Your Morning Routine

[LiE]

I've been going through a bit of a self improvement phase over the last few months and recently made a big effort to sort my mornings out, because quite frankly they were rubbish.

It started back in mid December when I decided to get off the stimulates aka caffeine to allow my body to properly rest and function once again in the morning. It took a while but now I can wake up 6.45am and hop straight out of bed and feel fresh. Previous I would mash the snooze button, eventually drag myself out of bed and make a coffee. I stumbled through my mornings with only one purpose -- to some how wake up before I started work at 9am.

Now that I could function in the morning I began to incorporate more things to set me up for the day. Here's my morning routine now and honestly it has such a positive effect on my whole day.

- Wake up 6.45 - 7.00am
- Breakfast at 7.30am - big bowl of protein porridge with berries, walnuts and chia seeds.
- Scottish Shower - the idea here is to go for a lukewarm shower and finish off with cold water. Feels amazing and has many benefits. Straight up cold showers are better but I figured this is more sustainable long term.
- Meditation - working my way through headspace courses. Having finished basics 1-3 I'm now starting pro.
- Workout 10am

After doing these things every morning I feel so focused and prepared for the day. It's such a contrast to my old way of waking up. I'd be very interested to hear what others do and what they have found sets them up properly for the day.

"If you win the morning, you win the day" - Tim Ferriss.​

 

[LiE]

Looks to me like you’re enjoying yourself more as you’ve binned off work at 9:00 judging by your schedule...

I WFH so work 9-10 before taking my break 10-11 for a workout.

Very interested in this as I have a similar relationship with mornings, having been extremely good in them in the past however currently terrible.



Yes I'd like to see how this fits in with your schedule now @LiE

See above

Clearly not a family house with two kids and two adults wfh at the moment.

Taking the bins out is my peace and quiet.

My 5 year old son is usually up at 7.15 and he chills in bed with my wife.

I don't see the benefit of a lukewarm /cold shower. It has a major disadvantage by not being warm and thus I won't like it.

Yea it's not for everyone. There are some benefits although I haven't dug into them deeper

• calming itchy skin
• waking you up
• increasing circulation
• reducing muscle soreness post-workout
• potentially boosting weight loss
• glowing hair and skin

and the obvious one, boosting your energy in the morning.

When that cold spray hits your body, there’s a bit of shock. This shock increases:

• oxygen intake
• heart rate
• alertness

There’s no evidence that I’ve seen for the benefits of a cold shower. I did the same for a while...nothing happened.

I wouldn't do straight up cold showers, it's too much of a depravation and will mean a higher chance of sacking it off. The Scottish shower is better in this regard since you can have a normal warmish shower (not 40c ) and then for the last few minutes bring the temperature down. There's lots of info on the benefits of cold water, the main one for me is that feeling of being alive and having done something uncomfortable in the morning, a feeling of achievement however small it may seem.

 

[LiE]

I guess thats why a scottish shower is better, start off warm water get your shampoo and soap etc done then switch to cold.

Yep.

This is a good read, links to many studies.
https://www.insidehook.com/article/health-and-fitness/scottish-shower

Studies aside, I definitely feel great after a Scottish shower.

 

[LiE]

Interesting reading people's responses. It's not surprising and kinda expected, but so many people use stimulates in the morning habitually. I was the same for most of my adult life until I realised the need for stimulates in the morning, was because I was taking stimulates.

Humans are very capable of waking up naturally without added chemicals. It's also not naturally for us to force various pathways/hormones each morning with chemicals.

if I don't have that genuine reason it simply doesn't work.

This touches on an important point about building a good morning routine. Like all habits it does take time for them to stick. The things I do in the morning I know set me up for the day and I wake up eager to get stuck in. I can see a lot of mornings here that lack things to positively set you up for the day, most are just stumbling/meandering through the mornings and this doesn't create the right mindset for the rest of the day. People need a purpose and fire in them to get up in the morning, this is the power doing things in the morning above those things that are essential.

 

[LiE]

I don't drink coffee to wake me up, I just enjoy the taste and prefer it to tea etc.

Switch to decaf for a bit and see how your mornings go

 

[LiE]

Caffeine is bad mkkayy

+1

I mean, why do you think it's in a lot of soda drinks? It's cheap and gives you a bit of a perk, perfect for creating an addictive product = $$$. Coca Cola doesn't have to contain caffeine. These companies don't care about the negative effects of essentially pushing a drug.

Some people are lucky enough (I guess) to have the gene that means caffeine doesn't really effect them. However the majority of people don't and are either in denial about it's affects, or are full on dependant on it to simply function.

This was a good video:

 

[LiE]

So many coffee drinkers. Funny how normalised it has become to take drugs all day every day.

I wonder how perceptions would change if we replaced coffee in all these routines with "Popped caffeine pill".

Woke up
Popped a pill
Took a shower
Breakfast
Popped another pill
Work
Lunch break, popped a few more pills
Dinner
Sneaky pill in the evening.

 

[LiE]

My fiance laughs at me for being able to sleep after an 'ok' coffee.

