43 - [Habits] Creating Your Perfect Morning/Evening Routine

What is up guys, welcome back to Talking Nutrition, today's a solo episode, Episode 43, where we're going to talk about evening and morning routines, something I'm very passionate about something I've been playing around with for the past three hours years. And I think there's a lot of stuff again, you know, we always talk about this stuff that like, there's a lot that kind of gets taken a little too far these days. And, you know, we hear from, you know, ubermann podcasts where you have to get that direct sunlight in the morning. And then there's the IPASS. And then there's the, there's so much stuff right now, these days, you know, you got the infrared saunas, and there's grounding, and there's so much shit, you know, which I think there's 100%. Like, there's, there's definitely time in place, for a lot of stuff that we're going to talk about today. And I've tried a lot, we're going to get into what I tried, kind of like what I learned. But most importantly, what I want you to do here is realize that all these things are gonna be individual to you, you know what I mean? Some people really want to have like a ritual almost where their whole morning is planned out. And they have like a bunch of different things, someone else just kind of wants to get started. Or maybe they just want to sleep more, you know, because if I can give you one tip right off the bat, right? Never sacrifice sleep, whether that's sleep quality, sleep quantity, we want to make sure that you get enough sleep. So if you're currently in a spa, when you're not getting enough, hey, maybe we don't want to take these routines too far, you know what I mean? Now, before we get into the episode, this episode is brought to you by Odyssey Coaching Systems wanted to remind you too, that alongside of like the one on one coaching that we do, and a group coaching that we started back in April, we do also have a free Facebook group where I do hop on live, every single week of Thursday's quick little weekly training, we have a new free workout program in there, which are free to download, right? Get a direct link right there. We have the average weight tracker, we have a habit tracker, as well as a cheat sheet with specific habits. What else do we have a meal framework that that's going to help you build meals, we have the definitive protein cheat sheet with a tutorial really showing you like, Hey, this is a day of 150 grams of protein. We'll show you like how simple it really is. And there's a bunch more in there. So you'll want to check that out. I'll link it down below in the show notes. Now, let's get into the episode, right? What are we going to talk about morning routines, evening routines, kind of like how to set yourself up for success for the day, every single day, right? How to say in a moment, but also how to reflect on where you're currently at. I think routines are really important. And I don't think we need a full hour, I guess, you know, like what we'll get into that in a sec. But I've Dec definitely take it too far, you know, a little while ago. So we're talking about my experiences. But I think it's going to help you be proactive. Like that's the thing here, right? Anytime I record a new video training from our clients in our database, or video trainings, a lot of times it comes back to planning. It's, it's a mindset of hey, what can I do now today to set myself up for success tomorrow? How can I save myself some time, some efforts and energy, your future selves really going to thank you there? But we don't always think about that. Right? We go about our day, time flies, and nobody in the week is like, oh, fuck yeah, I was supposed to work on my protein on my steps. Or I was gonna go to the gym. But I didn't go at all right. So we want to be proactive here, instead of reactive. So we'll talk about morning routines, evening routines, why they're important. Finding what's best for you, that's a big one because it's going to be completely different for everyone I think. But also very important, you know, things to consider just stuff to consider and base your decisions on. I will also give you specific practices that I played around with other ones that I've just, you know, read about. And then after this episode, I want you to just go watch a week this week, right? And try some shit out. Try journaling, try meditating, whatever it is, you think it's going to work best for you. Something that resonates with you and just pick one thing to try out, you know, maybe too, but like don't push it too far. Don't think I'm gonna go from not doing any like specific routines before bedtime or after from that to kind of like 100 different things. Just this dude, I forgot his name. I saw. I mean, I really hate the word biohacking. But I saw his bio hacker on YouTube, I think. And he was doing literally I think it was 150 things or something crazy in the more just in the morning. Right. And I understand I understand like from a content creation perspective and you know Showing people some extreme stuff and all that. But we got to remember to like we were normal people, I mean, for the most part, you know what I mean? But like we have, we have jobs we have, you know, you maybe you study, maybe you have kids, there's a lot of shit going on, maybe you don't have that much time, right? So how do we figure out what's going to go be the best for you, you know, know why I think routines are important. You get to sit