This morning routine is great for weight loss and mental performance

I hope you’re doing great!

As a qualified gym trainer, and someone who has dedicated my life to health and fitness I wanted to share something I find works really well. In fact I do this morning routine most days, I sometimes change it up, but this is a version of it that has worked well for me in the past.

The morning is your time to take ownership of your day, if you can leave the blocks in good stride, you’re more likely going to get somewhere. If you find some days drag, and you cant wait for it to end, something is wrong and you have to do something about it.

My focus for the day isn’t weight loss, I train most days, so having a six pack and biceps is my normal, but what is very important to me is having a very positive mindset, where I feel great and ready to go. Believe it or not, just because someone looks fit, doesn’t mean they have a healthy mindset, it’s something you have to work on daily.

To give you an example, over the Christmas period, I got lazy, was drinking wine every night, having late nights and sleeping in. It didn’t take long for this to become the new ‘normal’. It sometimes happens so gradually you won’t even notice.

What changed?

I woke up with no motivation one day, I felt tired, and just wanted to nap. I realised I had hit rock bottom and something had to be done. This was 2 weeks ago, and I’m finally back to my normal self. This is how I did it.

Week 1

I started out slowly, for the first week, I just had to get my sleeping back to normal, this was the first step. I set a goal to be in bed for 10pm every night. I noticed for the first few nights I couldn’t sleep, but by getting up early I started to get into a routine.

I got back to weight lifting every second day, this forced me to get my diet in check, because I know training without good food is a waste of time. So I started eating greens, oats, fish and brown rice to build myself back up and get energy.

I had to be strict and not let myself drink any alcohol, it’s very easy to find yourself with a glass of Malbec with your steak, so you have to be hard on this.

My focus in the first week was to just get a basic level of control and normality back, knowing that week two I could do better.

Week 2

This was me back to my normal schedule, and this got me feeling great again.

First thing after getting out of bed I have my coffee, I prefer to use a good quality bean rather than anything instant.

I then use my Hydro flask and make some green tea, I have a large flask so this will keep me hydrated for hours, I got this idea from Tim Ferris and bought mine off Amazon, I’ll leave a link at the bottom. I let it cool down before sealing it so I can drink it quickly throughout the morning. Hydration is very important, and I’ve noticed when you forget about it you wont feel 100% even if you get everything else right.

I then meditate for 15 minutes, this is something I had tried for years but didn’t really get into for years, until I found Head Space, now I do it every day and it makes a big difference. Just learning how to have some control over your thoughts and emotions is life changing, especially for anyone who struggles with stress or anxiety.

Next up is the spin bike, I do cardio daily, at the weekend it’s walking but during the week it’s the spin bike for convenient. I mix up the workout daily to ensure my body doesn’t adapt and so I keep improving, I measure this with my Garmin Fenix watch. I usually do HIIT training every other day, and duration training between. Every second day this is followed by either a weight lifting session or bodyweight exercises.

Following each exercise I have breakfast, followed by supplements. Then I’m all set to go out and take on the day. This entire process takes around an hour to an hour and a half, it’s worth every second.

This may seem allot, but I notice the benefits of following something like this is well worth it, and the truth is, once you start feeling great most days it becomes allot easier to maintain, I now look forward to my workouts. If you have to skip a day, it doesn’t matter, because your mindset will be in a great place.