What’s the first thing you consume in the morning?

The first thing in my belly in the morning is food. Sometimes I have eggs with toast and an orange, sometimes I have greek yogurt and berries. But food first, coffee second.

When I was doing intermittent fasting it was coffee first and coffee all morning. I can't even believe I used to function all morning on coffee alone.

My routine has slightly changed in the last three months (taking meds first thing). But my mornings always begin with water, and coffee. I sometimes eat oatmeal or muesli, or eggs, but my coffee is non-negotiable!

Under normal circumstances, a big glass of water, then I do yoga for however long I feel like/have time for that day. Most of the time, I have cereal mixed with some granola or museli, berries/other fruit, and kefir. Or oatmeal made with milk, brown sugar, dried fruit, and nuts. Coffee happens sometime between breakfast and lunch, and I do milk and sugar in that.

I always have a cup of coffee. If I’m running or going to the KB gym that’s it until after I workout. Then I eat fruit first and then whatever else I’m having which varies a lot these days. Then I have another coffee (which is mostly decaf these days.) If I’m not working out in the morning it’s still the same order coffee, fruit, main item, coffee.

Oh, also breakfast is different every day, but my recent favorite is having my husband make us ham/sausage and fried eggs. Classic! I’ve tried manipulating my morning routine a few times, deliberately having no milk or cream in my coffee trying to have that specific fasting time limit, or feeling like alternatively I should want to eat breakfast earlier instead of delaying food with coffee. But I definitely feel best doing neither.

My morning routine has been pretty consistent for a long time. I really look forward to it so I don’t deviate much. The first thing I consume is always water within 10 minutes or so of waking up. Five days a week (my usual work days), I have vitamins with the water (multi, D, fish oil). Then I have a bowl of a bunch of different cereals with flaxseeds, walnuts, berries, ground cinnamon, and vanilla almond milk. Then I have either a fruity Greek yogurt or a heaping spoonful of peanut butter. On my weekends, I tend to start off with a big thick green smoothie (banana, bran, nuts, seeds, spinach, kale, Brussels sprouts, beets, carrots, pineapple, mango, blueberries, green tea, and a splash of apple cider vinegar). That way, if I eat nothing but hot dogs and cotton candy the rest of the day, I’ve at least gotten my potassium, fiber, and antioxidants boost. I’ve tried skipping the smoothie, telling myself it’s unnecessary, just leftover nutrition brain goo, but I miss it and crave it. I genuinely feel better and perform better with it. Now, sometimes we’ll go out for waffles or I’ll eat cold pizza for breakfast, or get a bagel or muffin. It’s all good. But if nothing special is happening, I love my cereal and yogurt or smoothie meals. I usually have them within the first 20 minutes of waking up at 6am. I used to “extend my fasting window” by pushing my first food back to 9-11am, but that just makes for a crappy workout and a really ramped up appetite later in the day.

For as long as I can remember being able to get my own food, I’ve started every single morning with a cup or three of coffee, maybe a water before but nothing else. And food breakfast comes at least a few hours later, after exercise back when I had the chance for that, and now just after other people are awake and morning stuff is done so I can eat without rushing. Despite all the total rehauls of my eating habits over the years, only the coffee has remained the same (except for going from only using no calorie sweetener to using real sugar with creamer and/or milk - in the morning I crave it ridiculously sweet, just like my mom has always done - thanks Mom!). The only time it gets changed up is if we’re camping or at a hotel or something and group breakfast happens first thing, in which case I just down a coffee quick, lol. So I don’t foresee my own routine changing anytime soon, since I love it, but I just got curious about what others’ morning routine looks like in terms of food!