The 2 Things I Do for a Healthier Morning
If you thought I was gonna say that I take a spin class or set up a spread of fruit for breakfast, you are wrong! Although I do hit up Soul Cycle (once every four, er, six months), the things on my (short) list are a lot more simple. And, well, a lot less labor-intensive.
Here are the two simple things I do for a healthier morning.
1. I get up when my alarm goes off.
That’s not to say I don’t want to hit the snooze button. I always want nine (or 90!) extra minutes of sleep — I just don’t let myself. Why not? I used to. But then I read all these stories with experts talking about how snoozing actually fragments the little amount of extra sleep you are getting, so it’s not even good sleep. (It’s basically just wasted time!)
And then there’s the idea that snoozing starts a new sleep cycle that you don’t get to finish, which means you’re prolonging that awful sluggish feeling that causes you to hit snooze in the first place. (It’s called sleep inertia and studies find that it can be very finicky!) No thanks! I’d rather just get it over with and jolt out of bed in a panic when my alarm goes off — no matter how much I want to hide under the covers.
2. I chug at least one giant glass of water.
Before I even reach for my first cup of coffee, I force myself to drink at least one glass of water. “There’s water in coffee,” I used to tell myself, but 30-something-year-old me realizes that doesn’t exactly count.
Even though there is zero caffeine in it, I chug that glass of water. I chug it so hard, I may even fill up a second glass and chug that too. Because once I have my coffee and my day actually starts, I don’t always remember to drink. That is, until it’s 5 or 6 and it’s time for happy hour.
A Small Disclaimer
I realize these things don’t exactly counteract my near-lack of exercise or my diet — which is rich with Rice Krispies Treats, cheese puffs, and real cheese — or actually make me a healthy person, but they’re small things that help me feel a little bit better each morning. After all, I could be snoozing and only drinking coffee and wine, right? These things have to count for something!
What do you do to have a healthier morning?