Developing a Healthy Morning Routine

I have been try a new morning routine lately, namely having a morning routine. I've always been a morning person, but I have been staying up later and later at night, over the years. When you get to bed at midnight or 1am, it's tough to be a morning person, because you're just not getting enough sleep! I had been waking up later and later in the morning, and thus having less and less time to prepare before heading out to work; that feels stressful!! In an effort to get back to being that chipper morning person, I've been cultivating a few healthy AM habits:

Greet the Dawn
For the month of February, I am waking up when the sun does! Through Social Workout, I am doing the #DawnPatrol challenge. Here's the scoop,  "Wake up, sleepy head! For the entire month of February, join us in rising with the sun. It's the shortest month of the year, so that's just 28 days of virtue. Few things are better than being awake at dawn, rising with nature, and being in synch with the stars..What you do with that extra time is entirely up to you". I've been pretty good so far- I've only missed one morning. Since I usually head to work between 8:30-9:00am, waking up at 7:30ish is giving me a nice hour to make breakfast, stretch, relax, and wake with a bit more intention. It's also allowed me to work on my other morning habits...

Drink some Tea

Tea is my morning beverage of choice; I'm not a coffee person. Hubs and I have been capping off each evening for the last several months with a pot of tea, and since my DawnPatrol challenge, I've been making a small pot of tea in the morning as well. There's a soothingness about the ritual of tea making, and a hot bevvie before I go to work gives me that extra little push out the door that I need.

"Me time"

Having an extra hour when I wake up has been almost a luxury! Maybe I'll read a bit of a new book lent from a friend; maybe I'll curl up with a kitty; maybe I'll plug away on a new blog entry; maybe I'll just sit and enjoy my tea. This little cute one on the right is Athena. :) She keeps my chair warm!

Breakfast at Home

Ever since I began my first Whole30 (and now that I've finished), I've been making most of my meals at home. Lunch is pretty easy to grab and bring to work, dinner is usually a salad or a crockpot dish that has been cooking away, but breakfast is sometimes a challenge for me to eat at home. When I wake up early, I have an extra 15-20 minutes to hard-boil some eggs, add fruit and granola to some greek yogurt, or cook up bacon & eggs! If I'm REALLY prepared (this is not usual), I'll use my morning time to make a breakfast casserole or some fritatta muffins for the rest of the week!

Share: What are your favorite healthy morning habits?