Two-thirds of Americans say living in quarantine has ruined their morning routine

NEW YORK — Are you a coffee-first kind of person? Perhaps you have to start the day with a hot shower. Regardless of how you usually wake up in the morning, there’s a good chance 2020 has ruined it no matter what. A new survey finds two in three Americans say COVID-19 has completely thrown off their morning routine, leading to some rather confused feelings each day.

The OnePoll survey of 2,000 Americans finds that, due to no longer having a set morning routine, 81 percent of the country feels “off” without any semblance of morning normalcy. The survey, commissioned by Goli, delved into our morning routines before and during the pandemic and actually suggests that maybe those routines we miss so much aren’t so great for us after all.

Prior to lockdown, many Americans became well-versed in the art of the morning shortcut, which often led to unhealthy eating decisions. Sometimes, the morning rush was so intense that solid foods didn’t even enter the breakfast equation at all.

The morning chaos caused respondents to take some drastic shortcuts, including skipping breakfast (50%), having ONLY coffee for breakfast (47%), not brushing their teeth (29%), and forgetting to pack a lunch (35%).

A shortcut to poor health

While shortcuts might save time in the morning, they can come with a cost to overall health and wellness. Not surprisingly, when respondents made one early morning unhealthy decision, it often led to another. One in two respondents admitted that if they made an unhealthy choice early in the day, they were more likely to make another later on.

That’s not the only way respondents paid for those choices. Half the poll adds that after making an unhealthy morning choice, they were uncomfortably hungry later in the day. Forty-four percent felt tired as the day went on.

In an effort to make the morning more productive and to start things off on the right foot, 61 percent said they had tried to incorporate a healthy habit into their morning routine before COVID. Of those who attempted to embrace a healthy morning routine, on average, it only lasted 12 days before being phased out.

“We saw a consistent message. People want to start each day in a healthier way. Yet, even with the best of intentions, respondents couldn’t keep their healthy morning habits going,” Michael Bitensky, President of Goli Nutrition, says in a statement.

“Our survey results have a strong, recurrent theme, revealing that mornings are extremely hectic. I think all of us who live busy lives can relate.”

Start your morning the healthy way

The most common healthy tricks that respondents say gives them a jump start in the morning include ingesting apple cider vinegar (ACV) (35%), lemon water (35%), green tea (32%), and activated charcoal (32%).

“The benefits of ACV are well recognized,” Bitensky explains. “It helps to improve energy; to reduce appetite, and to maintain a healthy gut, which in turn helps support a healthy immune system and digestive health.”

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