Morning routines?

Hello everyone, I am interested to see what everyone's morning routine is like?

Heres what I do:

I wake up in the morning around 6:30am, sit up in bed and practice gratitude and positive affirmations. I then make a cup of tea and watch BBC breakfast for 30 minutes before I start working on my personal projects. I tend to have late breakfast around 10am.

In the past I've tried to work-out in the mornings after waking up, but I could never seem to get into the flow, I always feel weaker working out in the morning than I do in the evenings. Anyone else experienced that?
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Replies

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    I get up, make a cuppa and then get straight to my work out, once I have that done I feel ready to take on my day - been working out every day before work for 8 years so the habit has stuck :smile: I eat breakfast mid morning rather than first thing, unless I feel very hungry then I'll eat before I leave for work.
    I'm a morning person, always have been :smiley:
  • Mithridites
    Mithridites Posts: 600 Member
    I wake up at 4:45AM on weekdays, make coffee and a piece of bread with PB, take my vitamins, etc., check MFP then dress and walk the dog (at least 20 min). When we come back I pack my lunch, shower and get dressed for work and I’m out the door by 6:10AM. I am decidedly NOT a morning person, but this schedule has its upsides. Especially in Summer.
  • Havatar
    Havatar Posts: 4 Member
    I really wish i was a morning person but I'm not lol. I feel like its a genetic thing? If i woke up at 6 to workout, I would feel half-dead. @LivingtheLeanDream fair play for keeping at it for 8 years!

    Maybe it's because I weight-lift, hence why i dont have that much strength in the mornings. I've ordered an exercise bike, so lets see if i'll be able to do cardio in the mornings rather than weight-lifting.
  • donidaily
    donidaily Posts: 825 Member
    I love summer because I don't have to set an alarm to wake up early 🤸‍♀️
    Wake up around 6:30, bathroom and weigh in, drink a glass or two of water.
    Check weather and news apps. Glance over messages received overnight (I live in a different country/timezone from my family.) Try to be disciplined and not fall back into bed messing around on my phone.
    7am movement! Head out to the terrace and do a Yoga with Adriene video. Or once a week live pilates class on zoom. Sometimes a bike ride in the morning cool followed by stretching. A little meditation if I am feeling it.
    Then I wander around outside and look at my plants, appreciate the morning, grab some fresh herbs for breakfast maybe.
    8ish shower and make tea.
    Breakfast, then a little housework (dishes, make the bed, put things away, whatever needs doing. This morning I started a loaf of sourdough.)
    Make coffee and fill water bottle.
    At my desk between 9-10am.

    On weekends though I drink my tea in bed while reading a book and the rest of it happens later. Luxury!

  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
    Normal times up at 5am (but I've been in lockdown for months now so have shifted my schedule one hour later). Get dressed (because it's winter - in summer I'd leave this until later), put all dishes away, check messages, short pilates workout. Out the door by 6am (pitch black in winter, vaguely light in summer). Walk/run depending on day. Home. Shower. Off to work by 7:30am.

    Thanks to lockdown I can get up at 6am. Out for walk by 7am (pitch black right now). Home by 8am and sit straight down to start work... showers and eating can wait because I'm at home all day anyway.

    In summer I'm definitely a morning person but in winter not so much. I hate having to go out in the dark.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    My typical morning routine is to wake up a) just before or b) after the alarm (this leaves me grumpy). Pee, scale, bathroom, dress, take gas and electricity meter readings (I'm a number girl), connect laptop to monitor, make tea, log into work computer via remote desktop, take utility readings again because I've likely forgotten them and put into spreadsheet, start working at a certain time.

    This morning it was: wake up at 5 and curse thoroughly about neighbour who thought it was a great idea to have a cheerful phone chat with someone at the open window. Go back to sleep. Oversleep. Be grumpy. Get little work done.
  • Havatar
    Havatar Posts: 4 Member
    Really interesting to see the varying morning routines! Just goes to show we are all unique :) Has anyone heard of the IndexSpaces community? Seems like its solely a community for people who are into keeping active. Think they've just started out so its a bit quiet.

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I wake up between 4:30-6 AM (depending on how long I want to run that day) and feed my dog.

