What is your morning routine?

Firstly, I want to thank Dawn for giving me the opportunity to Guest Post on Leash Your Fitness. My name is Rachel Sheppard, I am a former Veterinary Technician, and a current Social Media Marketer. I write My Kid Has Paws, which is a pet blog dedicated to Pet Health, Pet Products, and Pet Rescue.

I want to remind you that your health plays an important role in your pet’s health. As a Veterinary Technician, I saw many people experiencing the same lifestyle diseases that their pets were suffering from. Often, they needed to make changes in their own routines in order to make changes for their pet.

Today, I want to focus specifically on your morning routine and how your can integrate your dog into a more positive morning experience.

Do you have trouble waking up in the morning? Are you always running late for work?

There are things you can do to help you get your day started and many of these activities can include your dog by your side.

According to EverydayHealth.com, there are 11 things you can do to help streamline your morning, which will ultimately lead to a more productive day. Below were the ones I thought were most important:

1)     Know Why You Want to Wake Up: What is your motivation for getting up in the morning? Perhaps you have made a promise to yourself that you would take your dog for a walk, or eat breakfast with your family, or maybe you like to drink your coffee and catch up on the news. Whatever it is that you promise to do with your time, share it with your roommates or family members so that they can help hold you accountable for your goals.

2)     Get Bright Light First Thing in the Morning: Many articles have concluded that providing your body with sunlight in the morning, not only helps you wake up, but can improve your mood. Therefore, use that morning light to take your dog for a walk. Not only will your be providing yourself and your dog with some daily exercise, you will be helping improve your mood and energy for that day!

3)     Reorganize Your Evening Schedule: Research has shown that exercising late in the evening can lead to poor sleep (depending on the person). Therefore, get your exercise in early in the day before life gets in the way. Use that morning time to run or walk with your dog.

4)     Make Hitting “Snooze” Harder: If you can count on your pet to wake you up every morning, consider letting them sleep in your room or at least leaving the door open. Everyone with an animal knows there is no snooze button, and this will get you out of the habit of sleeping past the time you are supposed to wake up.

Dawn reminds us that we need to make promises to ourselves in order to make and achieve real change in our lives, which one of these morning activities will you commit to?  Please comment below…….