We all have certain habits that we engage in most mornings and for some people, these habits may be waking up and getting out of bed at 10 am or skipping breakfast and grabbing a large lunch or walking the dog, etc. Morning habits are things that we regularly do in the morning however our morning habits can either be healthy or unhealthy or a combination of both. Starting your morning off healthy is the smart thing to do because what if our morning habits you know the things that we do in the morning can have a positive impact on our health? What if these very habits can make us more productive, less stressed, give us more energy and so on? Won't you want to practice these instead?


Start your day off healthy with these 7 healthy morning habits.



1. Wake up early

If you're going to wake up early you'll first have to ensure that you get at least 6-8 hours of sleep and to achieve this you'll need to know when you're going to wake up and go to sleep according to that. Additionally, it's important that you don't go to sleep extremely late and then want to/try to wake up early. Sleep is important so don't sacrifice that. An example: If you want to wake up at 6 am and you want to get 7 hours of sleep then the latest you should go to sleep is at 11 p.m. What you don't do is go to sleep at 2 a.m. in the morning and wake up at 6 a.m. in the morning, that will give you about 4 hours of sleep which is not healthy.

So, you know how to achieve this so let me ask you this! Are you one of those people who hate waking up early in the morning? If so then hear me out!

Waking up early basically gives you more TIME. On the other hand, waking up late gives you less or no time to get things done in the morning and this can be very stressful. When you have more time you can make/eat a healthy breakfast instead of grabbing an unhealthy one or skipping breakfast. If you skip breakfast you may make unhealthy choices at your next meal. This can be: you're so hungry and unhealthy foods seem like a good idea or you can end up overeating because you're so hungry.
Skipping breakfast is not a good idea! You've been sleeping for hours and that will put your body into starvation mode which will result in you overeating when you do eat and crave unhealthy foods.


So waking up early enables you to have a healthy diet but how else can it benefit you?

When you wake up early:
- you're more productive
- you get time to exercise and get that out of the way

- you can enjoy a peaceful quiet time/enjoy peace and quiet. Early in the morning is quiet and thus you get to enjoy that peacefully
- you don't have to stress because you have to get a lot done and don't have the time

- you get to mediate
- you see the sunrise, seeing the sunrise is beautiful
- you can read/listen to useful books and Podcasts- fill your mind with knowledge

In conclusion, when you wake up late you won't have enough time. That can be enough time to make a healthy breakfast or exercise and so on. When you wake early you don't have to rush to get things done and stress yourself out.



2. Start your day with water or lemon water





What can drinking water do for you? Drinking water:

- rehydrates the body (Water is great for hydrating the body from all those hours of sleeping).
- flushes toxins from the body
- boost your metabolism, etc.

Alternatively, the highly popular warm lemon water is also another option to consume! Making lemon water the first thing you consume in the morning is a healthy morning habit. Why? The reason is very simple, lemons provide various health benefits and lower your risks of diseases.

First, what is warm lemon water?
Warm lemon water is basically lemon juice added to warm water. Apart from giving water a different taste (a delicious taste by the way) it has many health benefits as already stated above.

 
Ok, let's look at the health benefits of lemons.

The enzyme L-gulonolactone oxidase is not present in humans and as such we cannot synthesize our own vitamin C (ascorbic acid). So, therefore, in order to obtain this vitamin, we need to consume it through our diets. This vitamin can come from certain foods that we eat or we can take tablets/oral supplements. This is where lemons come in; lemons are a rich source of vitamin C and vitamin C is an essential micronutrient that us humans need.

Some roles of vitamin C are:

Vitamin C is an ANTIOXIDANT and acts as a COFACTOR

- This vitamin as an antioxidant protects us from harmful free radicals. For those of who don't know, free radicals are produced during metabolic processes within the body and we can also be exposed to these from the environment.

- Additionally, the consumption of vitamin C may relieve or prevent infections (1).

- Prevent and relieve cold

- Promote the absorption of iron from non-heme iron sources

- Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder and vitamin C as an antioxidant can maintain periodontal health.

- the transformation of cholesterol to bile acids

- synthesis of muscle carnitine

- maintain collagen

- freshens breath
 

Vitamin C deficiency
Think about it this way! If someone is vitamin C deficient then a number of health conditions will arise in the body like scurvy, anemia, and infections to name a few.