down, you get to plan, prepare, and reflect as well on your day to day, right? This is the thing, we don't always feel like this. We don't always want to sit down, spend some time even thinking of hey, do I need to go shopping? What do I want to eat, sell, right? Those kinds of things. It's so key to be once again, proactive, instead of reactive, which may be taking this into kind of like, for example, tracking, which we do know a lot of people kind of struggle with in the beginning, is because they're kind of randomly collecting some macros here and there. Well guess what? What if we're proactive here? We sit down with plan, we think, Okay, what's my my daily protein, how many meals I want to have? What are my favorite protein foods, let's just break it down, right. And like said, Hey, if you want me to do it for you, join a free Facebook group. Because I'm literally going to like, show you exactly how to do that with different acts or different examples. Sorry. So check that out anyway. So you get to sit down plan, kind of like see a what's coming up for the week, right? Meaning you got to be more productive, you're gonna get more done, live is going to be a little bit more structured, which I do think can be nice, right? It's going to remove stress, it's going to make things easier, you might even be sleeping better. And a lot more. There's a ton of benefits there. It keeps you in check, it allows you to be proactive instead of reactive. That's, that's the main purpose of me recording, recording this episode, right? I want you to be in the moment to be successful, like we need to be aware of what's going on, how can we improve, right? So morning routines, is going to set the tone for the day, it could be a five minute thing as simple as, hey, I'm just going to have a glass of water and make my coffee and I'll just get started. What could be our long ritual gonna be the quick sip of water. So it could be our long ritual. And I've done that I've made that mistake. And I will call it a mistake, because I was spending a lot of my most important time right, my most productive time getting ready. So you want to play with this? Right? Okay. Most of your preparing for the day itself kind of happens there, right? In the early morning, which by the way, I do also like to do an evening assembly set, you're setting yourself up for success tomorrow, the next couple of days, the rest of the week, breasted a month even, right, you want to know what's coming up. Instead of kind of like, just gotta go on about your day about your week, and it's all random, you know, evening routines, you're probably super busy, maybe you're even stressed or Yeah, you know, you have a lot of things to think about and one of things to do. And this evening routine is going to kind of help you slow down, it's going to help you prepare for sleep, that's a big one because a lot of people including my clients to tend to be maybe even like, they're, they're in bed on time, you know, but then they're lying their eyes wide open their heads spinning, you know, thinking about this, and that and this needs to happen. And I forgot about this, and this people were this person's very busy off at work, and then there was traffic and then someone you know, we are always kind of like going, of course you can sleep, right? And if that stress is high, right, we want to do something for that. So I want to help you wind down here. Now this is also where I think it's a great moment to reflect on a day. Look at Hey, okay, what what did I do today? Did I do the things I said I would read? Did I go to the gym that I track my food, etc? Right? Was that the best version of myself? Was it kind of being addicted to someone? And was there anything right that I could do better? I think it's uncomfortable to sit down with your your old thoughts and it's uncomfortable to create awareness around your weaknesses. It's also the number one thing that's going to help you improve and it was bringing speaking from experience here like the main reason I've been trying to play around with morning and evening routines is because I also have shit to work through. You know what I mean? And that's an ongoing thing. We're never done guys, we're never done. So this is where you reflect but also kind of look into Hey, tomorrow what's coming up right? I like to do this from you know, on the business side of things. Okay, tomorrow okay, got to do my check ins I gotta read the newsletter. There's all these kinds of different things, moving parts. It's kind of nice to kind of set yourself up for success the next day already. You just got to be more present. And if anything, it can almost acts like a like a off switch for today. Because now you know, okay, I'm done. Right? And if my work day, did my journaling, whatever I've reflected, right wrote down my to do list for tomorrow, I'm good now I can relax. Now it can be present with my family with my friends. I go to bed right? Now, let's talk about morning routines. I read this book from it's by Robin Sharma, the 5am Club loved the book. This is when I, you know, because I always told myself like, I'm not a morning person, you know, I always told myself that. And guess what, if you tell yourself, you're not a morning person, you will not be a morning person. But I read that book recommendation. And it really inspired me, I will say that I really enjoyed that book. And it got me to get up a six pack down. And I think it's only since maybe half a year, year ago