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ELEVATE YOUR
8 HEALTH STRATEGIES
TO MAKEOVER YOUR MORNING
Start your day off right with
these healthy habits. WAKING UP ON the right side of the bed is just
the beginning. Learn how to be your best self by
changing your morning routine.
MAKEOVER 1: WAKE UP MAKEOVER 2: DON’T RUSH TO GET OUT OF BED.
(AND GO TO SLEEP) AT THE
SAME TIME EACH DAY. By jumping out of bed straightaway, you create an unnecessary
sense of urgency and increase your risk of muscle strain. Lisa
Avinesh Bhar, MD, a board- Seneker, Assistant Director of Wellness Services, Navicent Health,
certified pulmonary, critical recommends starting your day more gently by taking some time
care and sleep medicine to stretch and breathe as you transition out of your bed.
physician at Navicent
Health, says waking up at
around the same time every
day can help you establish MAKEOVER 3: EAT BREAKFAST.
a consistent sleep/wake
cycle—making it easier for If you break down the word “breakfast,” it means to break the fast of the
you to both fall asleep at night before. This first meal of the day helps jump-start your metabolism
night and wake up in the and gives your body the fuel it needs to start the day.
morning. “Skipping breakfast deprives the body of carbohydrates necessary
“Sleep is a passive for optimal brain function and often leads to overeating later on,”
process,” Dr. Bhar says. says Millie Smith, Clinical Dietitian Manager at The Medical Center,
“The problem, however, is Navicent Health. “A healthy breakfast should contain some combination
that most of us confuse our of protein, fats and carbohydrates. For instance, you could try yogurt
bodies with what is known with granola, fruit with peanut butter or toast topped with avocado.
as social jet lag. This occurs Remember that preparing breakfast does not have to be a lengthy
when you keep a regular process or even involve cooking.”
sleep/wake cycle during
the workweek but stay up
late and sleep in on the
weekends. This can result MAKEOVER 4: RESIST HITTING THE
in a very rough Monday SNOOZE BUTTON.
morning.”
“By hitting the snooze button, you allow
your body to cheat,” Dr. Bhar says. “Most
people need about seven to eight hours
of sleep per day. If you hit the snooze
GET YOUR OM ON. WATCH LISA SENEKER’S YOGA- button and give yourself an extra half-
INSPIRED, MORNING STRETCHING ROUTINE AT hour in the morning, your body will
WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/NAVICENTHEALTH. naturally want to stay up an extra half-
hour that night. By forcing yourself to
wake up at the desired time, you can
help reset that cycle.”
12 navicenthealth.org | SUMMER 2019
