Natural Wake-up Morning Routine – What I strive for in the morning

Hi there!

Recently I’ve been really interested in watching people’s natural/wellbeing/mindful morning routines, and I’m trying to implement some of the things they do into my own morning routine. When I start back at school, I’m hoping some of the things I’m doing on holiday in the morning will be able to continue. In this post, I’m going to explain some of the things that have and haven’t worked for me when experimenting with my morning routine.

School is mostly in the winter months, so it is impossible to:

• Eat breakfast outdoors everyday
• Have sunshine come into my room no matter when I open the curtains in the morning
• Have a sunrise alarm clock (it would be too late in winter for school to do this)

I wish I could do these things, but when most of the school year is cold, it’s really difficult. I wish I could get ready in the natural light of the sun,

Firstly, things that haven’t worked for me.

1. Drinking water as soon as you wake up.

I tried this one morning and it gave me a sore throat, partly because I didn’t brush my teeth beforehand. I believe there is no point in brushing your teeth before breakfast, so eating breakfast is usually one of the first things I do in the morning. I do not get up early enough to be able to drink a whole glass of cold water BEFORE I start my breakfast. I understand those who drink cold water at the start of their day as it jolts you awake, but I just didn’t have enough time to do this step.

2. Morning pages

I tried writing morning pages – 3 pages of stream-of-conciousness writing, but it didn’t really appeal to me. It seemed too stressful to write down everything on my mind, or logging what I dreamt about – I prefer list making.

3. Greek yogurt and Icelandic yogurt

I bought and taste tasted greek and Icelandic yogurt one day – both were extremely strong and I didn’t like them at all! Plain old Aussie vanilla it is for me.

Secondly, things that have worked for me.

1. List making

I love making a list of everything I want to get done in the day the night before. That way when I get up in the morning I know what I have to do in order to feel as though I’ve been productive. It doesn’t matter if I don’t complete EVERTHING on my list – as long as I get the majority done. And I like to include little things too, like preparing what I want to eat for breakfast that morning, so I can cross it off the list and feel accomplished.

2. Healthier breakfasts

One of my new year’s resolutions was to eat healthier, and for most days in January I have succeeded at eating vanilla yogurt for breakfast. I’m really enjoying it so far and I’m glad to have kept it up so far. Having this healthy breakfast in my morning routine makes me feel like I’m doing good things for my body and waking up naturally.

3. Simple stretches

I saw a lot of people include yoga in their morning routines, which I respect, but I find I need to be up for a few hours before I can stretch properly. When I first wake up, I have started rolling my neck and shoulders and stretching my head/neck with my hands. I will sometimes do this after I open the curtains so I can look out at the world at the same time. It’s a great way to wake up my body.

Thirdly, things I’d like to try.

1. Getting up at 5am

Getting up so early is probably not possible for me without going to bed really early too. Unfortunately I cannot sleep earlier because of afternoon/evening commitments and studying. I might try sleeping early and getting up early one day, but it will not be possible in daily school life. I believe I am still able to have an inspiring morning routine WITHOUT getting up at 5am.

2. Hot chocolate (hot milo) in winter

Every morning for breakfast I drink a glass of milk. I think I can make this a little more cozy when winter rolls around by making myself  a hot milo instead. I believe Milo is great for starting the day (and it’s really yummy! Not particularly healthy, but better than Nesquik, and milk is good for you anyway).

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post! I’m going to try a little harder at my morning routines to set me up well for the day, especially when school goes back.

What do you do in your morning routines?

– Sunny

Happy New Year, from me!

Hi there!

Just a short check-in to say Happy New Year!

I hope everyone’s having a good 2019 so far and I hope you’re looking forward to the rest of the year.

My New Year Resolution of eating better is going well so far, but we’re only 3 days in! I have, however, been eating some vanilla yogurt already.

I bought a container for salad at the shop for when I go out, which I am really looking forward to using! It has a small knife and fork included, as well as a small pot for condiments. I’m going to use it for mayonnaise, as in the large section of the container I will be putting chicken. There are 4 sections that slot into the top where I will put the salad items of beetroot, tomato, boiled egg and cheese.

I’m really looking forward to eating my new meals (it won’t really start until Sunday – after that I’ll let you know!), hopefully it will make me feel better within myself!

You guys need to hold me accountable for this resolution!

– Sunny

My REAL 2019 New Years Resolutions – Part 1!

Hi there!

It’s that time of year when everyone is trying to work out their resolutions and goals for the upcoming new year. And I have some questions for you!

While I am a believer that you can change the way you live in any month, on any day and at any hour if you want to, there is still something about a fresh new year that appeals to me. And of course, anyone can set goals anytime.

I don’t think I have ever set a real New Years resolution before. I’ve never wanted to change that much, and I’ve never had the freedom. But as I have come to realise the little things I can do to make my life better, I’ve decided to try a couple of resolutions to start me out on the right foot next year, despite being young and without much freedom.

I’ve also read about people setting resolutions that are far too vague and get dumped in February (if this was the case for me, I would definitely quit them before Feb!). So the resolutions I’m going to set are going to be VERY specific. So specific that they might change! I’ll explain later. Also, just a quick sidenote: I’m writing this blog post to make my resolutions offical. If they were to personal I wouldn’t write this, but I need to think about how to word them, so what better way to do it?

Sorry about the long introduction. Let’s get started!

Resolution 1: Some recipes for eating healthier

Now, I consider myself to be a healthy person, but that’s only because I am quite young and probably have a high metabolism. I’m not too worried about weight at this point, but my eating habits probably aren’t the best sometimes. So I’ve come up with two new meals to incorporate into my food life.

– The first is a lunch meal: Chicken salad.

Now, I looove chicken. But I’ve never been big on salad. However, I do like some of the things that go into making salad – and those are some healthy foods. So far, I want to eat beetroot, tomato, cheese and chicken in my chicken salad. But I’m not so keen on lettuce. So I need your help! What can I use instead of lettuce in my salad? And by that I’m asking for something COMPLETELY different. I don’t want a lettuce replacement or something with the same nutrients as lettuce. No leafy greens! So, what do you suggest?

– The second is breakfast, where I have two meals: Yogurt and an open grill

I have tried eating yogurt for breakfast before, but it didn’t work out (I eat vanilla yogurt by the way). After the first few days yogurt starts to get bland, and almost feels dry in my mouth. I have solved this problem already – eat an open grill (toasted bread with tomato and melted cheese on top) every second day, but I need your help to figure out how to spice up my yogurt a bit. I’m going to try adding sultanas, and could I use grapes? Can I add cinnamon, and if so, how much? You tell me, because I have no idea.

I think these two simple meals, eaten a few times a week, and eventually as much as possible, will really help me eat healthier. So here’s my properly written out resolution:

In 2019, I will try and eat healthier by incorporating yogurt and open grills into my breakfasts, and chicken salad into my lunches. By doing this a few times a week I can feel healthier and better about myself. 

 

Okay guys, I’ve decided to make this post into a two parter – this being part 1. I have something else life-y to ask you but I’m not sure whether I can make it into a resolution, which is why I need your help to figure it out! Anyway, this has been kind of long but I sure hope I get some comments from you on how to ‘food’ because I have no idea!

Hope you enjoyed, see you in the next one.

– Sunny