now that I started getting up at five in the morning. And also guys, there's nothing magic about five, some people that are no get up at four, you know, but what I can say is there is something very special to those first early couple of hours where the world is kind of still asleep, right. And I mean, I love it, especially if I go for morning walk around that time, and the city is asleep. And like it's just water like seagulls right now at this time of the year. And it is great. I love it. Honestly, what okay. I read that book, right. And without getting really into the book, I ended up spending, I want to say at least not like probably even more sometimes, because I would also go on a very long walk, which I do still think is an incredible thing to do for your health. And I am still very big or walks in to take multiple walks every single day. But I ended up spending an hour sometimes plus right of my most valuable time where you could actually get you can get a whole lot done right in the morning, I was spending an hour, just kind of like getting ready for the day, I was doing some meditation, some journaling, and then have my coffee, my morning walk and this and that right, a lot of shit. I was reading, et cetera. And those are all important things don't get me wrong. But again, it was a lot of time it was an hour. So that's that's one end of the extreme. Then, on the other end, there's someone like Alex or Rosie who is an amazing resource, by the way, really, like it's tough. But he basically says, hey, you know, make a cup of coffee and just get started with your day like, oh, fuck, Corona, get going. Right? You want to minimize the time from waking up to getting started, you got to like, just go right. And I liked that too. And I've tried that out as well. And I've kind of played with both to be honest with you, like I've just kind of like gone from from the one hour long like ritual, almost two. Okay, let me now try this out. And guess what? Now, I kind of base my morning on what, what I feel like needs to get done. It's a little bit more intuitive. What I will say there are some staples that I will always do every single morning. That is journaling and meditating while I'm drinking my coffee and big fucking glass of water right away. But other than that, it really just depends. Right now I'd much rather, you know, get started ASAP. After covering, you know, the most important stuff than spending an hour, you know, getting ready. And I will say you do feel great, then you know, but still, I'd much rather to kind of like get going. So I think it's less about like, do everything and all the things and the infrared saunas and the ice bath and then go for a run and do this many push ups and go ground and do all this stuff, right? It's instead of doing all those things. First, just try to find what's good for you like what works for you. That could be one thing could be five, whatever. Think of what's sustainable for me. Things to consider again, right? Never sacrifice sleep for just more stuff. If you are not sleeping, let's call a 678 plus, right hours per night. That's maybe the number one thing to do. So maybe, right? We don't want to add the morning run or etc. Right? Just stay in bed a little longer. I'd much rather see do that. Again, it's a personal decision, though. But I wouldn't sacrifice my sleep for that. That's gonna be the number one thing that's gonna help you be productive, feel good, get shit done. But start your day with a mindset of hey, like, what can I do to just become like 1% better today. And that's one thing I want you to think about though. Whatever you do in the morning thing, even if that's a five minute moment what you just enjoy your own little personal space where you don't do shit for anyone else, but yourself, right? Even if it's just that, try to set yourself up for success, be aware of what needs to happen, and how you can be the best version of yourself. Not everyone's a morning person, right? But you can become a morning person if you want it. And again, it can be a really nice mode to have some quiet time. some alone time. I know a lot of people, you know, especially if you have kids, or you know, et cetera, you got a busy job, whatever, you got to get going. A lot of people don't get that valuable alone time. And we all need that. thing as these days, when we do get some alone time, we spend that time you know, on YouTube on Tik Tok, et cetera, like scrolling, getting the dopamine hit, right. So possible practices for your mornings, you could just simply set the goals for the day, quick to do list, you know, one of the three most important things I've seen people do five, right. I like to do kind of like my number one task that has to get done. And then I got three also important ones. And then of course, it's way more, but as long as those couple are kind of like taken care of I win the day. Right? I'm a big fan of gratitude, journaling. Just journaling in general, I think it's huge. It's it's going to help us become more more grateful and be more aware of our own thoughts and stuff, right. So let's go on and look into meditation is huge, right? Get hydrated in the morning, get a good, nice little breakfast going. I think, even though I think Colin breakfasts are the most important meal of the day, maybe maybe, maybe not depends. But I do still think it's probably a good idea to get some in your system. Before you get started with your busy day could be shake, it could be something