Blog #4 - The #1 Concept That Needs to Be Mastered for Successful Weight Loss

Do you know what the #1 concept that you need to MASTER in order to successfully lose weight is?

It may not be something you have given much thought about or something you think is important, but I PROMISE you it is.

Believe it or not, that #1 concept that needs to be mastered is…

Implementing a Morning & Nighttime Routine!

Curious to know how? I’m revealing it ALL below!

Creating a Nighttime Routine

Let’s talk about creating a nighttime routine FIRST.

Believe it or not, this routine is MORE important than the morning routine because it sets the tone for how your morning routine and next day will go. 

Think about it - if your nighttime routine is chaotic due to you NOT having structure or a routine in place, you’re more likely to go to sleep with chaos in your brain, making it difficult to not only fall asleep, but to STAY asleep throughout the night and wake up feeling rested and refreshed in the morning. 

When creating a nighttime routine, it is imperative that you incorporate a few key elements in order to reap all of the benefits and to set yourself up for success.

Key Element #1 - Shut Down ALL Electronics AT LEAST 1 Hour Before Bed

I know this is a hard concept to grasp, but it is IMPERATIVE that you shut down the electronics AT LEAST one hour before going to bed!

By turning off the phone, iPad, laptop and TV, you are allowing your brain the chance to start slow down and decompressing in order to get ready for the sleep cycle. 

You may or may not know this, but your electronics emit A LOT of blue light, which restrains the production of melatonin (aka the hormone in your body that controls your sleep-wake cycle). 

So WHY is it important to shut off the electronics at least an hour before going to sleep?

If the blue light is being emitted to your eyes and brain until the VERY LAST second before closing your eyes, the production of your melatonin will be altered and affected, which will make it extremely difficult to fall asleep, STAY asleep and wake up feeling refreshed in the morning. 

Not only is the blue light affecting your melatonin production, but it is ALSO keeping your brain wired and running at 1,000 miles per minute.

Think about it - if you’re scrolling through social media or work emails right before going to sleep, your brain is going to be working EXTRA hard (after already working hard all day) to try to keep up, stay alert and absorb all of the information you’re throwing at it in such a short amount of time. 

Every time you scroll to a new post, video or email, it’s a new topic or concept that your brain is trying to grasp, absorb and store, which is keeping your cognitive system on HIGH alert. 

So even if you’re done scrolling, you turn your phone off and close your eyes to go to sleep, do you think your brain is going to have an easy time calming down and falling into a deep sleep?

NOT A CHANCE!

It just ran a marathon to try to keep up with the endless scrolling you were doing. You DIDN’T give it the chance to calm down, decompress and rest, resulting in it being even harder for you to fall into a deep REM sleep, stay asleep and wake up not feeling groggy.

So in order to avoid ALL of that from happening, you’ll want to turn the “Night Shift” mode on on your phone AT LEAST 2 hours before going to bed so your brain can start decompressing WITHOUT having all the blue light emitted, then FULLY putting ALL of the electronics away 1 HOUR before bed.

If you didn’t know, the “Night Shift” option reduces the amount of blue light that is being emitted from your phone, allowing your brain and eyes to wind down in preparation for sleep. You’ll know when it’s turned on because your screen will suddenly appear with a beige/tan tint.

Key Element #2 - Wind Down with De-Stressing & Calming Activities

Once you’ve shut down all electronics, you’ll have an hour before bed to practice some de-stressing and calming mechanisms to help calm your brain down and prepare you to have good quality sleep. 

Some examples of decompressing and calming activities you’ll want to start incorporating to help relax you include:
✔️ Meditating or Praying
✔️ Stretching or Doing Yoga
✔️ Reading or Journaling
✔️ Taking a Bubble Bath (lavender Epsom salt baths help to destress + relax the body and muscles)
✔️ Talking + Spending Quality Time with Your Husband and/or Family
✔️ Drinking Tea (chamomile and lemon balm are best to help enhance sleep quality)

This is the time to get creative! Regardless of what you do, make sure it’s NOT putting a lot of stress on your brain and body, instead, it’s helping to boost your dopamine levels (aka your pleasure and “feel good” hormone)!

Key Element #3 - Be in a Dark, Calm & Quiet Environment

Once you’re ready for bed, make sure you are in a dark, calm and quiet environment with NO bright lights or loud sounds. Believe it or not, trying to fall asleep in a room with bright lights will cause a disturbance within your body, causing you to have a hard time falling asleep and getting into a deep REM cycle. 

