Happy Monday to everyone reading this! I hope you are having a great start to your week! For today’s post, I decided to go in-depth in my current morning routine. As many of you know, I love mornings, and I really credit the following steps to my morning routine as to why I enjoy waking up early and having a productive start to my day. So with that, here is my current self-love inspired morning routine that promotes an energized and productive day!
1. Wake up at 5 am
I have always been a morning person! However, there are definitely days where I do NOT feel like getting up for any reason! I could honestly keep hitting snooze for hours and be perfectly content. However, I often find that when I do oversleep I feel more groggy, sluggish, and less productive throughout the day. I love the feeling of being able to start my day on a productive start before many people would even wake up. There’s something so motivating and energizing about that!
Now I know waking up at 5 am doesn’t always sound like the most appealing thing. However, if waking up early is something you would like to start implementing, then I highly suggest starting slow and working your way to an earlier time each week. That way, you are developing more of a habit that will continue on for a much longer period of time. Or, if you are looking for tips on how to be a morning person, definitely go check out this blog post as well!
2. Drink a full bottle of water
As soon as I wake up each morning, I reach for a bottle of ice water. In fact, to make it simpler for myself in the morning, I always fill up my water bottle the night before right before I go to bed to ensure that I have no excuses to not drink water first thing the next morning. Drinking water first as soon as you wake in the morning is essential for your overall health and wellness!
For instance, if you are a fellow coffee lover, like me, make sure that you drink (at least) a full 8 oz glass of water before you begin your blissful morning with your beloved cup of coffee! But you may be wondering, what exactly are the benefits of drinking water first thing after you wake up?
For starters, since your body is slightly dehydrated from a full night of sleep, drinking a full glass of water will rehydrate and wake up your digestive system and it will help balance the hormonal responses that control hunger! In fact, did you know that drinking water first thing in the morning also helps to boost your metabolism by 24-30%!? Crazy! So make sure you always go to bed with a bottle of water next to you, that way you can start your day off healthy as soon as you wake up!
3. Workout
I love working out in the mornings! Especially now that the temperature in Southern Michigan has been getting up to around 70-80 before 8 am lately. Therefore, morning workouts have pretty much become non-negotiable at this point haha. Unless I want to workout in a hot, 80-degree, outdoor gym any later than 8 am. But, thankfully, I have the option to go workout in my home gym. So each morning, I am extremely grateful for it!
Along with that, I have been more mindful of not looking at my phone at all while I’m working out. To help with this, I simply write my workout the day on a whiteboard in my garage and leave my phone by the speaker. The only time I’ll look at it is if I’m changing the song. This really helps to keep me not only motivated during my workout but it allows me to stay focus on each exercise intentionally as well.
Additonally, usually after I am done working out in my garage gym, I love to get my dogs and go for a mile walk. It’s a great cool down for me and it keeps my dogs active, energized, and healthy as well!
4. Shower + Skincare
As soon as I am done working out and walking the dogs, I immediately walk upstairs and wash my face and brush my teeth. After that, I jump in the shower and complete my shower routine. Depending on the day, I will typically dry brush as well to help remove any dead skin and to exfoliate my body. Not to mention, the numerous other benefits that go along with dry brushing! I also like to apply my current favorite clarifying body lotion from Is Clinical in the shower while my skin is still wet since I can’t stand the feeling of lotion on my skin when it’s dry haha. Is that just me?
After I get out of the shower, I then focus on my skincare routine. I keep my skincare routine pretty short and simple by just applying moisturizer, eye cream, and toner. If you are curious as to what products I use, definitely go check out my post on all of my current favorite skincare products that I just did a couple of weeks ago!
Although my skincare routine is short, I really do enjoy taking my time and not rushing through the steps. In fact, this has become one of my favorite steps in my morning routine! I definitely suggest taking a few extra minutes to really be thorough in your skincare routine to ensure that you’re taking care of your skin, and to pamper yourself a little bit each morning.
5. Write out my to-do list + make my coffee
I’ve mentioned this many times, but I seriously follow a to-do list every single day. Creating to-do lists every day is crucial for productivity! Even if your morning routine is simply watching Netflix for an hour before you begin your work (you do you, my friend!), but once your routine is over, and once you’ve gotten ready, it is time to work. And that’s when the to-do list comes in handy!
To-do lists are perfect for staying focused and listing out everything you need to get done for the day because you have the tasks on paper out in front of you. Plus, they help with time management! I love to sit down at my desk or at my kitchen table and quickly create my ordered to-do list over my first cup of coffee. It honestly brings me so much joy and allows me to feel content, prepared, and as though my day is under control. Speaking of coffee, I currently have been making mine in my french press and adding oat milk creamer, collagen, and cinnamon every morning. It’s probably the biggest thing that really motivates me to get out of bed and workout so I can have my coffee haha.
6. Healthy breakfast
After creating my to-do list and having my first cup of coffee (I have two or three more after haha!), I then like to start making a healthy breakfast to keep me full as I work later in the day. Lately, I’ve been alternating between my usual egg whites and hashbrowns or oatmeal. Both are great post-workout meals because they are high in complex carbs and protein, and have moderate grams of fat. For today’s post, I want to share with you my current favorite oatmeal recipe that I have been making literally every other day the past two weeks!
Oatmeal Recipe:
Start with:
1/3 cup of cooked Quaker rolled oats
Then mix in the following ingredients,
- 2 scoops of unflavored collagen protein
- 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice (optional)
- Pinch of sea salt
- Chia seeds and shredded coconut flakes (both optional)
Then, in a frying pan:
- Add 1/2 tsp. of coconut oil
- 3 ounces of chopped apple
- 1 tsp. of honey
- Cinnamon
Mix that together for about 5 minutes on medium to high heat. Then add the apple mixture on top of the oatmeal. You could also add almond or sunflower butter as well and it makes the taste even better!!
7. Begin working
Whether it’s schoolwork (I only have a month left of this semester!) or blog work, I usually begin either one around 9 or 10 am. Everything I do in the above steps really allows me to stay focused and be prepared for the next few hours of schoolwork or blog work. As I mentioned above, getting a late start to my day or hitting the snooze button too many times tends to make me feel sluggish and less motivated for my entire day. This is why I have been really enjoying my current morning routine so far! Not only because it promotes wellness and productivity but because I genuinely enjoy taking time to do each step that I laid out.
Therefore, definitely take time to think about or write out what you genuinely enjoy doing each morning and what works best for you when it comes to health, happiness, and productivity! Everyone’s morning routine looks different, however, I truly believe that taking time to do things that will help you and that you love doing, really determines what type of day you will have! So, why not set yourself up for success?!
I hope you enjoyed today’s post, my friend!
What are some ways you incorporate self-love or self-care into your
I think next week I’ll write out my self-care/self-love inspired evening routine!
Until then, I hope you have a beautiful day!
xo, Cydney
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