you know, something light, whatever you want to do. But I do like to see my clients get something in the morning movement, right, you could go for a quick walk, you could go for a run or workout. But that's also going to be personal, morning walks are huge, they are going to help you manage stress. And you are going to support your circadian rhythm by simply getting some sunlight in the morning. So if you can write, there's going to be a big one. Oh, this is actually huge one. Number one tip I can give you and this goes for evening routines to try not to use your phone for at least kind of like the 30 minutes right after you wake up and 30 minutes before you sleep, preferably longer. But if you can do that, if you can delay that phone use, right? Because I've seen so many people, right? Wake up and I'm guilty of this too, you know, wake up and you start scrolling right away, that's the first thing you do, like a drug addict, you know, it's a serious issue, I think. And it's gonna take a lot of your mental energy away from you right off the bat. Instead of allowing yourself to have even five or 10 minutes just to fill your own cup instead of that you already allow yourself to kind of get distracted by the social media shit, right. You can also just simply have your coffee kind of you know, have some breakfast, just be president morning kind of slow down, etc. And it's also a good moment to take morning supplements now, getting into the evening routines, evening routines. Again, right? What's gonna be best for you just really just depends. But I don't want you to do like a million different things if you don't have that much time anyway, at the end of the day, pun intended. It's about finding what you can kind of stick to and what's actually going to help you. Hey, maybe instead of scrolling, right, you pick up a book. If there's one thing that I've been benefiting from massively the last couple of years, kids reading more, and the what you read or of course, depends, but for me, I truly believe for me and like as a person, I think the most of the biggest changes I've made and that I am going through comes from reading and I'm I'm a huge fan of reading right now I just ordered like six other books like like that came out last week, like, I'm a big fan of it, I'm making time for that now and make a point of reading something every single day, every morning, every evening. There are different books though in the morning. It's kind of like more self development, you know, work related stuff. And in the evening, hey, I'm trying to like not think about work. Now actually read some, you know, different stuff. Basically, that's not personal development or anything coaching or nutrition related. It's, you know, currently I'm reading The Witcher about the whole series. And it's just kind of nice to read something that's written to be kind of like a good story, right? That is also stimulating the creative part of the brain. And like I said, that is for change like not mindset or training. or nutrition related, you know. So if you are into kind of like fantasy books, like it's, it's maybe a good thing and it's cool to like, if you want to get into writing, for example, it could be beneficial to actually get, you know, read some good stuff there. But okay, so, in terms of the evening, write, the biggest one I've seen do wonders is just removing that phone 30, preferably 60 minutes before bedtime, it's not the most exciting thing, I know that it's not the thing that's going to be, you know, the first thing you think of that you want to do to start her evening routine, but it's a huge one. Right? Then again, self reflection, you want to sit down, you want to get uncomfortable, a little bit, like, dive into or, you know, dig a little deeper, like into your personal struggles and your roadblocks that have been coming up and the stuff that didn't go that great today, because here's the thing tomorrow, you have an options, you know, and if anything, and I mentioned this to like over and over again, in our group coaching program with our, our one on one clients in our free group, hey, you got to show up every fucking day. Like the only way you can fill in this whole health and fitness thing is by just stopping altogether. So many people do that. Because it's the new year's resolution and one day doesn't go as planned. And it's like, oh, fuck it, you know, you got one flat tire and you get out of the car. And you yell at the car and you step on three other tires and you kick the car. Instead of accepting it. Oh, fuck, okay, we got to we got a flat tire. Okay, let me know, be resourceful. And we figure the shit out, right? Let me see, do we have a spare? Do we have a spare tire? Can I fix this myself? Do I need to ask for help? Etc. Let's make this shit work so that we can then move on. Right? I think that's probably the best idea. Best way to go about it right? Because only then can you move forward, instead of making things worse, and ignoring it altogether. We need to do the uncomfortable thing of reflecting on our own shit, you know. And I know that it's easier said than done. It's not an easy thing. But we do need to take that first step and be proactive here. It's going to be essential for your like long term success, you know. And we already do like our weekly check in with our clients. And you can do this for yourself. If you don't work with a coach, right? Do your weekly check in with yourself. Look at what's going on? Well, what needs more