The Morning Ritual That Transformed Me

Health and wellness is a journey for most people, especially women having difficulties with weight loss or finding the time for fitness and meal prep.

You have a million more responsibilities and can’t eat what you did years ago.

This story is just a tale of my health journey and not supposed to be guidance or influence.

My Story

Around the time I entered middle school I started gaining weight.

Nothing momentous happened to cause the shift per say, past the typical hormones and transitioning of grades and schools.

It was also the 1990’s.

We were healthier than our parents in the 1950’s with a lack of exercise and newly acquired access to fast food and TV dinners; this generation also was still amicable to smoking.

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"...newly acquired access to fast food and TV dinners..."

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In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, girls were welcomed and encouraged into team sports.

But fitness outside of playing or practicing said sport was typically non-existent for most people.

You were just supposed to all of a sudden one day run, out of the clear blue sky and if you couldn’t, you just didn’t run.

There was no real mentorship (past hiring a trainer) of getting into better shape just for yourself. You either were or weren’t in shape.

I remember being told to get into better shape by doctors and family members, but not how to achieve that. Being a child, I didn’t just innately know how to get into shape, and that lack of knowledge would last well into my 30s.

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At 22 I had knee surgery due to an injury. Post-surgery, during a consult with the physician he said I needed to lose weight or I would have arthritis in the knee, sooner than later.

After this moment, my weight fluctuated often. Prior to this, my weight had just steadily increased.

I was always a big walker, but I would go through spurts of going on fad diets and losing a chunk of weight and then going back to my regular diet.

You see, the thing was after college I didn’t eat noticeably bad. I didn’t really drink alcohol and had completely cut out soda.

A lot of times I would have a lean cuisine or something similar for lunch, a bowl of cereal for breakfast, and a simple dinner as I hated cooking.

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Subsequently over the years I noticed my personality becoming harder.

I chalked it up to having the typical New Jersey temperament, but it was becoming more than that.

While I do think there are certain attributes effect by nature vs. nurture, a lot of things that were tipping me over the edge were things that ultimately weren’t a big deal in life nor things I wanted to care about.

I was moving too quickly and not towards the right direction.

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"I noticed my personality becoming harder..."

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In March of 2020, when the world shut down and everyone’s focus turned to the uncertainty of the pandemic, my first thought was that I better not gain any more weight from this lockdown. But I didn’t just want this to be more hollow words and promises.

How I was feeling physically I didn’t want to, shouldn’t, and couldn’t gain more weight without taking myself to an even more unhealthy level.

The kicker was, that over the few years leading up to this moment I had regularly gone for physicals and blood work with nothing came back abnormal, all my levels were within where they should be and there was nothing indicating an issue past the excess of weight.

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I took this newly enforced isolation as a time to focus on building a better foundation.

Not having access to a gym, I did the only thing I had access to at the time and went for walks.

I walked and walked and walked. Sometimes for hours on end and clocking in 8-10 miles a day.

I wasn’t eating out at all and severely cut down my sugar intake, but I wasn’t seeing the result I anticipated.

I lost about 15 pounds in two months, but it was a struggle.

So, in June of 2020, I got in touch with a friend who was doing nutrition consulting and we worked together for the next 3 months.

I don’t want to say he completely changed my life as I believe only you have that control over the outcome of your life, but he expanded my mind frame when it came to diet, exercise, and a whole lifestyle.

He told me he would wake up each day and would do some yoga, cardio, weights, and meditation.

I liked that structure and carving out some time to better myself when most of the world was still sleeping.

Not only did he provide this shell, but he was also an accountability partner for those three months where I would text him a picture of everything I ate in a day when I was eating it.

He recommended I try out a keto-esque diet and I would seek his guidance on items I wasn’t sure fell under that category before committing to buying or eating something.

In those 3 months I lost another 20 (or so) pounds. Over the next several months of keeping myself on track I was able to lose another 15 pounds, coming to a total loss of 50 pounds.

The lightest I had been in over 7 years.

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I became hardcore in my routine; I was waking up around 5 AM each morning.

I was starting the day with coffee and a Ted Talk, followed by a walk in the park to get fresh air, I would then come home and rotate between using the row machine and hand weights I had purchased, and would finish up with some yoga and meditation before showering.

It was the first routine I had built and loved.

I had kept this routine up for quite some time and it was working for me. I still wouldn’t call myself a mellow person, but I did notice my moods and reactions to certain situations improving along with my health.

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At the beginning of 2021 when I was down nearly 50 pounds, I plateaued and have since been maintaining after gaining 10 pounds back.

Ideally, I wanted to lose 80 pounds and I am lingering at about halfway there. I don’t blame the stalling out on anything in particular.

I know life and weight loss is not easy, but it was a lot easier when restaurants were closed, I was working from home, and isolated from society.

Then a few months ago, at the end of 2022, I relocated and it was difficult for me to get back into my exact routine, which I will outline below. I have since been building myself back into this template.

