By Courtney Southwick – Medically reviewed by Kayla Girgen, RD
- You can try the 30/30/30 to help you manage weight and control your blood sugar.
- Eating cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, or eggs can count toward your 30 grams of protein for breakfast.
- This method suggests focusing on light cardio that gets your heart rate up, but not too high.
The 30/30/30 morning routine involves eating 30 grams of protein and exercising for 30 minutes, 30 minutes after you wake up. It may help with weight management and blood sugar control.
How Do You Do the 30/30/30 Morning Routine?
With the 30/30/30 method, you:
- Consume 30 grams of protein for breakfast.
- Eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking.
- Get in 30 minutes of exercise.
For exercise, it’s recommended to do low-intensity cardio that raises your heart rate a little, but not too much. The goal is to keep your heart rate at, or below, 135 beats per minute.
What Do Experts Say?
“There is ample scientific evidence that consuming more protein, especially at breakfast, can help reduce calorie consumption throughout the rest of the day, as protein helps you feel fuller for longer,” Josten Fish, a registered dietitian, told Health.1 It can also promote faster weight loss.
Additionally, “eating an adequate protein-rich breakfast can help stabilize blood sugar and combat insulin resistance, a cause for stubborn weight loss,” Michelle Routhenstein, a registered dietitian nutritionist and cardiology dietitian with Entirely Nourished, told Health.
Light cardiovascular exercise makes you limber, strengthens your bones, and helps you control your weight, and may help you burn fat.
How Do You Start Your Day with 30/30/30?
Follow these steps to do the 30/30/30 morning routine correctly.
Step One: Eat 30 Grams of Protein
Eat 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning. It can help to prep your breakfast the night before.
You should be able to hit your goal with meals like:
- Cottage cheese with pineapple
- A fruit smoothie made with protein powder
- Greek yogurt topped with nuts
- High-protein bread topped with nut butter or eggs and cheese
- Quinoa topped with tofu, eggs, beans, or cheese
- Three scrambled eggs, topped with cheese
Step Two: Exercise for 30 Minutes
After breakfast, focus on cardiovascular exercise rather than strength training. Again, it may help to prep your workout clothes the night before.
Exercise hard enough that you feel like your heart is beating faster, but not so hard that you can’t carry on a conversation while doing it.
Try these light cardio exercises:
- Go jogging.
- Swim laps in a pool.
- Take a leisurely bike ride.
- Turn on some music and dance.
- Use a cardio machine at the gym, like the stair stepper or elliptical.
- Walk on a treadmill or through your neighborhood
What Are the Benefits?
The 30/30/30 method helps burn body fat instead of lean muscle. Getting your heart pumping above your resting heart rate improves or maintains your fitness and helps burn more body fat.
Consuming protein at breakfast can also increase fat burning.
“By consuming 30 grams of protein within the first 30 minutes of waking up, individuals can jumpstart their metabolism and provide their bodies with essential nutrients,” said Fish.
What Should You Know Before Trying It?
While cardio exercise early in the morning has benefits, it is also beneficial at any time of day.
High-intensity workouts burn carbs before body fat, but your metabolism will stay higher for longer after the workout, burning body fat later. This is known as the after-burn effect.
Whichever type of exercise you choose, you will ultimately burn body fat.
Optimizing Your Insulin Levels
How high your insulin levels are may impact how you lose fat. Insulin is your body’s fat storage hormone. It allows your body’s cells to use sugar and other carbohydrates for energy or fat storage.
When your carbohydrate intake is high, your insulin levels will also be high. This means your body is using carbohydrates for energy instead of its own fat reserves.
To ensure you are burning body fat, consider lowering your carbohydrate intake. This is a great opportunity to replace some carbohydrates with more protein.
Timing Your Breakfast
Not everyone is hungry when they first wake up. You may not want to force yourself to eat if you’re not hungry.
“While I don’t think it’s necessary to eat immediately after waking, I do suggest intuitively eating within the first hour,” said Fish.
Some people may have digestive issues if they eat close to working out. “If that’s the case for you, adjusting to having the protein shake after you work out may be a better option,” said Routhenstein.
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