Mornings feel like a mess? Small changes you can make to de-stress your day

MILWAUKEE -- Take the stress out of your mornings and set yourself up for success. Registered dietitian Lisa Grudzielanek with Your Tasty Life joins Real Milwaukee to helps us all refresh our morning routine. Research shows that your morning routine can not only impact your day but your life as a whole.

1. Prep Your Breakfast
• Make breakfast the night before
• Start your day off strong with a balanced breakfast.
• Being intentional about the first meal of the day (when willpower is at its peak) means you can be much more successful with maintaining good habits.

2. Shower Trick
• Motivational speaker Tony Robbins forces himself to jump into cold water every morning to wake up his brain.
• End your shower with a cold shot of water or after washing your face, splash with cold water.

3. Practice Gratitude & Set Intention
• This is the morning secret of many productive, successful people to have a positive attitude in the early hours of the day.
• Practice gratitude upon rising each day before your feet hit the floor.

4. Stretching and Exercising
• Exercise will keep your muscles from feeling achy and tight, along with increase your blood circulation and help you feel more energized.
• Doing a ragdoll stretch in the morning is also a good way to boost blood flow and get energized.
• Consider leaving your sneakers by the bedside and/or packing your gym bag the night before , making it easier to get out the door.

5. Honor a Power Hour
• Do not check email or social media the first hour upon waking.
• Resist the urge. We've all been guilty of this. Opening email so early in the day lets other people dictate your priorities, making you reactive instead of proactive.
• Reading a negative post, comment or viewing a certain picture of friends or family 'living the dream life' can also hijack your mood. Not a good way to start your day.

6. Create Your Own Morning Routine to Win the Day
• What 3 things will make you feel happier, more relaxed and well on your way to feeling a sense of accomplishment?
• Do this consistently without fail for 21 days to begin to form this habit.
• Research suggests it take 21 days to form a habit, as long as all you want to do is drink a glass of water after breakfast. Anything harder is likely to take longer to become a really strong habit, and, in the case of some activities, much longer.