Mornings and me never really mixed all that well. It was always a struggle to get out of bed and worsened when I had depression. A few years back when I fell back in love with working out, I would happily leap out of bed and crack on with my day but it was short lived and soon I was hitting the snooze button.
Since the birth of my children, sleep habits have been hard to adopt for obvious reasons so I have accepted that sleep is what it is and I put aside any kind of routine. In the grand scheme of life, it is a short period of time that sleep will be lacking but it certainly doesn’t feel like that when you are in the middle of sleep deprivation with a sense of no way out. Self-care is crucial. Shame I never really took my own advice but I did eventually start.
A good quote to live by… “Be the Change You Want to See.” You can’t change your life unless you are willing to be the change yourself.
To make changes there needs to be a change within to act upon the change.
As a firm believer in self-care, I have tried to practice it as best as I can in many forms. This doesn’t always been pampering, although I highly encourage it. I’m referring to tackling toxic relationships, decluttering the home, mindfulness and so on. Anything that draws negativity towards you needs to be addressed.
My current morning routine consists of getting the girls ready for school, I make sure the morning is as calm as possible and I focus only on the girls. It’s hard because I was so used to stressing and worrying how I was going to fit everything into one day and I am sure the girls fed off that anxiety and I would have two children playing up and stressing me out.
Most mornings we scoot to school which means I get a good 10/15-minute brisk walk there and then back again. Breathing in fresh air and active movement in my body.
Once the girls are in school I come home and practice 20 minutes of yoga and depending on if I feel I need it I practice some mindfulness. A hot bath with some bath salts and re-dressed and then for breakfast. At least one hour is spent looking after myself by this point of the day. Then by 9.45 I am ready to work or do some chores. I pretty much stay on top of everything as best as I can so it doesn’t overwhelm me.
When I collect the girls, it’s usually in the car because by the time they have finished their morning, they are tired. I like to arrive early and read some of my book, I have managed to read a few now thanks to this snippet of time I have allowed myself. Then it’s back home and ready for lunch.
I use Hovis Seed Sensation or Burgen bread both are vegan. For my spread I love Marmite and Pure olive spread and Meridian peanut butter on its own and the cashew spread is great too. You could also use jam (just check ingredients) I know Bonne Maman jam as they use a fruit pectin for their gelling agent. I also love avacado with ground black pepper too. YUM!
There are tons of recipes on the internet and topping inspiration. It’s just about replacing the eggs and milk which is so easily done using vegetable oil and a vegan milk. So, simple and taste amazing.
I love using wholemeal flour basic recipe and adding maple syrup and blueberries.
A mix of your favourite fresh fruit chopped up in a large bowl – a refreshing way to start the day.
Fruit and veg smoothie using coconut water or just plain water. There are so many options and most supermarkets sell the frozen packs which contain fruit and you can add to it what you like. I love using pineapple and avocado in my smoothies. The internet is full of recipes. I have done a lot of experimenting and realised you are best to keep a smoothie as simple as possible. I use a mix of frozen and fresh ingredients.
One of my favourite smoothies is a recipe from Nutribullet: The Immune Booster. Super easy and super tasty.
There are so many more options available but I wanted to share my current favourites with you.
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