Vitamin C deficiency can occur due to:

• not enough consumption of vitamin C containing foods in the diet
• stress
• tobacco smoking
• pregnancy

Note: These 4 ways that I have listed above are not the only ways that one can become vitamin C deficient.

Furthermore, apart from lemons being a rich source of vitamin C, they are also great for digestion and weight loss.


3. Eat a healthy breakfast





I feel so much better when I start my day off eating something healthy and so will you. There are so many healthy options out there like smoothies, smoothie bowls, oatmeal, fruit and so on just to name a few. I try to at least have some sort of fruit or vegetable and a healthy protein with my first meal.

Some healthy foods/ingredients that you can eat for breakfast/use to make breakfast are:

• yogurt
• chia seeds
• flaxseeds 
• granola
• eggs
• nuts
• almond butter/peanut butter
• fruits (e.g. strawberries, blueberries, bananas, apples, lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, watermelon, avocados, tomatoes and so on)
• vegetables (e.g. spinach)
• mushrooms 
• whole wheat bread
• whole grain muffins
• honey 
• beans
• quinoa
• plant-based milk (e.g. almond milk)

4. Read or listen to an eBook/book or Podcast





For this, try to fill your mind with knowledge for reading gives you more knowledge and that's never a bad thing. Try to allot time to read or listen to a book or Podcast or you can even listen to a book or Podcast whilst your exercising or eating if you don't have all that time.

Why in the morning? Your brain is more active in the morning and you're able to concentrate more in the morning and retain the information that you gain from reading. Additionally, the morning is calm and so you're better able to concentrate more. Apart from that, reading also offers relaxation, peace, 
and tranquility.


Reading as a way of relieving stress?
Reading is good for relieving stress. I can't tell you the number of times that I've read a book to take my mind off stressful situations in my life. You just lose yourself in whatever it is that you're reading and you don't think about whatever it is that's stressing you out. This works because when you read you're in the present moment of what you're reading and so you're not dealing with the past and future or your stressful life.




5. Exercise

Exercise has many health benefits. One, exercise regulates our weight and when we exercise in a fasted state fat oxidation can increase.


If you exercise in the morning you don't have to worry about it for the rest of the day. However, if you can't in the morning maybe because of time or whatever it is, try doing a couple minutes of some sort of exercise, this will make you feel good like going for a walk or run.

Additionally, we'll have more energy in the morning after a good night's sleep as opposed to the end of the day (tired after work for some of us). Due to less energy, we might not work out or if we do, we won't do it properly or only do a part or the thought of exercising at the end of the day can stress 
us out.




6. Mediate







Meditation can put your mind and body in a state of calmness and relaxation. What I love about meditation is that it trains your mind to focus on the present moment rather than the past or future.

But why in the morning? Well, your mind is clear and free in the morning and additionally, it can be difficult to mediate with distractions (it can be around you or of the day) and so what better time to mediate than early in the morning when your outer world and inner world is quite.

If you didn't wake up that early in the morning it is still great to mediate in the morning because it can give you an energy boost which we all need in the morning by the way.

There are various meditation technique that you can try, just do what works for you (You can meditate for 20 minutes in the morning after waking up).





7. Shower






Morning showers are great because they make you feel so refreshed and what better time to feel so than in the morning when you have your whole day ahead of you.



What are your morning habits? Are they healthy, somewhat healthy or just really unhealthy? Whatever your morning habits are how does it impact the rest of your day? Personally, from implementing healthy habits in the morning, I have had a positive health impact on my mind and body.



 References

1.  Hemilä, Harri. 2017. "Vitamin C and Infections." Nutrients 9, no. 4: 339. 

Image via pixabay.

Human consumption of sugar has increased exponentially over the years and has been linked to many health conditions such as type II diabetes, obesity, tooth decay, heart disease, dementia, high blood pressure, stroke, cancer and the incidence and severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (1). However, these health conditions can occur from the over-consumption of sugar. Sugar can even cause the release of dopamine which is similar to the drugs that people abuse.


People are consuming sugar and don't know it! Are you consuming sugar and don't know it?

You could be because on an ingredient list the word sugar may be absent because manufacturers are using other words for sugar. This is so because sugar has different sources and hence many names and so we might not recognize them on labels. So it does not mean sugar is absent from a food if the food label doesn't have the word sugar listed.