work? What are my biggest wins? How will I get a little bit better next week? And how will I do that? Right? Like how that's a very important one. But I'd like you to take that into almost like a daily thing where maybe every day you kind of set yourself up for success says in the morning and an evening, you reflect Hey, did I do the thing I said I was going to write was it the best version of myself, etc. I will do like a mini check in right because then you're in the moment. And I really like to combine this with like a habit tracker or something like hey, like let's make sure that every day we have a touch point where we know that we're on the right track. Now other possible practices for your evening could be taking your evening routine or your evening supplements. Of course, I'm a big fan of magnesium there to help with sleep and l theanine as well, big ones, or just have like a, like a camera like lavender tea or something like nothing too crazy. Just allow yourself to just chill and calm down. You know what I mean? There's a reflection, journal, meditate, do some breath work, take a hot shower, hot bath, whatever you want to do. But then make your broom cold and dark. That's a big one to try to cut technology removes trained from the bedroom. I want to do like as well as preparing your breakfast in the morning. So when I make overnight oats, right, it's great because it's already there, sitting in the fridge, ready to go in the morning. Maybe prepare your clothes, maybe get your gym bag done, you know, just so that everything's good to go. So that that next morning, really all you gotta do is just wake up, do the few things that you want to do and then get started. You know what I mean? So once again, the mindset of what can I do now in this moment today, to save myself some time and energy and effort tomorrow? The rest of the week? Right? Think about that. Also, remember, never sacrifice sleep. Right? Just for another fancy like ice bath HYPEE thing you know, and again, I'm not against ice baths at all. I think a lot of people shouldn't be doing that stuff. Because it's a method of getting uncomfortable on purpose and sitting with that uncomfortable feeling. And I think that's huge for personal development and just getting, you know building character. So I'm not against itself, but I will say the more should you try to add to your evenings or mornings The more difficult it's going to be for you to stick to it, the more things you have to think about, you know. And it does take away from maybe other important things like sleep, like being present with your family, etc. With your partner, you know, what I do these days, my evening routine. So I just tried to be in bed, like half an hour before I want to fall asleep. Just read a book, I have this. And I love it sounds silly, maybe. But I have the sunrise and sunset lamp. It's from Philips, I forget the name. But you could set a timer, basically, where you set it on Sunset, and I put our 30 minutes, I begin to read, right. And as I read it kinda like the light like dims out, you know, it gets a little bit more like, like dark reds, like sons of sunset colors, you know, and I swear every single time I just I just pass out like 50 minutes on Sunday. And then in the morning, it kind of comes in as a sunrise. I really liked that. Again, it sounds kind of silly, you know, but that's been one that's really helped me both wake up, then also fall asleep. Big fan of that. But yeah, play around with this stuff. That's all I can say, you know, don't expect to go online or listen to this podcast, and even our shit you don't like, don't listen to something and then just like run with it. Instead, I want you to just kind of be like, hey, you know? Okay, let me let me try something this week. Let me, let me maybe try journaling. And give that a full month. You know, let me try to prepare my breakfast and put my phone away and maybe read a book, honestly, to do whatever the fuck you want to eat, though. But like figure out what works for you. Give it some time to figure your stuff out. And, again, right. Also here, just like when nutrition, it's usually the basic stuff that really works. Now that is gonna be it for this week. I will be back next week with Kristine, as well as our friend, Sam Miller. Very excited for that episode. It's been really cool to get more guests on the podcast. So looking forward to that one. As always, I hope that you learn something new today, that this is something that's going to inspire you to try something new this week, right? But put this in action. That's what I want you to do. Don't just like listen to this stuff and be like, Okay, sounds like a great idea. But I'm not going to do anything with it. That's that's how it often goes with a lot of stuff online. No, I want you to kind of like take one thing and kind of like, try to put it into action and see how you do with it. Now lastly, once again, as I mentioned earlier, we do have our free Facebook group as well. But we do have a free training program. You know the habit tracker, we have a protein cheat sheet with a tutorial where I show you Hey, this is how you hit 150 grams of protein. What else do we have? We have a average weight tracker has a whole bunch of stuff there it meal builder as well. So a lot of good stuff, weekly live training. So if you're not a member yet, I'll make sure to drop that link down below. And then I wish you an amazing week. Happy May and then I'll talk to you very soon.