This Morning Routine Will Change Your Life

0:00Sunna Van Kampen:Welcome to Catching Up With The Royals, a brand new show with me, Richard Coles. And me, Emily Andrews. Every week we'll be going beyond the headlines, lifting the lid on what life is really like behind the palace walls. Hello sir, good morning. I'm the Sun's new royal correspondent. Oh, he said, look at me up and down. Things are looking up. We'll be diving into the moments everyone's talking about. What does the world owe you if all of a sudden you've handed back your crown? Meghan and Harry can't keep hold of their stuff. We'll reveal the secrets of an organisation usually shrouded in mystery and explore defining moments of royal history to see how the past still shapes the monarchy today.

0:38Now, you actually knew Princess Anne.

0:40Sunna Van Kampen:I think one of the ways she acquired power was through that relationship with the present. But before that interview, no-one had really spoken and been so open. Was that a game-changer? So, join us every week wherever you get your podcasts, on YouTube and on Saturdays on 5, as we catch up with the Royals. How strong are alligators' bites? Looking for a podcast your whole family will enjoy? Wild Critters USA is a series on the hit kids podcast, Orbit, science for kids on the move. Produced with our friends at the National Park Service, the Smithsonian, and PBS Nature. How do both eagles hunt? Perfect for road trips or quiet afternoons at home.

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2:07the actual morning routine that will change your life without all the nonsense and fads that are on social media the truth is we don't all have to dive into an ice bath at 4 a.m to feel amazing and set ourselves up for the day properly. You've seen it. People like Ashen Hall have gone insanely viral for their morning routine that even includes pouring Saratoga water in a bowl with some ice and dunking their face in it. Now, don't get me wrong. I've actually put my face in a bowl of ice water and it does make you wake up and feel very good in the morning, but it doesn't need to be a four or five pound bottle of sparkling water in glass for sure.

2:45Let me tell you that. So let me take you through my morning routine what I do and what are my non-negotiables for feeling good in the morning because actually what you do in the first few hours of the day will genuinely set your body up to have better sustained energy throughout the day so you can carry on with your life or your work or whatever it may be. So firstly the age-old question everyone asks when is your alarm clock set up? Well mine is set for 5am which some of you might sound things crazy how do I do it but the secret to getting up at 5am is actually just when you go to bed. I make sure I'm in bed by 9.30 to 10 o 'clock every night so I'm getting seven hours of sleep minimum and I'm actually pretty strict on that because what that means is if for whatever reason I've got a later night and I've had to stay up and it's 11, I will set my alarm for six because sleep is the number one thing you can do for how you feel in the day and energy.

3:41So I do not compromise on sleep. So make sure you get that seven hours, it might be different for you. It might be seven and a half. It might be eight. Work out what works for you and be religious around how you set that. And the more you're consistent, as in the more you're consistent with your bed and waking time, the easier it gets. There is no such thing as a morning person. You just have to keep a consistent circadian rhythm and get enough sleep. That's all it is. Then after waking up at five, the first thing I do is go downstairs and get a big pint of water and I'll drink some water because hydration is key.

4:15I've been asleep for seven hours and you can lose up to about a liter of water while you sleep because you do sweat and you haven't drank any water for seven, eight hours. So you need to rehydrate your body. So first things first, you get the water in. Then in order to stimulate our natural circadian rhythm and tell our body it is the morning and it's time to wake up, the best thing you can actually do is go outside. So I'll take that glass of water, I'll head straight outside into the garden, ideally with bare feet, so your feet get in the grass and actually do some grounding and connect with the earth, which will then help reset your circadian rhythm and help reduce inflammation in the body.

4:55So you're outside 10, 15 minutes, enjoy that glass of water, enjoy the moment, it'll wake your body up naturally. Then at this point, dependent on my schedule, sometimes I need to go to my desk and I need to catch up on work. Others, it's movement. And so obviously, I try and move all the time whenever I can, but sometimes work doesn't allow. But movement for me at the moment, because I'm insanely busy, isn't actually going to the gym. I haven't been able to go to the gym for a couple of months just because of how much work commitments I've got going on. Instead of the gym, what I'll do is make sure I do a set of about 40 squats, 100 press-ups.

