Some of you may, just like me, swear they love routine. Some of you might be allergic for only mentioning the word routine. I do get that for both ways there are pros and cons. But a routine doesn’t have to mean you plan every second of your life (even I would be deeply unhappy if I did that). To have meals around the same time every day is a routine. And this is something what can be very beneficial for your body. For myself I created a morning routine, a day routine and an evening routine. I like to have something I can hold on to and do things that are good for my health. I feel happier and much calmer if I follow some sort of routine. I will tell you about my routines and it might inspire you to have a routine yourself.

MY MORNING ROUTINE 
Almost every morning I wake up at 6:00 and from there I kind of split my morning into blocks of 15 minutes. I start (right after opening my eyes) with taking some deep breaths and some stretching. This really helps me to wake up. When you’re sleeping everything in your body goes a little slower. Taking deep breaths and stretching your muscles is good for your blood flow and your body gets a ton of oxygen straight away. Then I make myself my morning water. This is a big glass (400ml) of warm (I mix cold and boiled) water, the juice of half a lemon and 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar. This cleanses your body, gives it a vitamin C boost and wakes up your metabolism. I also use this time to go to the toilet etc. Just 15 minutes where I can wake up in a relaxed way. Then I do some yoga exercises for about 15 minutes, followed by some meditation. Then it’s time to get dressed, do my make up and get ready for the day. At 7:00 I take the time to make and eat breakfast. This always includes a green smoothie, either with fruit or overnight porridge. Just before I leave for work around 7:45, I take a little time for affirmations, visualisation and sometimes I do some writing or reading too. By this time I’m full of energy and ready to start my day. This energy is with me the whole day whenever I start my day like this. I have a rule to not touch my phone during my morning routine.

To cut it short: 
06:00 – Deep breaths and stretching + morning water.
06:15 – Yoga.
06:30 – Meditation.
06:45 – Get dressed + Make up.
07:00 – Breakfast.
07:30 – Affirmations/Visualisation/Writing or Reading.
07:45 – Work.

MY DAY ROUTINE
During the day there are a lot of different things happening of course and every day is different. I do try to have meals/snacks around the same time though. Around 10:30 I have a snack. This is basically always fruit. I like to eat fruit in the morning, so my body can easily digest it and absorb all the vitamins. Then I have lunch around 12:30, but I always squeeze in some exercise before I start eating my lunch. This means I’m doing some crunches, squats and press ups etc. I try to do this every day, apart from the Sunday. My lunch is 9/10 times a salad with lotsss of veggies. Then around 16:00 I’ll start to be hungry again and I either eat some nuts, raw veggies or sometimes a Nakd bar or something like that.

To cut it short: 
10:30 – Snack (fruit)
12:00 – Exercise.
12:30 – Lunch.
16:00 – Snack (nuts, raw veggies).

MY EVENING ROUTINE
I always try to have my dinner around 19:00, but on my days off, I often have it a little earlier. Then I take a shower (I sometimes do this just before going to bed too, but I prefer to do it after dinner). I always try not to work after dinner, but to use that time to relax. Sometimes it does happen I want to finish something. My max is 20:00, after that I force myself to relax). I often spend the evening reading, watching Netflix, using Pinterest and I scroll a little through my social media apps etc. I don’t always have a snack in the evening, it depends a little bit on how I feel. Sometimes I’m still full until bed time and sometimes I do eat something like veggie crisps, a piece of chocolate or some home-made biscuits/cake or something. I also make myself a Chai Latte quite a lot. This is a real treat for me, I love it! At 22:00 I start to get ready for bed. I prepare some things for the next day (put my breakfast necessities on the counter, pack snacks etc.) I brush my teeth and plat my hair etc. If it isn’t 22:30 yet by that time, I read a little bit and just before closing my eyes, I always wish my boyfriend a good night sleep. Often I do relaxation exercises before I go to sleep, to make myself fall asleep fast and to benefit my overall sleep.

To cut it short: 
19:00 – Dinner.
19:30 – Work or relax.
20:30 – Snack (veggie crisps, chocolate, chai latte).
22:00 – Get ready for bed (brush teeth etc.)
22:30 – Sleep.

Now, I don’t have alarms on my phone with all these times and I don’t feel bad when some things happen a little earlier of later. The times for me are just guidelines. I think as soon as you are going to plan your life in minutes it will get super stressed. And having a routine is for the opposite effect. Sometimes I also skip some things and that is fine. You need to enjoy life and trying to function like a robot is really not a good idea. These routines just give me a a sense of peace. I feel much better when I follow all these steps, because they’re all things that are beneficial to my health. Especially my morning routine is very important to me. It’s the base for the rest of my day and I feel a big difference during the day when I don’t do it at all.

Do you have a routine? Or is a routine really not for you? Please tell me about your lifestyle routine. Maybe we can learn from each other! Please let me know in the comments below or show me on Instagram by using #PlanetManel. You can also tag me! Thank you and have a lovely day! X