This post is sponsored by my friends at NOW Food. It’s one of my favorite places to shop for essentials, nutritional supplements, pet care and natural beauty. You can use my code FITNESSISTA for 20% sitewide here.
Hello friends! I hope you are enjoying your morning so far! I’m starting off with an old-school “Day in the Life” style post. There have been quite a few requests for more posts like this in the annual survey (thanks for your help with this!), so here it is!
Morning
6:45 am My alarm goes off. If I have to take the kids to school, I have to wake up 15 minutes earlier to get dressed, but because the pilot is landing, I have an extra 15 minutes. Bless it. I hadn’t worn the Oura ring in a while so I had to reset it to factory settings and was excited to see the sleep and readiness score for the day.
I wake the kids, go downstairs and pack lunches, backpacks, snacks and sweaters. I make them oatmeal with peanut butter and berries for the road, they go to school and I get ready for practice. While I’m getting dressed, I have a huge green juice, eat a banana and half a bar.
I also drink a little ginger tea:
8:15 A challenging and fun pure barre Define class. This is a newer class option and is strength based. I like the combination of barre and traditional strength movements.
9:30 I return home and have the rest of my breakfast: two scrambled eggs and an avocado smoothie, Pumpkin seedsfrozen zucchini, cocoa powderdates, protein powder, and almond milk.
I have my morning supplements (I love this Omega 3, NAC, quercetin + zincand elderberry for this time of year) and eating on my computer while answering emails and posting a reel on IG.
10:30 Kristi is here to take pictures of blog content, which explains why some of the photos in this post are professional/gorgeous and some are quick real life on the go 😉 We shoot about once a month and she does a huge difference to have blog photos ready for upcoming posts.
11:30 We finish up photos for 5 blog posts (!), and I take Maisey for a walk around the neighborhood.
Afternoon
12:00 Lunch! A salad with tuna, chopped vegetables (pepper, radish, beetroot, cucumber), different types of lettuce, quinoa (precooked during meal prep and waiting in the fridge) and a tahini vinaigrette. I’ve been trying to take a *real* lunch break lately (instead of just eating on the computer), so I’ll eat out, listen to a podcast, or watch an episode of The friends. I sit at the dining room table and listen to an audiobook while I eat for 15 minutes.
12:15-2:30 Work blitz. I’m writing two blog posts and editing an upcoming podcast episode while drinking green tea and snacking on some chocolate. I start the podcast episode for upload after production (to remove any extraneous sounds and stabilize the volume) and pause on work issues while she’s back in mom mode. Before I leave for pickup, I do 7 minutes on the PEMF mat with a short meditation.
3:00 The kids are out of school. We go home, start homework, I make them a plate of snacks and get Liv ready for dance.
Afternoon
5:15 After dropping Liv off at the dance, P and I finish her homework while I make dinner: shredded chicken salad. This is one of my favorites to make ahead of time so it’s ready for the night! I use grilled chicken, steamed entamame, rice noodles and add coleslaw mix, chopped green onions, peppers, cilantro, peanuts and make a peanut dressing with Tamari, peanut butter, rice vinegar, honey, sriracha, ginger, garlic, sesame oil and olive oil. I cover the salad and refrigerate and keep the dressing separate in a jar until ready to use.
6:15pm and I go for a short bike ride/walk around the neighborhood and the pilot comes home to pick me up and take over. I pick up some salad to take with me in the car. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than waiting until 8:30 to eat.. and thankfully it’s only one night each week.
19:00 Choir practice! I’ve been looking forward to it all week. Right now we’re doing Verdi’s Memorial (it’s A LOT, but incredibly amazing) and it frees my soul.
20:30 I’m back home. The pilot has cleaned the kitchen after dinner, and I make the kids’ lunches and snacks, lay out their clothes for the next day, and do a quick cleaning before bed (do the laundry and wipe down the counters). While I’m doing this, P is getting ready for bed and the pilot and Liv are doing homework together.
9 p.m. I read a book with P and hang out with her until she falls asleep while the pilot finishes his work with Liv downstairs.
After P goes to bed, I finish cleaning for the day, upload the episode to the podcast and schedule my blog post, and get ready for bed while Liv gets ready for bed.
10:15 I read for a while, do my evening eye mask and take magnesium before crashing out!
10:40 Lights out and ready to do it again 🙂
What I liked about this particular day:
I loved all the different colored vegetables I had on this particular day! I feel like it was heavy on the products and I felt energized and satisfied all day. I also liked being able to take a few short walks in between work to shake my legs and get some fresh air. It also involved chocolate and choir, which are two things that make me happy. I hit my protein goal with the protein powder, tuna, chicken and edamame. Even though it was a long day and I could have stayed up later reading or relaxing, I’m glad I stuck to my bedtime routine so I’m rested for the next day.
What I would do differently:
I’d say I’d make it less difficult, but that’s where we are right now. I just try to look for moments of peace and quiet where I can get it, and even though the nightly eye mask is a pain, it forces me to take at least 10 minutes to stop and breathe. 🙂
So tell me, friends: what is something you find time to do every day? Any strategies that help you during this busy season?
xo
Gina
Thank you very much NOW Food for sponsoring this post. I am so excited to continue working with them and have been a huge fan of their products for years. You can see their product line here and use FITNESSISTA for 20% off sitewide. We use and love their supplements, pet care, skin care/beauty, wardrobe staples, and essential oils.