She on the other hand has one 'ok' coffee and is jittery for the rest of the day!

Yep the gene for metabolising caffeine is a thing.

 

[LiE]

Are you sure you didn't just start the thread to have a go at coffee drinkers it's turned very weird in here.

Nah, I get it, I used to drink coffee a lot too. I already have an entire thread dedicated to caffeine detoxing. This thread just highlight how bad coffee consumption has become.

 

[LiE]

Coffee can make me feel a bit jittery but I don't get the "wired" effect from it and can fall asleep no problem after drinking what has other people running up the walls

No jitters from tea but only gives me about 30 minutes of heightened alertness and that is it - again does nothing to wake me up or stop me from sleeping, etc.

I don't generally touch energy drinks but awhile back on a long train journey I knocked back like 3 cans of Red Bull trying to stay awake so I didn't miss my stop and it did absolutely nothing other than make my stomach feel a little off.

It effects people in different ways, many people get none of the positive effects but still get the down sides e.g. guts, heart rate, messing with hormones, blood pressure, etc.

 

[LiE]

There is a lot more to coffee than just caffeine. That is like saying people drink wine just for the alcohol or chocolate just for the sugar.

I would have no issue drinking decaff but quite frankly I can taste the difference and I don't feel the need to.

Sure, but it plays a part of the enjoyment. The caffeine is giving you a dopamine hit telling you that coffee is good, drink more coffee. Why do you think caffeine is in so many soda drinks.

I'd say the majority of people drink alcohol for the effect it has on them.

 

[LiE]

I drink coffee for the taste, not really for any boost.

A good decaf is calling you.

*makes coffee to read thread*

Although 4pm is probably the latest I'd have a coffee these days

Yep! By 9pm you'll still have 50% of that caffeine circulating your blood, and still 25% during the early hours. You may be able to fall asleep easily (I used to) but you'll be missing that deep sleep. This was key for me as someone who exercises a lot, that's where the recovery happens.

 

[LiE]

I drink decaff in the evening, and normal up until lunch.

I have also been a clubber for 22 years, so thinking of caffeine as a drug is lolworthy to me. (yes yes, I know it technically is)

It certainly has some of the key markers of a good drug though. Gives you a buzz, makes you feel great, boost in alertness and energy. If you do 1g you'll likely end up in hospital

I think if you treat coffee like alcohol then it could be good - occasionally drinking it when you want to get buzzing and be hyper focused. But like alcohol, you don't want to be smashing it every morning so you don't feel so tired and to get you through the day.

 

[LiE]

I don't do the full cold shower thing but at the end of my normal shower I will have a blast of cold just to wake me up, does wonders.

Another member of the Scottish shower club.

 

[LiE]

It’s taken me so many times to quit caffeine, but I’m there now. Stick at it, may take some time for your body to adjust. Humans are very capable of functioning really well without stimulates wrecking things.

 

[LiE]

I can't believe it took 158 posts, this place is slipping

When I created this thread I had visions of Patrick Bateman memes en masse.

 

[LiE]

@LiE, I want to thank you for giving me the inspiration to cut down on my caffeine intake. Slowly but surely my dependence/habit/whatever you want to call it has grown over the last few years, and it's really definitely not good for me at all. This thread made me think about it, and the more I thought about it the less I was able to laugh it off. As you say, having to rely on a substance to get my day started and - I cringe to admit it - the fact that I indulged the feeling that I needed to have caffeine before doing anything that involved even slight mental or physical effort is something that I find embarrassing. It's not something I could accept any longer, and although I haven't gone full cold turkey, I'm on the way to reducing it in a meaningful way now. The other day I even had the "oh, I haven't had any coffee today...." moment, and it wasn't a headache, lethargy or my temper that reminded me! So yeah, thanks.

That’s good to hear it can be hard sometimes, your brain is a devious thing. After a while you’ll forget why you stopped, you’ll start convincing yourself that it wasn’t so bad. So you have a coffee, and it feels amazing. Why did I ever give this up, you’ll think. Thus the slippery slope begins again.

Humans don’t need constant substance dosage to function, we do very well without it.

 

[LiE]

Not uncomfortable at all if you bring the temp down gradually.

This is key really. I also find it helps if you don't have temperature set too high before turning it cold.

 

[LiE]

Just wanted to add my +1 to this — thanks LiE.

I've gone from an average of 5–6 cups per day (sometimes 8+ ) down to one, and my plan is to cut that out next week.

I will still have a cup or two at the weekend when my wife and I make nice coffee but I would like to ditch the weekday instant stuff.

Perhaps a good way to think of drinking coffee is the same way some look at alcohol. You can treat yourself / have some on an occasion. Don't drink it habitually every day or use it as a crutch.

As evident from this thread, the majority of people start the day by taking a stimulate, it's weird to think this is normal.

 

[LiE]

It’s completely normal to have a coffee and not think or treat it like alcohol...nothing weird about it


each to their own

Sure but would you switch to decaf or at that point does the coffee become less enjoyable for you?