Our kids are also over-consuming sugar!

Young children are also over-consuming sugar because there are so many treats and snacks in the supermarkets these days for kids that are full of sugar and adults are purchasing these for their kids. What's very disturbing is that our childhood diet can impact our choices on the foods that we seek as adults and also increase our risk for obesity according to a study by Frazier et al. (2008) who tested the hypothesis that dietary experience during childhood and adolescence affects adult obesity risks. They found that mice exposed to sucrose early in life preferred and consumed this food as much as non-exposed animals, but in this environment gained more weight than controls (2).



A little background on sugar.

Sugar is basically a carbohydrate that gives our foods and drinks a sweet taste that humans so badly crave.


Where does sugar come from?

Sugars occur naturally in many foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains and so on. This sugar/sucrose is extracted from the tissues of plants such as sugar cane and sugar beet and refined for human consumption. The sugars that are produced commercially are added to our foods (called added sugars) by manufacturers or by us when we cook our foods. The sugar that we commonly use is called sucrose and sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose.

Sugar can be found in lots of foods and drinks. They can even be found in foods and drinks that we might not expect to find sugar in. Examples of foods and drinks that contain sugar are sugar-sweetened beverages such as soda, fruit juices and energy drinks, pasta, bread, granola, BBQ sauce and canned soups.


Sugars come in several forms and they are:

• monosaccharides
• disaccharides
• polysaccharide

Sugars that are made up of single sugar molecules are called simple sugars/monosaccharides. Examples of these are glucose, fructose, and galactose.

When two simple sugars are joined together by a chemical bond they are called disaccharides, the most common of which is sucrose or table sugar. Table sugar is made up of equal amounts of the simple sugars glucose and fructose.

Carbohydrates that are made up of more than two simple sugars are referred to as polysaccharides.

1. sugar
2. high-fructose corn syrup
3. fructose
4. corn syrup
5. buttered syrup
6. brown rice syrup
7. evaporated cane juice
8. molasses
9. honey
10. malt syrup
11. nectars
12. fruit juice concentrate
13. brown sugar
14. malted barley
15. barley malt
16. lactose
17. maltose
18. rice syrup
19. maple syrup
20. caramel
21. carob syrup
22. raisin syrup
23. cane sugar
24. beet sugar
25. castor sugar
26. blackstrap molasses
27. sorghum
28. corn sweetener
29. corn syrup solids
30. white sugar
31. raw sugar
32. date sugar
33. brown rice syrup
34. concentrated fruit juice
35. fruit juice concentrate
36. confectioner's sugar
37. mannitol
38. xylitol
39. sorbitol
40. diaccharides
41. galactose
42. agave nectar
43. coconut sugar
44. grape sugar
45. Florida crystals
46. coconut sugar
47. coconut palm sugar
48. sorghum syrup

References

1. Moore JB, Gunn PJ, Fielding BA. The Role of Dietary Sugars and De novo Lipogenesis in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Nutrients. 2014; 6(12):5679-5703.

2. Frazier CRM, Mason P, Zhuang X, Beeler JA (2008) Sucrose Exposure in Early Life Alters Adult Motivation and Weight Gain. PLoS ONE 3(9): e3221. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003221

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In order to live a long as possible healthy free of diseases kind of life, it is necessary that we live a healthy lifestyle and in order for us to live a healthy lifestyle, we must consume healthy foods. The problem with healthy foods is that we tend to get easily bored of eating them. Have you been eating healthy foods and after a while you get bored of eating them? As a matter of fact, it can happen to all of us because any food whether healthy or not can get boring hence we can get bored of eating our favorite foods. However, more people tend to find healthy foods boring rather than unhealthy foods.

Chances are if your bored of eating healthy foods then most likely you'll stop eating healthy foods. Lots of times the people who find healthy food boring are the ones that know the taste and love the taste of unhealthy foods or they may have started eating healthy foods and just eat it as it is without being creative and sticking to the same foods.

What if I tell you that there are ways to make healthy food taste delicious and so on which will, in turn, prevent you from getting bored. There are and continue reading if you would like to know of these ways.







1. Try new recipes

I personally think that it's more exciting to eat different foods because don't we all get bored of the same things over and over?

New recipes are the best advice that I can give to someone who gets bored of eating healthy foods. The reason is very simple. There are so many healthy recipes out there to try that are so delicious that you wouldn't believe that you're eating healthy.