    I take a quick look at news on my phone (terrible habit) while brushing my teeth, washing my face, and putting on sunscreen, drink an energy drink, and get dressed. Then I go for a run.

    When I get back, I'll shower, get dressed, and eat breakfast. In normal times, I'd walk to work. Now I just start working.

    I really like working out in the morning because I know that no matter what else happens, I've gotten in done for the day. I also feel like it helps my mood. I also like to run twice a day sometimes in my training cycles and that's harder to do if you don't get a run in. But it took me years to develop the habit. I realized that I spent years being someone who *wanted* to want to run in the morning, but I didn't genuinely want it. Once I really wanted it, everything clicked because I began rearranging my evenings to make sure I could make it happen (getting to bed at a certain time, etc).

  • juninjan
    juninjan Posts: 4 Member
    edited June 2020
    WAKE UP ~ 8AM
    • Make coffee
    • Walk dog
    • Feed dog and myself
    • Shower
    • Get ready for work
    • Walk and play with dog (again :smile: )

    I have a hard time waking up early enough to do more because the sun is not up. Work is very exhausting also. Ideally, I'd run in the AM.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    6-6:45ish: I pee, weigh myself, let dogs out, let dogs in, give treats, make them all lay down. Then I put my hair up, and get my workouts done(usually Sydney Cummings workout for the day plus some cardio). I'm usually done around 8:15/8:30 and then I feed the dogs and let them out. Then I make my coffee and put on a show(Netflix or YouTube). I also walk my dogs on leash at 10, 12, and 2:45. Sometimes I'll do a short cardio or stretch in the afternoon...just to not be a couch potato till dinner😉 Before we went into lock down, I did cardio before work and weights in the afternoon.
  • reversemigration
    reversemigration Posts: 168 Member
    On workdays I usually wake up about 3:30 - 4 p.m., bathroom, scale, make/drink coffee, and putter about for a couple of minutes. Then it's out to run for 30 minutes. Shower, breakfast, odds and ends, then off to work for 12. In pre-lockdown times I'd walk to work, but having to self-isolate from my family means a drive; because of that, I work in extra steps throughout the day. Huzzah for night-shift life.

    Days off are less structured, but the routine is about the same. Occasionally I'll run after work, or at dawn on my days off (especially if it looks like it'll rain in the evening), but I'm often too worn out to consider it then. I like getting it done and over.
  • donidaily
    donidaily Posts: 825 Member
    This thread is delightful. It really highlights how important it is to find routines that work FOR YOU.

    Also, I want a dog now! 🐶
  • huntersvonnegut
    huntersvonnegut Posts: 1,177 Member
    Up by 5
    Bathroom
    Out the door for about an hour run
    Feed the cats if my wife hasn’t beat me to it
    Clean the cat boxes
    Shower and dress for work
    Hit DD for an iced coffee (in summer)
    Get to work around 7:30
    Rinse and repeat
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    This morning: wake up at usual time, surf net for a moment on phone, go to loo, to scale, wash and dress up. Take utility readings. Get laptop to table and connect to monitor, log into citrix...

    ...

    wait

    ...

    Get error message that my office computer is not available. Contact IT. Curse. Sit about for 2.5 hours. Think I should develop an app that pings my office computer and switches my alarm off if there's no response.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    we have a farm so... mornings start around 4am.

    Wake up, coffee, animals, gym by 8 at latest.

    Home between 10 or 11, depending on how long I was at gym and what errands I had to run.

    My breakfast is usually closer to lunch for most people. My lunch usually around 2 or 3. Dinner after animals, usually 730.

    Bed at 8.

    Wash, rinse, repeat.
  • MeganD1704
    MeganD1704 Posts: 733 Member
    Weekdays
    Wake up at 5:15 to workout. I lay my gym clothes and pre workout bottle out the night before.
    Add water to preworkout, biological needs, scale, drink pre workout fast and get workout clothes on.
    Go downstairs to basement gym for 1-1.5 hrs workout.

    Shower, drink pre set coffee with collagen and cream (brews at 6:15), get ready while sipping coffee. Go to work for 8 (I also make my breakfast the night before and take it with me to workout).