5:33So 10 squats, 25 press-ups 10 squats 25 press-ups and that will move my legs and it will move my upper body and just maintain a level of movement in my body that helps me wake up in the morning and keeps me in okay shape it doesn't have to take that long it takes maybe 10 minutes and then I can jump straight into work when I'm busy and get an hour to two hours in before the kids wake up now I've got two kids so it depends on the day if I'm lucky they wake up at 7 7 30 Sometimes I wake up at six and I get limited time in the morning to work or exercise. But once they're up, I do want to spend some precious time with the kids and I really focus on being present with them.

6:12No phones, take them outside as well to help set their circadian rhythm up for the day, spend a bit of time playing with them and then we go straight to the breakfast table. Breakfast is always focused around good fats and good protein. So the little ones eat Greek yogurt for breakfast every day or scrambled eggs if we're having scrambled eggs and it's always around those good fats and proteins. We never ever have bowls of cereal in our house and then it's getting them ready, maybe making their lunchbox and then setting off the little one to nursery and doing the kind of nursery run in the morning before then getting back to my desk around 8.30 to 9am depending on the morning.

6:52And this is the point where I get my first coffee of the day, which everyone loves and knows how satisfying that moment is in your morning routine. But there's a reason why I delay it to around 9 a.m. Because when you have coffee first thing in the morning, your cortisol levels, the hormone in your body is kind of still waking up and rising naturally. And then when you have coffee, it kind of artificially jolts that process. So if you wait about 90 minutes to two hours after waking to have your coffee, I promise you, it'll give you more sustained energy without the kind of jitters and the crash that you can feel.

7:30So that's a much better way to do your coffee. If I'm fasted and I haven't had breakfast for whatever reason, my coffee is a black Americano or a filter coffee. Or if I've had breakfast, I will have a nice milky coffee. But actually, I don't put milk in my coffee, I put cream because all the nutrients in dairy, the majority of them anyway, tend to be the cream and the fatty part of the milk, which is why having cream in your coffee like the Americans do is a tradition we should have never have lost. So that's how I do my coffee and then I'm at my desk working, but there is one thing I'll do alongside my coffee to optimize my energy for sustained energy throughout the day.

8:09So I've had my water, I've had my coffee, but then I also want my electrolytes to make sure my hydration is properly dialed in for the day ahead because just a one or a two percent drop in your hydration can impact your mental performance by up to 20 percent which is massive so if you're looking for energy of productivity and focus at work electrolytes and proper hydration is key because when we lose water we don't just lose water we also lose minerals that's sodium magnesium potassium calcium all these electrolytes we need to replenish our body with so obviously first thing in the morning with that coffee i'm taking tonic energy and hydration which is our all-in-one electrolyte and energy vitamin and mineral and plant supplement which has panax ginseng and all your b vitamins for good sustained energy as well as the electrolytes so that's how i start my day and i can guarantee you if there are just three things you want to do to feel good and have good energy throughout the day it really is that simple number one hydrate with water.

9:12Number two, get outside, see the sunlight if there is any in your eyes and make sure you move your body in the morning. And then number three, enjoy that good coffee at the right time and you will feel amazing throughout the day. So that's what I do in the morning. You take whatever or as much or as little as you like from it, but optimizing your morning, I guarantee will make you feel better and have a fantastic day.

9:46How strong are alligators' bites? Looking for a podcast your whole family will enjoy? Wild Critters USA is a series on the hit kids podcast, Orbit, Science for Kids on the Move. Produced with our friends at the National Park Service, the Smithsonian, and PBS Nature. How do both eagles hunt? Perfect for road trips or quiet afternoons at home. Follow Orbit, available on Spotify or wherever your family listens to podcasts. Bye, Orbit. I love the podcast.

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