Dimming the lights in whatever room you’re in about 1-2 hours before bedtime will also help the body to start decompressing and prepare it to have good quality sleep.

Key Element #4 - Have a Consistent Bedtime

I know this may sound childish, but you want to make sure you set a bedtime for yourself and you’re CONSISTENTLY getting to bed around that EXACT same time EVERY night (yes, weekends too). 

Making sure you go to bed around the same time every night will GREATLY help to enhance your quality of sleep, reduce Cortisol and allow you to wake up around the same time every day, feeling refreshed and energized. 

By getting adequate and quality sleep, your body’s Cortisol (aka your stress hormone) will reduce significantly, which will keep inflammation and water retention down as well. 

By keeping your cortisol level low, you are more likely to see and maintain progress throughout your weight loss journey because your body will be able to properly rest, respond, recover and adapt to change. 

Creating a Morning Routine

A morning routine is JUST AS important of a routine to create and incorporate because it sets the tone for the ENTIRE day by allowing you to properly organize, prepare and ease yourself into the day while keeping stress and chaos at a minimal.

Benefit #1 - Become More Organized with Your Daily Tasks

Organizing your tasks not only allows you to physically see all that you need to accomplish throughout your day, but it ALSO allows you to properly compartmentalize and effectively work on accomplishing your goals and tasks in a timely manner. 

Without having a morning routine in place, the lack of organization can make it easy to become scattered, stressed and overwhelmed, which will make it harder to accomplish goals and tasks. This will cause your dopamine and serotonin levels to decrease while cortisol and anxiety increases, leading to a hinderance in progress (something we DON’T want)!

Benefit #2 - Instill + Enforce Healthy Habits for the ENTIRE Day

Think about it - if you have a morning routine that involves you getting up early, allowing you time to decompress and ease yourself into the day without feeling rushed or scattered, then you’re more likely going to make better choices that will benefit you rather than harm you, such as making a healthy breakfast and healthy lunch instead of rushing to the nearest Starbucks or McDonald’s drive thru. 

When you’re feeling rushed, stressed, scattered and overwhelmed, you’re LESS LIKELY to be motivated to stick to a routine, let alone new and healthy habits. Instead, you’ll feel more compelled to fall back into old habits because it’s comfortable, easy and what you’re familiar with.

Methods to Incorporate for a Functional & Effective Morning Routine

So how can we build a proper and functional morning routine with activities or methods that’ll ensure we effectively set a positive tone for the day?

Some positive and motivating activities + methods to incorporate into your morning routine could include:
👉🏽 Getting Up an Hour Earlier
👉🏽 Meditating + Praying
👉🏽 Reading + Journaling
👉🏽 Stretching or Doing Yoga
👉🏽 Taking a Walk or Getting a Workout Done
👉🏽 Consuming a Healthy Breakfast
👉🏽 Drinking Coffee + Planning Out Your Day

Whatever it is you may do, make sure that it’s something that brings positivity, productivity and calming vibes so you can get in the right mindset for the day and tackle all the goals and tasks you have planned out.

Needless to say, it is IMPERATIVE that you create a morning and nighttime routine so you can enhance your consistency, motivation, mindset, organization and inspiration to help you tackle any obstacle or challenge life may throw at you and to help you feel your ABSOLUTE best!

Still Need Help Building & Creating a Morning and Nighttime Routine?

Still need some motivation, tips or guidance with creating a morning and nighttime routine? Then I have JUST the tool for you!

…and that tool is the Sculpt Your Motivation ebook!

This ebook provides you with 20 of my FAVORITE and MOST USEFUL tips + strategies that I used during MY 50 pound weight loss journey to help me build routines and consistency, get motivated and get back on track with my goals!

It’s important to have the proper tools and techniques in place to utilize for when times get tough to help get you motivated again and back on track to finish the race, which is EXACTLY what Sculpt Your Motivation is meant for! 

So click the link below NOW to get your copy of Sculpt Your Motivation and get 15% OFF when you use promo code: KICKSTART15 at checkout!👇🏽

Link: https://www.sculptingbodies.com/shop/p/20-motivational-secrets

If you have any questions or concerns in regards to building morning and nighttime routines or if you want to share with me your current routines, shoot me a DM on Instagram: @sculpting.bodies OR send me an email at: SculptingBodiesLLC@gmail.com so we can build together!

Let's Start Sculpting!

Xo, 
Monique 💗