​Often times people question if working out in the morning or in the evening is better.  Fitting in a workout, period, is great!  But there are some benefits to working out early in the day that may make you start waking up earlier.

Habit Forming
1. Working out first thing in the morning, before your workday begins, will often be more habit forming. Working out later in the day has a higher probability of having something else come up that could hamper your plans. When you wake up first thing and squeeze in a workout before the rest of the world comes calling on you, you will already feel accomplished. You've gotten your workout out of the way and can focus on the rest of the days activities without feeling guilty for not exercising. 

Releases Happy Hormones
2. Morning workouts release your body's "feel good" endorphins, as well as the hormones serotonin, adrenaline and dopamine.  They all work together to give you a positive feeling and naturally boost your mood.  This is why exercise is recommended for people with depression. And who wouldn't want a nice little dose of happiness to start off their day?

Builds Muscles More Efficiently
3. Through the night your body increases it's production of testosterone.  Thus when you wake up first thing in the morning is when your testosterone levels are the highest. Testosterone is the hormone that promotes muscle growth, so morning workouts can help you build muscle more efficiently. 

Have More Energy Throughout The Day
4. You will feel more energized and focused the rest of the day!  Here's the thing, waking up isn't fun and it's hard to get moving some times.  You may think you don't have the energy to workout, but the reality is working out will boost your energy! It will wake you up and make you more productive. 

Get Better Sleep At Night
5. You will get longer, deeper and higher-quality sleep at night.  Exercising raises your core body temperature.  This signals the body clock that it's time to be awake. As the evening progresses and your core body temperature drops, this signals the body that it's time for bed and helps facilitate sleepiness. 

Enhance Your Creativity
6. It enhances your creativity. There is a large anecdotal literature suggesting that creative people sometimes use bodily movement to help overcome “blocks". And several studies, like the one above, have shown positive links between exercise and boosted creativity.

Improves Brain Function
7. It improves cognitive function and empacts brain structure.  It essentially gives your brain a boost. Couldn't we all use a little brain boost before our workday?  This is thought to be because of increased blood flow to the brain and surges of growth hormones.  Exercise also stimulates the birth of new neurons. 

Protects Against Diabetes
8. It can help protect against Type 2 Diabetes. Exercise first thing in the morning on an empty stomach has been shown to protect against glucose intolerance and insulin resistance.  

Boosts Your Memory
9. Exercise has been shown to boost memory.  This is particularly great for students, as schooling success is highly dependent on retaining information. The hippocampus, the part of the brain that controls learning and memory, responds to aerobic exercise in a very positive way!  Hitting the gym before hitting the classes could help improve your grades and functionality at work. 

Makes You Crave Healthier Food
​10. An increased desire for healthy foods.  Studies have shown that groups of people who exercise are least likely to grab the junk food. Instead, they opted for healtheir food choices than the group of people who moved the least throughout the day. Exercise in the morning can help your diet stay on track.
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To wake up and workout is to create a great day from the start. It's creating a discipline you can be proud of and self-care that will build your confidence.  With all the positive effects a morning routine has on your body and brain, switching up what time you workout could potentially make quite a positive impact on the quality of your health and life!

Golden Milk, or turmeric tea, is a health tonic that purifies the blood of toxins, gives relief to autoimmune diseases, clarifies the skin, relieves pain associated with rheumatoid  arthritis and helps relax the central nervous system, making for a great sleep aid!  There are over 11,000 studies on the health benefits of the active ingredient in turmeric, curcumin.

Golden Milk tonic has been used for centuries to aid in the healing of several ailments.  Curcumin's anti-inflammatory properties can be thanked for that. The studies conducted on the anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin have found it 400 times more effective at activating the enzyme that improves insulin sensitivity to help reverse type-2 diabetes than the leading diabetes medication, Metformin.  Curcumin is also anti-bacterial and can help heal bacterial infections, including oral infections.  It also helps fight off environmental toxins by binding with heavy metals in the blood to be excreted. Toxin overload in the blood is the main culprit for skin issues and rashes, making curcumin very beneficial for those with eczema, psoriasis and other various skin rashes.  Curcumin also helps prevent/treat cancer and liver disease. In one study, curcumin was found to decrease testosterone production in prostate cancer patients.  

To add to the greatness of curcumin, it is also a wonder herb for anxiety and depression.  It helps your body produce more of the natural mood boosters, serotonin and dopamine!  Baylor University conducted a study on curcumin's anti-depressive properties and it showed that taking 1,000mg of curcumin a day could be just as beneficial as an antidepressant. Therefore, adding turmeric to your food daily could be beneficial for everyone, and possibly life-changing for people who suffer with anxiety and depression. 

 
These findings mixed with it's anti-inflammatory properties, which soothes the nervous system for relaxation, is what makes this a great calming tea to drink before bed and a nice alternative to help people with insomnia.  I can vouch for the calming effects of the tea and have made sure to drink it nearly every night.

​Last, but not least, there have been about ZERO findings of side-effects from using turmeric.  So enjoy as much and as often as you would like. 

Below is the recipe that I use and it is my absolute favorite, not to mention easy and extra healthy!  Don't forget the black pepper, as it helps the body absorb the curcumin! 
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To vegan-ize this recipe, use 2 cups of almond milk with organic, raw maple syrup instead of the honey.

If you're one of those people that can't deal with the taste of turmeric, you can always find a turmeric/curcumin supplement instead. Below are a few of my favorite choices!