Alarm goes off. Gotta grab the phone off the charger and get out of the room before the wife nudges me, that’s the first win for the day. Changing to a smart alarm with a quiet intro really helps with a softer awakening, so I grab the phone and clock-off sleepbot, reach over to the side table and shoot down my salt water, bounce out the door, and head downstairs. It’s 5am and I’m actually awake.
You might be asking ‘Are you an engineer? Heading off for an early flight? Bootcamp? Are you mad?!’ After some thought you might then say ‘ah, you’re one of those morning people‘
I never used to be. Mornings were painful. Heavy eyes that wouldn’t open, foggy head that couldn’t work out what to do with all these limbs to coordinate standing up; the best thing in the world was to snuggle back into the blankets and go back sleep.
That’s a distant memory for me now. What’s shocking is the changes weren’t large scale or difficult and they certainly didn’t require crazy things like pulling out your hair. They were little tweaks that once put in place, transformed each morning and the benefits flowed on into the rest of the day.
How would it feel to wake up fresh each day? How awesome would it be to get your to do list done before your morning commute? What if you could lose a few around the waist by eating more fat and skipping breakfast? Wait, what?!
This is exactly what I did. These are some of the surprising benefits I’ve experienced and I’m going to break down each of these into simple steps and show you the exact products I’ve used, so you can start waking up refreshed and supercharge your day, every morning with ease.This is the first of a series of what I’m calling ‘Success Recipes’. I’ll show you a complete list of products, tools, services, and links out to every component of the recipe. Detailed steps to show you the simple methods and my own tweaks on conventional ways of putting things together so you can put these into practice immediately.
So, let’s get started – How to Supercharge Your Day, Every Morning, in just 10 Minutes.
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
What you will need:
2TB Fresh Ground Coffee – I recommend Bulletproof® Coffee as a great tasting, consistent quality, single source bean. Use more for a stronger cup. You can also use decaf if you want to reduce the load on your adrenals.
2TB Grass-fed Butter – I cannot stress enough the significance of adding butter into my diet. Check out the cool infographic in the resources.
1-2TB MCT Oil – I use Upgraded Brain Octane Oil. It’s 16x stronger than coconut oil and contains more of the C-8’s your brain loves
Optional: 1TB Upgraded Collagen Protein
Coffee Maker (Aeropress, French Press, etc)
Hand Blender or Milk Frother
Boiling Water
BREAKFAST
2-6 Organic free-range eggs
1/2 Avocado
Pinch Himalayan salt
Pinch tarragon
1TB Grass-fed Butter
Optional Health Boost: Block of frozen spinach
Optional Flavor Boost: 2 rashers of organic nitrate free bacon (YUM! and additional protein and good fat)
NOOTROPICS (optional)
This is my current stack which has evolved from 1 Alpha Brain® before big meetings or large business/long social events to a much more targeted dosing.
500mg Pramiracetam
Afternoon:
2g Piracetam
800mg Aniracetam
7mg Noopept
These are totally optional and personal preference. Do your own research and testing as everyone’s body will respond uniquely to these.
On days where I am intermittent fasting (no breakfast, just the coffee – I’ll talk about this in another post) I include 300mg of CTP Choline to support the nootropic stack.
Ramit Sethi made an awesome comment the other day (I’m paraphrasing) “the decision to go to the gym isn’t made when you wake up, it’s made when you lay out your gym gear and shoes next to the bed the night before”
So, here is what you can do in the evening when you have a few more faculties than first thing in the morning.Lay out the following:
- your Aeropress or coffee maker
- utensils – table spoon, Aeropress mixer, hand blender
- your coffee, MCT Oil, collagen protein
- make sure the kettle has water in it
- Fry pan, spatula, egg whisk, plate, knife, fork
Then in the morning, all you need to do is grab the butter and eggs from the fridge!
Method:
After wandering to the kitchen first step is to turn on the kettle.
While this is boiling I grab the butter, eggs, an avocado, 2 fish oil capsules, and some glutathione from the fridge. We’re off and racing.
Turn on the stove top to a low heat and put the pan over the heat
Throw the butter for the eggs into the pan
While that’s warming up, cut open your avocado and scrape out 1 half onto your plate
I mash this up to make it easier to eat
TIP: Make sure you get all that nutrient dense, mushy, tasty stuff near the skin.
The kettle should be boiled now. This is a bit of a purist tip: pre-heat your Aeropress, and coffee cup with the hot water. This will only take about 30 seconds
Carefully pour out the hot water from the Aeropress and coffee cup
Add the MCT Oil, Butter, and Collagen your cup
Place Aeropress funnel on your cup
Use the spoon or just pour your ground coffee into the Aeropress
TIP: I have a large mug, so I use notch 4 on the Aeropress and fill the coffee up to notch 3.
Pour in hot water slowly to the Aeropress in a circular motion.
You will notice some bubbling as the coffee mixes in, make sure you don’t overfill as you will end up with grounds in the bottom of your cup.
Pop the filter and cap on top to create a vacuum in the press and let it sit to brew for at least 30 seconds
Butter will be melting in the pan, so crack open eggs into bowl
Lightly whisk eggs and add salt and tarragon
Swirl butter around pan to aid in non-stick and pour in eggs
Back to the coffee, you tip over the Aeropress onto the funnel sitting on your cup
Apply modest pressure to the Aeropress, making sure to do this slowly. I usually take around 30 seconds. This will ensure the fullest flavour and lowest bitterness.
Stop pressing when you get to the air pocket inside. You will know when you have reached this as a slight hissing sound will come from the Aeropress as some of the air is expelled
TIP: If you press too hard or continue to press at the end when it is hissing, you will increase the chances of grounds in the bottom of your cup.
Also, if you prefer a less sharp flavour and want to reduce the chances of grounds in your cup, you can use the paper filters that usually come with a new Aeropress.
The eggs will form an omelette appearance in the pan with the top still soft
Turn off the stove and stir the eggs vigorously with the spatula. They will continue to cook due to the accumulated heat
Slide the eggs onto the plate and breakfast is served!
Finishing touch is the milk frother to blend the butter and oil into the coffee
Blend the coffee for around 15 seconds until you get a consistent colouring and a creamy head forms on the top
TIP: If you have ever used an espresso machine with a milk frother, you will know there is an optimal pitch that the mixing will make that is usually right near the top of the liquid. I find that this both saves time and reduces mess and spills.
Enjoy!
Special note on fish oil:
I keep my salmon oil (fish oil) capsules in the fridge as it removes the potential reflux and heartburn symptoms.
Special bonus: alternative to coffee/caffeine
I have created another guide due to feedback on some sensitivity to caffeine or preference for tea.
- Decaf coffee – https://www.upgradedself.com/products/bulletproof-upgraded-decaf-coffee-12oz
- Cacao tea – https://www.upgradedself.com/bulletproof-cacao-tea
- Yerba mate – http://www.marksdailyapple.com/yerba-mate-benefits/#axzz32VWHfe1n
I am not affiliated in any way to any product mentioned here. Also, I am not a doctor! Please consult a professional when considering making any drastic change to your diet or supplementation.
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Father, Husband, Entrepreneur, Nerd.
Almost 20 years in the technology industry. A natural hacker at heart, using systems-thinking to be more productive and simplify all aspects of life. Latest obsessions; bio-hacking, startups, and teaching my kids.