Staying Healthy At Home With Babbleboxx
This post is sponsored by Babbleboxx, but all opinions are 100% my own!
While we’ve been spending more time at home, I have been working on developing a healthy routine in order to A, stay sane and maintain a sense of normalcy in such a strange time and B, stay healthy even though I can’t exactly go to the gym or be as active as I would like to be! Having a routine and really focusing on self care, wellness and relaxation has really been helping me stay positive and maintain a healthy mental state, too!
Every morning, I wake up (I don’t set an alarm, but I usually end up waking up at around 7 or 8!) and make myself a cup of coffee. I like to start my mornings pretty slow, so I typically bring this cup back to bed and enjoy it while reading or listening to a podcast! In order to avoid constant boredom snacking, Jerry and I try to stick to a schedule with our meals. We usually don’t eat our first meal until around 12, so I like to mix a packet of Pink Simply Collagen Beauty collagen peptides into my first coffee of the day because I’ve found that the 9g of protein helps to satisfy me and hold me over until noon, when we eat lunch. It’s unflavored, so you can’t taste it at all, and it’s also non GMO and gluten free! Currently you can try all Pink products for 20% off on Amazon with the code 20SHAREPINK.
Another thing that I’ve been incorporating into my mornings lately are Nature’s Truth Apple Cider Vinegar gummies. I keep mine on my nightstand and take them every morning with my coffee. It’s honestly something I get excited for every single morning because they literally taste like candy!
On Monday mornings I like to listen to podcasts (most of my favorites come out on Monday mornings!), and then on Tuesday mornings I’ve been trying to get into the habit of reading for about a half hour while I drink my coffee! I’ve been reading Ignite Your Light, by Jolene Hart (author of Eat Pretty) and I’ve been loving that it’s a nice, positive way to start the day! It also has some great healthy recipes, so I’ve been having fun trying those out, too!
Once I’ve finished my coffee, it’s usually around 9:00. This is when I usually get up, make my bed (I love making my bed in the morning! It’s so satisfying, and gives you an immediate feeling of accomplishment without actually having to do much) and go to the living room to work out! Once I realized that we’d be stuck at home for a while, I ordered a yoga mat and a couple of dumbells online and they’ve been so great to have! You can do a ton without dumbells, too! One thing that I missed about the gym though was the way that a treadmill or exercise bike would show you how many calories you’ve burned during your workout. But, I found a solution! I’ve been wearing my Suunto 7 smartwatch during my workouts (actually I wear it all day, but I use it to log my workouts!) and I’ve been loving how I can track my workouts, sleep and calories. It even gives you alerts when you get a text, IG message, etc. Once I feel comfortable running outside again, I’m excited to use the GPS feature to track my runs, too! I’ve always been a little bit torn about sports watches, because I love the functionality of them, but I feel like they kind of mess up the look of my outfits, so I really love that this one has a round face and looks more like a normal watch than most do!
After my workout, I like to take a bath and get ready for the day! I typically opt for a bath instead of a full shower because I don’t like to wash my hair every day. I also like that I can sit in the water, relax and listen to podcasts. I’ve been wearing my Aeropex Headphones from Aftershokz in the bath, because they’re waterproof, so I don’t have to worry about accidentally forgetting about them and getting them wet! They’re super cool because they actually go over your ear— not in your ear. Basically, they rest right over your ear and use bone conduction technology, so you actually have nothing in your ear. I love this because it allows you to still be fully aware of your surroundings since there’s nothing in your ear obstructing your hearing.
Once I get out of the bath, I like to get ready for the day. Lately since I don’t really see anyone but Jerry, “ready” is a pretty relative term. I basically just put on some moisturizer with SPF because I’ve been spending a lot of time on my balcony and working in front of my window. I’ve been loving Vichy Liftactiv Peptide-C sunscreen because it’s moisturizing, anti-aging, and has vitamin C. Most of the time I just throw that on and call it good, but on days where I want to feel a bit more put together I top it with a little blush, bronzer and mascara! Then I just blow out my hair a bit, spray with some dry shampoo and I’m ready for the day!
Now that I’ve had my coffee, worked out and gotten ready, it’s finally lunch time! Since Jerry and I try to eat two bigger meals a day, I like high volume, high protein meals! One of my favorites is a big spinach salad topped with some kind of protein (usually either chicken or tuna), blueberries, some kind of cheese, chickpeas or black beans, and then a good low calorie dressing! I’ve been paying more attention to my daily calorie intake since around January, and you guys, up until I started logging things, I had NO idea how many calories were in salad dressing! I always thought that as long as I used a vineagrette over a creamier dressing it was super healthy but honestly, you’d be surprised! Some of them are just as bad, if not worse. So I’ve been on the hunt for good, low calorie salad dressings. I recently discovered Power Dressings from Healthy Choice, and they have been game changing! They’re only 45 calories or less per serving (as opposed to the 100+ that you’d get with most dressings) and super flavorful. They’re flavored with herbs and spices and no artificial flavors, which I love because I really like actually knowing what’s in it!
Finally, I usually throw on a pair of socks (my favorite right now are No Nonsense Compression socks, because I’ve weirdly been missing wearing shoes, so I love that the compression gives me arch support and makes me feel like I have a bit more structure. You can get them at Rite Aid and they’re seriously so comfy!) and a big cozy cardigan or robe because my apartment gets pretty cold, make another cup of coffee, and head to either the couch or my desk to get some work done! I’ve found that my days are so much more productive when I’m intentional with my mornings, and sticking to a routine and maintaining healthy habits has really helped me stay sane while I’m cooped up in the apartment! What have you been doing to keep yourself both mentally and physically healthy while you’ve been spending more time at home?