6 Things to Do in the Morning To Drop the Pounds

Life can be hectic enough in the morning without have to worry about your weight loss goals. But preparing yourself for a new day with those goals in mind can set you up for success.

Sure, in an ideal world, we’d all be super-organized and have every single meal planned out before we roll out of bed because we would have planned everything the evening before.

I don’t know about you but my brain is fried by day’s end. I really am a morning person.

Whether you’re a morning person or a night owl, here are five things you can do in the morning to help you lose weight:

1) Visualize the Day Ahead: As you’re hopping out of bed, visualize yourself going through the day. Are there any obstacles or challenges you’ll have to deal with in relation to your weight loss goals? Visualize yourself dealing with them in a healthy way.

Do you know you’re going to run across donuts in the lunch room? Visualize how you’re going to walk on by without a second glance. Ditto the calorie-laden mocha-frappa-whatever-coffee you’re tempted to have.

What about your meals for the day? What are you going to have for lunch and supper? Do you need to take anything out of the freezer?

Day 13 of my 28 Day Calorie Counting Boot Camp deals with visualization: Visualization Can Help with Weight Loss.

2) Pack Up Your Snacks for the Day: Extreme hunger is your enemy when it comes to dropping pounds. If you get hungry, you get tired and grouchy. If you get really hungry, you’ll eat whatever’s around.

Plan out — and pack up your — snacks for the day. Even if you’re not leaving the house, set your snacks somewhere within easy reach. Set up a reminder if you need to.

Not sure how many calories to eat per snack. Use FitWatch’s Calories per Meal calculator.

7 Healthy Snacks to Satisfy a Sweet Tooth

Why Bananas Make a Great Diet Snack

3) Get Your Body Moving: If you don’t already work out in the morning, can you find time work in some kind of exercise? Even a small work out can wake the body up and get the juices flowing.

Hop on the treadmill or elliptical for 10 minutes. Do 20 minutes of yoga. Take a walk outside and take in the scents and sounds of a quiet morning before everybody else is awake.

Not only will your burn extra calories, but you’ll set the proper tone for the rest of your day.

10 Ways You Can Exercise at Home Without Any Equipment

Enjoy a Morning Walk

4) Eat a Healthy Breakfast: Scarfing down a snack bar or drinking a cup of coffee isn’t a healthy breakfast. Include a protein, and healthy carbs like fruit or a bit of whole grain. Dairy can help round out a healthy breakfast. Think ‘nutritious.’

And skip the fruit juice! Have a serving of fruit instead. You’ll cut back on calories, cut back on any added sugars — and you’ll burn extra calories because your body will have to work hard to digest the fruit.

What Percentage of Carbs, Protein and Fat Should I Eat?

5) Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate: Make sure you’ve had at least one glass of water before heading out the door. Your body needs water. It works better when it’s hydrated.

6) Drop the ‘Tude: When it comes to weight loss motivation, attitude is everything. Tell yourself you’re going to fail — and guess what? Chances are you’ll be right.

Tell yourself you’re going to accomplish your goals today. Tell yourself you’re strong and sexy and smart. Tell yourself you’re someone special.

Because you are.

You are someone special.

How a Positive Attitude Can Help You Lose Weight

Bonus Tip: Weight yourself…or don’t. This is always a tough one for me. According to the National Weight Control Registry, one of the top seven things people who have lost weight — and kept it off — do is weigh themselves frequently (weekly or daily).

Now, the scale doesn’t tell the whole picture. Weight fluctuates for many reasons. But sometimes one needs honest feedback about what’s going on. Some people can look down and see a slight gain and feel fine about it, using it as feedback to finetune their weight loss program. Or they understand that fat could have been lost and some muscle gained.

Others look down, see a slight gain and get utterly and completely discouraged.

If you’re the type who gets discouraged, skip the scale.

If you think it will motivate you — and you have the right attitude — then go for it. Use the scale in combination with either body measurements and/or body fat % calculations to get the complete picture of your body composition.

Four Ways to Track Your Weight Loss Progress

Body Fat Percentage Calculator

How Often Should I Weigh Myself?

What do you do in the morning that helps you lose weight? How do you set yourself up for a successful day?

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