Where to find new recipes?
You can find new recipes on blogs, cook books, TV cooking shows, Pinterest, Facebook and even from family members. My favorite place to find new recipes is on Pinterest and I tend to make new healthy recipes often because it keeps food from getting boring.




2. Season your food/change up your seasonings





You can add different seasonings, more seasonings or less seasonings to your food. So instead of adding just salt and pepper try adding some other seasonings like herbs, spices and seasoning blends. Why should you add these seasonings? Well, seasonings enhance the flavor of foods thus food taste better and smell amazing.

Examples of some seasonings (herbs, spices and seasoning blends) other than salt and pepper

• parsley                             
• cilantro
• oregano
• coriander
• rosemary
• basil
• dill
• thyme
• saffron
• fennel
• turmeric
• cumin
• paprika
• cinnamon 
• jalapeno pepper
• chili pepper
• habanero pepper
• cayenne pepper
• white pepper
• Cajun seasoning
• BBQ seasoning
• Mediterranean spice blend
• chili powder
• chili flakes
• lemon pepper seasoning
• Garam masala
• Jamaican jerk seasoning
• Zaatar
• Chinese five spice
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• garlic salt

3. Let other people cook your food

Sometimes you can get bored of your own cooking and so why not eat food from other people once in a while. Other people have different recipes and methods of cooking that might be different from yours.

You can achieve this by:
- eating out at healthy restaurants or order healthy food at a restaurant.
- eating other family members or friends food.
- trying healthy ready-made meals. You can find healthy ones at your supermarkets and you can even have them delivered to your home (There are various companies/food delivery services that do this. There are even places that send the ingredients and recipes with instructions to your home).

Sometime you might not like a particular let's say vegetable but when you eat it from someone else you love it or you might not have never tried a particular again let's say vegetable and you go over to a friend's house they cook it and you love it.



4. Try different cooking methods

Cooking the same food the same way every time can make you get bored but cooking the same food different ways can prevent that.
 
For example, you might only be eating steamed carrots. So next time why not try sauteing them in a pan with some olive oil and seasonings and another time you can even add it to smoothies or in omelets, sandwiches, burgers and so on. You could even juice it.

Another example with sweet potatoes. You could make sweet potato chips in the oven, baked whole sweet potatoes and cut them in the middle and stuff them with whatever you like. You could make a sweet potato hummus, saute them in a pan with seasonings, you could steam them, etc.



Different cooking methods to try

• steaming
• baking
• roasting
• grilling
• boiling
• stewing
• You could stir-fry, saute, cook in a slow cooker, crock-pot, air fryer, use a food processor
  

Related post: 4 tips on how to get the most nutrients from the vegetables that you boil



5. Try hiding/masking the taste of foods (it could be a vegetable, fruit and so on) that you're bored of in other foods

So you might find a particular vegetable boring. Instead of eating it as it is why not add it to smoothies or a little in other foods where the food will mask the taste.

For example, let's say that I'm bored of eating spinach. What I will do is I'm going add it to my smoothies where I won't taste it and a next time I can even add it to omelets and so on.



6. Add the zest and/or juice and/or the peel of lemons, limes and oranges to your food

These citrus fruits provide great flavor to foods. Try using the zest and/or juice of these fruits to season/marinate and cook foods. You can also squeeze the juice of these fruits on your food when it's finished cooking.

Tip: Use a grater to zest the fruit and don't use the white part because its bitter.







7. Try different salad dressings and dips
Trying different salad dressings and dips has made eating healthy so much easier for me.


Salad dressings
Eating the same salad dressings every time with your salads can be very boring. Why not try changing it up. You can also buy healthy salad dressings from the store.



Dips
Examples of some dips are:


- Hummus
Hummus is a healthy dip that is very delicious and its great for dipping vegetables in. Also, if your tired of the same kind of hummus then try another.

