with a friend or
leave us a review to help usreach more moms just like you.
Head to movingthroughmidlifecomto join the free community or

(14:50):
learn how you can move more andfeel better in your daily life.