Morning Rituals: Put Your Fat Loss on AutoPilot

Guest blog by Nutrition Guru Mike Roussell
--(http://mikeroussell.com/)
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"I don’t have the time…."

"I can’t be bothered with thinking about what to eat…."

"In the morning I’m in such a rush…."

[Insert the excuse you use]

We all have them.

We need to get rid of them.

They are holding us back.

Today I want to share with you a strategy that you can put into place tomorrow that will drastically improve your adherence to your fat loss plan and thus the rate in which you are burning fat.

I’m talking about morning rituals. Please don’t confuse this with the practice of just preparing all your meals for the day first thing in the morning. No. That is only a part of what I am talking about.

When I say “morning ritual” I am talking about putting every morning of your life on autopilot. With a morning ritual you will wake up in the morning perform X,Y,Z tasks in the same order, every morning, until you are out the door.

Let’s look at a sample morning ritual.

1. Wake Up
   
2. Go Downstairs, start coffee maker, and make shake
   
3. Perform mobility work
   
4. Perform a short Cardio Strength Training Workout (Tabata, Ladder, etc)
   
5. Take a shower
   
6. Get Dressed
   
7. Take meals out of the refrigerator
   
8. Head out the door

By performing the above morning ritual every morning (either M-F or 7 days a week) you will be taking the guesswork and thought out of your mornings. You won’t get up, think about what you could possibly eat that would be adherent to your plan, debate whether you have time to do some foam rolling, eventually stroll into the shower…..no.

With a morning ritual you know exactly what you are going to do when you get up. I recommend that you eat the same thing for breakfast – yes the same thing (you can switch it up every week if you want). This keeps things simple and streamlined.

The important part of this process is that you get your body to a point where it runs on autopilot. Now your life may be different and it is likely that it won’t fit exactly with the ritual that I outlined – that is fine but now is the time to make your own.

Pull out a piece of paper and pen....

….I’ll wait….

....Ready?

Okay, the key components are:

• Nutrition
  
• Prehab/mobility
  
• Metabolic boost
  
• Preparation
  
• and of course being clean and not leaving your house naked

Here’s the sample ritual again with the different components highlighted.

1. Wake Up
   
2. Go Downstairs, start coffee maker, and make shake (nutrition)
   
3. Perform mobility work (prehab/mobility)
   
4. Perform a short Cardio Strength Training Workout (metabolic boost)
   
5. Take a shower (being clean)
   
6. Get Dressed (not leaving house naked)
   
7. Take pre-prepared meals out of the refrigerator (preparation)
   
8. Head out the door.

In the morning I find shakes to be the easiest. Throw some frozen fruit, protein powder, greens, nuts, and water into a blender and in 30-45 seconds you’re ready to go. I recommend doing 1 round of a Tabata variation because it will only take you 4 minutes and it will get your metabolism going. In regards to mobility/prehab work, (don’t skip on this, especially if you sit at a desk all day) a handful of simple stretches and foam rolling movements (less than 10 minutes of your day).

Get a morning ritual. Put it into action, so when you get up you don’t have to think you just go through the steps you outlined (are you done writing out your morning ritual?).

By taking this approach to your fat loss plan you will be more compliant, more successful, and thus burn more fat.
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-AR