Mood and Food - Morning Routine

Does anyone else wake up and feel exhausted? Like you ran a midnight marathon...

I generally turn in around 11pm - not ridiculously early; I have shit to do, but I am by no means a night owl any more (being 30 is knackering!)!

I wake up around 7am and normally get up 30 mins later - God bless the snooze button!

So I am getting around 8 hours a night, so why do I feel knackered before I am even in work?

I started to suspect this tiredness, and the resulting foul mood that lasted all day, was nothing to do with the amount of sleep I was getting (quality of sleep is a different subject!) but was rooted elsewhere.

A few months ago I actually sat down and made a record of what I was eating.  What we fuel our bodies with has a huge effect on everything: mood, energy, happiness, stool consistency!

The result: I was completely reversing any gains or progress I made in the gym, and worsening how I felt.  It wasn't awful - the odd KFC, or pizza, but it was devoid of anything nutritious in the morning.  

What really made me want to make a change in my nutrition was noticing I would get in from work, not do anything for myself before my partner got home, then proceed to bicker with her and pick fights.  Nothing major, just stupid things.  Then I would feel guilty because I had been a helmet, and also I had got nothing done, having made someone else money for 8 hours already! 

My initial decision was to reappraise my morning routine.  I am not a morning person.  My missus will attest to this, as I am normally still mostly asleep when she leaves in the morning! 

So I needed to get a lot of nutrition in early in the day...what better than a tasty smoothie.  Plus the natural sugar would be a nice energy boost...

Smoothie Ingredients 

Smoothie Recipe:

Matcha Tea Powder

Chia Seeds

Morrisons Smoothie Mix: Kiwi, Papaya, Pineapple, Mango

Banana

Kale

Half a Lime

Ginger

Celery

Cucumber

Fat Free Yoghurt

That's a lot of stuff, and it ain't cheap, but if I go 3-4 days without this now I start to feel the same grumpiness around 3pm.

So the benefits of this smoothie: enhanced mood, better digestion, I feel more awake for longer, my brain feel more switched on!

Secondly in my morning routine: coffee.  The fuel of life.  

There's a saying: sex is like pizza; even when it's bad it's still good.  This is not the case with coffee.

Initially I would drink a lot of coffee and become moodier and moodier.  I cut it out completely and I can barely stay awake.  

I started to drink the cheap instant crap at work, bought in bulk.  It tasted of chemicals.

I bought a few tins of Azera - a powdered coffee of higher grade - this is a great compromise to the final solution I use now:

Bodum Travel Press - this is a great little cafetiere, easy to keep clean and makes a normal sized cup of coffee

I made a trip to Borough Marker and bought a decent bag of freshly ground beans from Monmouth Coffee.  

This improvement in the grade of coffee I was drinking had a few effects: alertness and awake feelings associated with caffeine without the "come down" or crash.  I don't have a lot of sugar in the coffee, and use skimmed milk (full milk leaves me feeling bloated!).  

If you haven't done it, make the investment: one cup of decent, proper coffee in the morning makes all the difference to your outlook on the day, and it's a nice ceremony in itself.  Plus the smell of the ground coffee is magic! 

I have also taken to drinking lemon water throughout the day - generally I don't like water...tap water certainly has a taste I don't like, but I think it's the general lack of flavour that I don't like.  So lemon helps! 

Aladdin Bottle - BPA Free - Lemon Water

The Aladdin Bottle is great for this - BPA free and no leaks! 

Finally, my morning routine also includes a herbal tea.  Specifically the Tummy Tea from T2 which contains peppermint, liquorice, marigold and fennel.  I have this at home before I leave for work, or before bed.  Again, this is not cheap, about £7 for a box but it lasts a good few weeks and is a nice change from builders tea! 

T2 Tummy Tea

Both I and my partner have seen an upswing in my mood, my alertness and I feel a lot less tired when I come in from work now! 

Small changes have made big improvements and I am looking forward to experimenting more with how food and nutrition can help in the future.