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"I became hardcore in my routine..."

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What is Your Exercise Routine:

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Really, I call it a lifestyle routine, but the below is how I get my mind and body working properly and as one.

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5:00 AM: Wake up, make bed, feed the cats, and get ready to work out.

5:30 AM: Watch a Ted Talk while drinking coffee.

6:00 AM: Go for a walk around the park by my apartment.

6:30 AM: 15 minutes on the row machine, 15 minutes of weights, 15 minutes of yoga.

7:15 AM: 15 minutes of meditation.

7:30 AM: Shower and get ready.

8:00 AM: Put the news on in the background while journaling with a protein drink.

9:00 AM: Start work.

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How do I change my mindset?

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For me, the above is how I changed my mind set in addition to self-care practices such as doing things I enjoy, meditation, and speaking with a therapist in addition to diet and exercise. You can find more information on my self-care practices here.

Three of the things I love the most are the theater, reading, and travel which I wrote about in my posts on Tips for the Best Broadway Experience, a review of Colleen Hoover’s This Girl book, and my US Road Trip.

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Also, taking the time to plan, organize, reflect, and breathe has helped tremendously. So much of my negative mind frame was due to moving and thinking too fast, and not taking the time to think and how to appropriately react.

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How do you create a routine and stick with it?

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For me it was taking it slow.

I didn’t go from no exercise and waking up at 11 AM to working out intensely 6 days a week and waking up at 5 AM.

I was always somewhat active with walking around the neighborhood and the occasional hike and gym class.

When the pandemic hit and I knew I wanted to get my behind in gear, I started slowly incorporating more rituals. Initially I was walking more miles.

When that wasn’t enough, I added on some yoga at home. When that wasn’t enough, I bought hand weights, resistance bands, and a row machine for my apartment.

I progressively went from waking up around 7 AM to 6 AM to 5 AM, and for a brief stint of time 4:30 AM.

If I fell out of my routine, I gave myself the grace to get back into it step by step and didn’t just go from vacation mode to all of the above, combined.

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What is the best diet for weight loss?

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Like I mentioned earlier, I was in a weight loss mentality since middle school, so it’s been a while. But I didn’t have the resources for a healthy lifestyle until well into my 30s.

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Initially I would try a fad diet or really restricting my food intake until I noticed a weight loss and then pretty much go back to what I had been doing.

I would maintain the new weight for a while, and then the weight would slowly creep back up and then some.

I never wanted to be the person who scrutinized every pound. But that’s all it took.

A couple pounds would add on, and I would ignore it. A couple more pounds would add on, and I would ignore it. Then eventually the scale would say I was 20-30 pounds heavier, and my clothes were too tight.

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Everyone’s body is truly different. My dad could stop eating sugar and cards for a few days and drop a decent amount of weight. I could cut out the same and barely see a fluctuation.

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What I will say, is do not do a fad diet and try to stick with something that is healthy and you are able to maintain.

Weight loss, maintenance, and a healthy lifestyle is a marathon, not a sprint.

And this is something I must continually have to remind myself every day because I want to see things, and I want to see them now. I personally enjoy a keto type of diet, with occasionally incorporating a sweet potato, lentil, quinoa, or brown rice.

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"Weight loss, maintenance, and a healthy lifestyle is a marathon, not a sprint."

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What is the best diet for healthy living?

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Again, everyone’s body is truly different and does not react the same to things.

I think people should focus on a healthy lifestyle vs. a restrictive diet.

With that said, I have heard a lot of talks on the Mediterranean Diet often topping the charts. Mediterranean type foods include a lot of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, grains, along with dairy, cheese, meat, and seafood in moderation.

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Conclusion:

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Like I mentioned at the beginning of the blog, this post is about my journey, experiences, and hardships and by no means am trying to persuade or influence into a certain habit or lifestyle, but rather inspire people to find what works best for them.

Some are night owls and prefer to exercise in the evening, as opposed to me who gets added energy from exercise in the morning and can barely function after work.

Some people love intermittent fasting, others thrive on a carnivore diet, and the list goes on and so do your options on how to improve your life.

For other thoughts on health and wellness, check out Zainab Adams Official and Chasing Wonderful.

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About the Author:

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Tracy McHugh

Tracy McHugh went to school for English and has since taken many writing courses. Wanting to get back into a creative outlet, Tracy started blogging, journal, and creative writing with friends at the start of the pandemic.

Initially, the Chasing Wonderful blog focused on travel. A passion of hers that she missed deeply during this time. Since the sites formation, Tracy has expanded in to such topics as business, entertainment, and wellness and is excited to keep exploring all the world has to offer.

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▶️ Introduction

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🔥 My Story

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🏋🏻 What is Your Exercise Routine

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🤯 How do I change my mindset?

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➰ How do you create a routine and stick with it?

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⚖️ What is the best diet for weight loss?