🌱 3 Habits That Seem Obvious, But Aren’t

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Spilling the tea ☕

You’ve heard of your favorite Instagram influencer giving her “10 beauty tips for soft skin,” stating,

“Always wake up with a glass of cold water, with a touch of lemon!”

These may have seemed like the golden playbook that you never knew you needed… or just an annoyance you keep seeing on your feed every. single. day.

Either or the other, these strategies don’t come out of left field.

Despite obviously building their brand as being a “healthy tips account,” these influencers had to do some research first before twisting those facts into what they may want from their audience.

That’s what I’m going to cover today.

Strategies like:

1. Drinking water in the first 5 minutes of getting up.
2. Having coffee after 90–120 minutes of waking up.
3. Taking a cold shower to begin your day.

These may seem like the perfect ritual or may be downright annoying to do, but these 3 have some solid reasons which you may not realize.

At the end of this story I hope you see how to incorporate these habits realistically into your routine if you decide to, and understanding how to do research for yourself when fact-checking your local influencer.

Running to the water

If you watched a certain Instagram reel like I did…

you’ll remember watching a woman wake up from her bed, somehow sunkissed without messy hair, slowly getting up almost angelically, and then suddenly racing into her bathroom with a glass in hand — shoving the water on & frantically gulping down water, saying,

“Our skin will die without water first thing in the morning!”

Ok that might have been a slight overdramatized version, I might have forgotten exactly what she said… but if you get my point, there is no way you’ll die without water right when you wake up!

If you look at the facts, they prove the more realistic outcome.

1. All organs and tissues depend on water.
2. What about those who say that water eliminates toxins?

This would be the job of the kidneys. It’s true that drinking water helps regulate its ability to clear toxins,

“Yet, your kidneys’ capacity to clear your body of a given substance is determined by how much of the substance is present, not by your water intake or drinking schedule.” —_ Healthline

3. Drinking water on an empty stomach? It doesn’t mean you’ll lose weight. Turns out there might not be enough evidence to support that theory. After all,

“The health aspects of staying hydrated is measured over the course of a day, rather than the time of day you drink water or the sequence of drinking water in relation to breakfast or any other meal.__” — Lifesource Water

These cover only a few of the theories of drinking water right when waking up, but the articles I sourced give plenty more detail!

Coffee time

Do numbers matter when having your cup?

You’ve probably heard of many people on social media, not even just influencers, who have noted how much having coffee, after a certain time of waking up, has helped them stay motivated throughout the day.

But how do you know that those specific numbers, usually 90–120 minutes, are the rule of thumb to follow?

After some research, I’ve found 3 different times that are supported by science on when to drink coffee.

When is best for you? Only you know! Try all 3 if you need to figure it out!

1. “Wait 90–120 minutes after you wake up for leftover adenosine to be flushed out before having coffee. [Andrew Huberman] says that this will reduce the caffeine crash in the afternoon — allowing your cortisol levels to rise naturally through waking up with sunlight and movement. And at the same time your body is naturally clearing out adenosine from the night.”
2. If you feel tired during the afternoon, this might be why,

“It does this by attaching to adenosine receptors, found throughout the body. Adenosine levels are lowest as you wake up, but they build throughout the day. As more adenosine attaches to its receptors, the interaction promotes a cascade of sleep-promoting effects.”

“Although it helps wake us up, I often recommend waiting to have your first cup of coffee until about an hour or two after waking up,” says Gatlin. “This allows your body to use its own resources for energy first.”

“Lastly, be mindful about drinking coffee after about 3 p.m., since this can potentially impact your sleep cycle and make it harder to get restful sleep,” adds Gatlin. “Distorted sleep patterns then impact your energy levels the next day.” — Houston

3. Are afternoon’s good? This fact about cortisol indicates that coffee before 3 pm but after the morning hours may be a good thing,

“Cortisol follows a rhythm “specific to your own sleeping cycle,” the expert said, peaking within 30 to 45 minutes of waking up and slowly declining throughout the day. “That explains why you may peak in the morning and get more tired at night,” she noted.” — NY Post

After seeing these, which time will you pick?

Ice cold

Ahh how wonderful is it to wake up cozy in bed, grabbing a cool glass of water, and then jumping into a frozen lake.

Not very nice, huh?

That’s how I feel whenever Instagram influencers & influencers of the like comment how taking a shower first thing in the morning helps them get an energized start to their day.

In energized, yes, I understand how! But isn’t there a better way to wake up without freezing every nerve in your body first? What if mornings aren’t actually the best time for me to take a shocking shower?

1. Waking you up! Every source I read has said this in one way or another, but this source noted in addition,

“Believe it or not, that gasp signifies the benefits of a cold shower. The contrast between your body temperature and the water temperature causes your heart rate to increase as your system tries to catch up and warm through. This means more oxygen starts flowing through your body, making you feel more alert — your bathroom’s version of an espresso shot!” — Mr. Wet Wall

2. Cold water helps lactic acid buildup, so what about at any time?

“During exercise, waste products (such as lactic acid) build up and your muscles may become swollen and inflamed after being worked. Exposure to cold water tightens your blood vessels, forcing the blood that contains these waste products to be pushed away. When you warm back up, these same vessels expand again, pulling in fresh, newly oxygenated blood.” — Mr. Wet Wall

3. An underrated opinion, nighttime. There were plenty of articles saying that cold water will keep you up at night, but I have to disagree. In order to sleep, your body lowers its temperature. So taking a cold shower before bed can help! But of course, not right before bed — since the cold does stimulate alertness. In my humble opinion (only for this one), taking an icy shower 2 hours before bed will do the trick — I do it during the summer months & it works great!

How you can know

Influencers will cater to the early morning gang, making it overrated & pushing everyone to adopt that same routine.

But in all reality, you don’t have to wake up at 5 am! You have your own specific time table, which I go into detail if you consider yourself a night owl here.

Do your own research by typing your phrase into Google & looking through 2–5 articles of differing opinions & incorporating what’s most reasonable & has the most evidence backing it.

Even just this little research can mean all the difference to building the right habits!

Image by Sergei Bezborodov from Pexels