Other hummus to try aside from the traditional version

• roasted red pepper hummus
• sun-dried tomato hummus
• avocado hummus 
• carrot hummus
• smoky eggplant hummus
• roasted beet hummus
• sweet potato hummus 

- Guacamole

Guacamole variations

• mango guacamole
• black been and corn guacamole
• roasted tomato guacamole
  

- Salsa


- Bean dips

• Black bean dip
• White bean and artichoke dip

- Yogurt dips

• cucumber yogurt dip
• lemon cumin yogurt dip
• Greek yogurt onion dip

- Vegetable dips
This may sound like it's not going to taste good but give it a try. Some are:

• roasted red pepper dip
• pea dip
• roasted eggplant dip (one of my favorite dip in the world)

- Nuts dips

• cashew dip
• peanut butter

- Other dips

• Barbecue sauce - This is one of my favorite dip to dip my fries in. I love to add hot peppers to my barbecue sauce.
• Ketchup - Try and find healthy ones
• Light ranch dressing
• Hot sauce

I also like to mix barbecue sauce, ketchup and hot sauce together to make a dip.



8. Jazz up your food by adding additional ingredients to it (add more flavors)

The addition of additional ingredients to your food will add more flavors and can make food look more appealing or interesting.


Examples of how this can be done

Yogurt
Instead of eating plain yogurt try adding fruits, honey and so on to your yogurt. You can also try other flavors of healthy yogurt.


Sandwiches and burgers
You can add hummus and avocados (slices or mashed) to your sandwiches and burgers.


Oatmeal
You can do so many variations from the plain old oatmeal.

Things that you can add to your oatmeal to change it up

• fruits like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, slices of apple, banana
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• honey
• peanut butter
• raisins
• cocoa nibs
• nuts
• chia seeds 
• vanilla extract

Smoothie
You can make smoothie bowls and eat your smoothies with a spoon instead of drinking them.

Toppings that you can add to your smoothie bowl:

• fruits (whole berries and other fruits like sliced banana and strawberries)
• shredded coconut
• cacao nibs
• nuts like almonds, hazelnuts
• chia seeds
• hemp hearts
• pumpkin seeds
• sunflower seeds
• flax seeds
• hemp seeds
• drizzle honey
• granola
• dark chocolate

9. Try new ingredients

Try new ingredients that you never eat before. This may be fruits, vegetables, beans, etc. New ingredients will provide a different taste that you might very well like.



10. Try to make a healthier version of the unhealthy foods that you crave 

There are plant-based steaks that you can make if you are cutting out meat or reducing the amount that you consume. These plant-based steaks are made with beans and so on. You can also make vegan and vegetarian burgers and pizzas.You can cook your sweet potato and potato chips in the oven instead of frying them in oil.

Related post: How to make healthy fried chicken


11. Have a cheat meal/cheat day once in a while

Telling someone that you can never have your favorite unhealthy foods again vs telling someone that you can once in a while. Which one seems doable/achievable for the individual? For me the second option. We are all humans and sometimes the majority of us will want to indulge in cheese, fatty foods, etc. If we eat healthy most of the time then why not? This is where cheat meals come in.


So, what's a cheat meal and when can I have a cheat meal?
A cheat meal is a guilt-free meal that you have once in a while as a reward for eating healthy. When we have a cheat meal to look forward to we tend to/most likely stick to eating healthy foods. Cheat meals can motivate you to eat healthy because you know you're going to have that treat or reward.


You can have this meal once a week or so, it's totally up to you! For example you can eat healthy the entire week and have your cheat meal on Sunday.

The bottom line is that cheat meals will keep you satisfy and sane. If I eat healthy now then I have this meal to look forward to. The anticipation is amazing and what's better I won't feel guilty because I know that it's my reward and that I deserve it.


Important note: Don't overdo it with cheat meals.






12. Keep eating it for a while


You know sometimes we try a new food and we mightn't like it the first time but after a couple of tries we do. Well keep an open mind and do the same with healthy foods because if you keep eating it for a while it can make you like and even love it.



Concluding remarks

It can be concluded that what really makes you bored of a food is cooking it the same way with the same seasonings or cooking the same food all the time. In these causes variety is the key. Also when food is boring you have to make it more appealing in taste and how it looks. Additionally, people might find healthy food boring because they are always eating the plain vegetables.

These tips that I have shared with you are the tips that I have used myself. When it comes to eating healthy all you have to do is think of healthy ways that will make you want to eat your healthy food and remember that every day is different and so what you might like yesterday or the past few days you might not like another day.


 Related posts:

• How to eat more vegetables
• DIY healthy flavored water
• How to make a healthy grocery list  
• 20 motivational quotes that will inspire you to live healthy  

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