the first hour

the one thing I changed about my mornings that fixed almost everything (and the science behind why it works)

Hi friendssss!

I want to talk about something I’ve been meaning to write about for months but kept putting off because I wanted to really live it before I told you to do it. I’ve now lived it for almost a year and I can say without hesitation: this is the single biggest shift I’ve made to my health, my hormones, my mood, and my energy.

It’s about the first hour of your day

And specifically, two things you have to do in it, together, not separately. They’re each powerful on their own, but the magic is in the pairing!

the two things

1. Eat 20-30g of protein within 60 minutes of waking up. 2. Get 10 minutes of direct sunlight on your face within that same window.

That’s it. That’s the whole protocol. No cold plunge. No celery juice. No 14-step routine. Just protein + sun, in the first hour.

I know it sounds almost too simple to matter. Hear me out.

why protein in the first hour

When you wake up, your cortisol is high (that’s normal, it’s what wakes you up) and your blood sugar is at its baseline for the day. Whatever you put in your body first is going to set the trajectory for the next 12 hours~

If your first input is coffee on an empty stomach, or a smoothie made mostly of fruit, or “I’ll just eat later” - you’re spiking cortisol higher, then crashing your blood sugar, then chasing that crash with more caffeine or sugar all day. This is the cycle that’s wrecking so many women’s hormones without them realizing it. It’s also the #1 driver of the 3pm slump, the afternoon sweet craving, and the “why am I gaining weight when nothing has changed” panic.

30g of protein in the first hour does the opposite. It stabilizes blood sugar. It tells your body “we are safe, we are fed, we don’t need to panic-store anything.” It gives your liver and your hormones the building blocks they need to actually function. It blunts cortisol instead of feeding it!

You will feel the difference within the week, I promise.

What 20- 30g looks like (none of this requires cooking if you don’t want to cook):

• 2 eggs + 1 cup of cottage cheese on toast

• Greek yogurt bowl with 1 scoop protein powder + nuts + berries

• 2 eggs + 2 chicken sausages + avocado

• Smoothie: 1 scoop protein, almond milk, frozen banana, almond butter, chia seeds

• Leftover dinner… There’s no rule that breakfast has to be “breakfast food”

If you’ve been eating an oat milk latte and calling it breakfast, I love you, but no (:

why sunlight in the first hour

This is the one almost nobody talks about and it might be even more important than the protein.

Direct sunlight on your face within the first hour of waking up sets your circadian rhythm for the next 24 hours. It tells your brain what time it is. Which tells your cortisol when to rise and fall. Which tells your melatonin when to show up that night. Which tells your hormones the whole rest of the schedule.

When you skip morning sunlight, you’re essentially telling your body “we have no idea what time it is” and then we wonder why we’re tired at 10am and wired at 11pm.

Ten minutes is enough! Through a window does NOT count (glass blocks the wavelengths that matter). It has to be outside, no sunglasses for the first few minutes if you can, your eyes need the light too, even just indirectly.

I do mine on the balcony with my matcha. If you have a dog, walking them counts. If you have a kid, stroller walk counts. If you have a commute, park further and walk in. Sit outside on your front step. Anything! Just get outside, in actual daylight, in the first hour

why the pairing is the magic

Here’s what nobody connects: protein stabilizes your blood sugar, and sunlight stabilizes your circadian rhythm, and together they fix the two underlying systems that almost every “I just feel off” symptom traces back to.

PMS that’s getting worse? Blood sugar + circadian. Wired-but-tired at night? Blood sugar + circadian. Afternoon crashes? Blood sugar + circadian. Skin breaking out around your period? Blood sugar + circadian. Mood that swings for no reason? Blood sugar + circadian.

When I tell you this is the foundation, I mean it. Every other thing I do for my health (cycle syncing, supplements, workouts, the body oil rituals, all of it) is sitting on top of this base. Without these two things, nothing else really lands

what to do this week

Try it for 7 days, that’s all I’m asking

• 30g protein within 60 min of waking

• 10 min of outside sunlight in that same window

• Track nothing. Just notice.

By day 4 or 5 you’re going to feel a shift you can’t quite put words to. Reply and tell me what you noticed (I read every single one and these emails are my favorite part of the week)!

small things i’m loving while we’re here

• Cold-brewed matcha (4 hours in the fridge, smoother than anything)

• LMNT in the afternoon instead of a second matcha or coffee

• Sitting outside with bare feet on the ground (grounding is real, the research is there)

• A really good body oil after the shower, 90 seconds, slow, the whole day softens (more on this soon 🌞)

• Peaches. So many peaches.

That’s all for today! Love ya guys

ps if this email helped you, will you forward it to one woman in your life who’s been feeling off? I want to get this in as many hands as possible. It’s too simple to keep to ourselves!

xx Paige