    Weekends
    Sleep in till 7-8
    biological needs, sit on couch with coffee for as long as I want/till obligations take me away.
    My weekend workouts could be as late as ten am or not at all (prefer just walking on weekends vs strenuous workout).
  • irontree3
    irontree3 Posts: 1 Member
    Up at 4:15, out the door for 5 mile run with my dog Betty. Home, shower, sitting in front of my computer in home office by 7am. I am so a morning person! By 5pm I'm worthless!
  • Kerry_R
    Kerry_R Posts: 25 Member
    My routine used to be up at 5am, workout, shower, get ready (feed the cats, make sure hubby is up, daughter is getting ready for school, etc.) then I leave at 7am to get to work for 8am (I like to grab the free breakfast and cup of tea in the canteen before I start officially at 8.30am).

    At the moment, I'm up at 6am, workout, grab a cup of tea/protein shake (depending on the workout), have a few moments of quiet to myself before everyone else gets up. I'm still on the work laptop by 8am with my breakfast (I like to keep some routines the same).
  • hipari
    hipari Posts: 1,367 Member
    Office days:
    Wake up 7-8, browse phone in bed, go to the bathroom, weigh in, maybe come back to bed and browse some more, get dressed, eat breakfast while playing games on iPad, do my makeup, pack my bag, leave for work.

    Working from home:
    Wake up 7-9, browse phone in bed, including work messages to see if there’s anything urgent, go to the bathroom, weigh in, put on pj’s, get breakfast and eat while opening laptop, planning the day and wasting time on social media, then switch to work.

    Days off:
    Wake up 7-10, browse phone/iPad in bed, go to the bathroom, come back to bed and continue browsing or take a nap, go to the bathroom again, repeat this until hungry, weigh in, put on pj’s, start round of laundry and the dishwasher, eat breakfast while playing games or on social media with iPad, lounge on the couch and possibly watch a movie.
  • asthesoapturns
    asthesoapturns Posts: 313 Member
    My routine is get up, do toiletries, get dressed, feed and water the dictators, shove muffin into mouth, and get out the door. I get up at 4:45a and am out the door by 5:15a. I have coffee at work. A leisurely morning would be lovely but with my sleep disorder even getting 6hrs of sleep is hit or miss.
  • ebrookes73
    ebrookes73 Posts: 18 Member
    edited July 2020
    The four-legged variety? :D

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    In the time of corona?

    Wake up some time between 9:30 and noon**, look at email/FB updates on my phone for a few minutes.
    Get up, make bed, put 12oz water from filter pitcher in microwave to warm to body temp (I do not like challenges first thing in the morning), turn on NPR.
    Weigh in, log in Libra.
    Drink water with thyroid meds, chase with a 2nd 12oz water.
    Putter (maybe some stretching/yoga, or water houseplants, or put away dry/clean dishes . . . .)
    Make coffee with hot milk, oatmeal with fixins', 12oz cold matcha.
    Eat, drink, read MFP forums.

    Probably afternoon, by then. :smile:

    Retirement is kinda excellent.

    Submitted as a slacker view, for contrast with all the stories of energy and productivity: I'm not a morning person, never have been. Now I can indulge that.

    With respect to the OP implied question about morning workouts: Not my thing, mostly. During Concept 2 Holiday Challenge season, I'll sometime do 2 x 2K between meds and breakfast, but any even remotely intense workout is just miserable for me, when fasted. Even that short, I underperform, and it feels so much harder & more unpleasant. My heart rate doesn't come up with activity like it would later, after eating, so that's probably the source of feeling miserable. That 2 x 2K (around 10 minutes actual rowing) is about my practical maximum.

    When we're doing on water rowing (boathouse closed now), and the Y is open (closed now), I'd go to rowing at 8:30 or spin class at 9, after a light breakfast. That works OK.

    Other than that, afternoon or evening workout are much, much better for me. When I had one of those distracting job things, I did workouts in the evening.

    ** I was up until 3 or 4AM, OK? :lol: (I tend to get 11PM zoomies.) Night owl, big time.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Up at 5:30, dress in run clothes
    Coffee and breakfast, feed cats, goats, chickens, put postage on any packages going out (home business)
    Catch up on Facebook and Reddit and junk
    Theoretically out the door by 8 for a run
    Pick up groceries or feed or whatever if needed, drop mail at PO
    Home to shower, check work email, snack, work until lunch about 12.30