My Quarantine Morning Routine

I am without a doubt a morning person.

As far back as I can remember I was up early, getting a head start on my day. I always loved taking my time to get ready for school which included watching the "Traffic & Weather" channel (the same forecast updates on repeat) and singing and dancing around to Clay Aiken songs. I loved breakfast, I never skipped it! As a kid that meant Eggo waffles (plain, cinnamon, or chocolate chip flavors in rotation) topped with butter and some pancake syrup (before I knew the difference between that and pure maple syrup) with a glass of Nestle chocolate milk on the side. My morning routine might look a little different now, but my love for mornings is still the same.

We've all had to readjust our lives, our schedules, our routines to this "new normal", or whatever you want to call it. I'm grateful to be able to keep a lot of my "normal life" morning rituals in place. I have found that having a pattern in place every morning has set me up for a somewhat successful day. Some days are harder than others, there's less motivation to wake up, less motivation to move, and less motivation to jump on a 10am Zoom meeting, but overall going through the morning routine motions makes me feel better than not.

My Quarantine Morning Routine

6:45 My light alarm clock goes off. I never used to struggle to get out of bed, but this is not normal times, this is quarantine times.

7:00 / 7:15 I actually get out of bed. The first thing I always do is use my tongue scraper and brush my teeth. You know how you usually wake up with bad breath? Well, when we sleep, our body works hard to get rid of toxins, and lots of those toxins and bacteria end up on our tongue and in our mouth. A tongue scraper helps scrape away and remove that bacteria on our tongues! This helps with bad breath, improves our oral hygiene and our sense of taste.

7:30 Start workout. For the first time ever Peter and I are working out together in the morning. We move our coffee table, roll up our carpet, pull out our weights from under the couch, turn on the air conditioner, and MOVE! For the past 8 weeks we have been doing the LIIFT4 program on Beachbody on Demand. We love it because it's 4 days/week, 25-40 minutes a day, it alternates muscle groups (Mon=Chest/Triceps, Tues=Back/Biceps, Thurs=Shoulders, Fri=Legs), and it incorporates a little bit (but not too much) HIIT cardio. I have never felt stronger than after doing these workouts. On our rest days, I'll sometimes do an easy morning yoga flow, and sometimes I'll go for a run. It depends how I feel, if I need a rest day, and if I'm being honest, the weather.

8:15 We transform our "workout area" back into a living room. We set up our "pop up" offices, turn on the TODAY Show, and I boil some water for lemon water (1/2 a lemon, juiced + 1 cup of hot water) to get my digestion going. I allow the lemon water to cool a bit while I shower then sip it as we get our breakfast together.

8:30/8:45 Breakfast. I'm curious how many people eat the same breakfast everyday. Peter is unsatisfied unless he has eggs (every.single.day). I am a smoothie bowl person most days, sometimes I like a "multi seed" pudding, and others I'll have eggs with Peter. I didn't always drink coffee every morning, but in quarantine, it's basically non-negotiable. I got Peter a subscription to Trade Coffee for his birthday which has introduced us to delicious coffee

roasters around the country, and has really expanded our coffee bean palates. We grind our own coffee beans, use a French Press for brewing, Peter adds a little oat milk to his, but I like my oat milk frothy and foamy with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

9:30 Peter starts work at 9, and my first meeting is usually not until 10. I kind of ease into the morning these days. I check my emails, read the Daily Skimm, and make a little to-do list for the day. Sometimes I listen to a podcast or watch the NYC Mayor's daily press conference. I love when I get sent a photo of my little nephew drinking his "Grinch" (green) smoothie, which always makes my morning. Then, I'm ready to jump into the day!

Are you a morning person? What's your non-negotiable morning routine? Comment below or send me a message @bewellwithmarissa !