Routine. Routine. Cheeto Puffs. Back to Routine.

Balance is key when it comes to everything and a healthy routine is no exception.  I’m pretty consistent with my daily routine. It goes something like this: Wake up. Hit snooze 3-5 times. Take the dogs out in a mismatched outfit, typically the first thing I can dig up from my dresser, along with my retainer still in. (Sorry all you 6:30 am go-getters who have to see me like that) Drink my coffee and read my devotionals. Scroll through work emails, pretending I want to get ahead, but in reality, I’m just procrastinating showering because that means I have to blow dry my hair. Isn’t that the worst part of getting ready? Gosh, I wish that wasn’t part of my routine. From there, eat breakfast. Three eggs, three slices of turkey bacon and two pieces of Rudi’s gluten free toast. Then I get serious about getting ready, because let’s face it, I’ve wasted enough time. WHEW. That’s just my morning routine and I can type it out without thinking twice about the order of the steps.  Impressive or sort of sad?

Lucky for me, work is different every day so it forces me to get out of my comfort zone a bit. I have an awesome job – working in biotech sales.  I have the honor of providing some of the best products on the market to immune suppressed and immune compromised patients. It’s the type of gig that humbles you every day and, at times, makes you realize how small your own life issues are compared to those who are truly suffering.  Like any job though, it can leave me exhausted by the end of the day.

This is where my routine, quite literally, crashes and burns. After work, I “want” to work out. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. Lately, it’s been the latter. Frankly, I’ve been trading the gym for instant mashed potatoes or, at the very worst, Cheeto Puffs. I blame my friend for the Cheeto Puffs. I personally don’t go down the chip aisle because I know my weaknesses. When I fall into ruts like this, I’ve found a few things that help me get back into the swing of healthy eating and good work out habits.

1. Pack a gym bag and don’t go home before the gym. Going home leads to Netflix and chill, especially during the fall and winter months.
2. Find a work out buddy. Accountability is another word for guilty if you ditch that person.
3. Set goals. Realistic goals. Don’t go from eating Cheeto Puffs to attempting at 5 day juice cleanse.  For the sake of all your friends, just don’t. It will only make you extremely grouchy and you’ll likely lose that work out partner mentioned in step 2.
4.  Meal prep. By the time you get home you’re starving, but after spending 20 minutes on the stair master (which is harder than it looks, folks) you don’t want to ruin it by eating junk. In fact, pack a protein bar in that gym bag so you’re less likely to indulge when you get home.

The next steps are what I personally find helpful after full days of working followed by practically being a walking advertisement for Lululemon.

Fall back into your nighttime routine. Mine looks like this:

1. Take the dogs for a walk. If I didn’t go to the gym, I will hit the Katy Trail or White Rock Lake here in Dallas.
2. Turn on the television to something you can have as background noise while you do one or two chores around the house. Letting that stuff pile up is going to lead to stress by the end of the week and this entire blog is about not living in that space. Just do the laundry already.
3. Take a bath. I take a bath every night. It helps me relax. I light candles and put on some Christian music. It’s a lot less romantic than it sounds.
4. Read a book before bed.

I hope this helps you find a way to balance the adult life we were shoved into after college. If not, well, shoot me some ideas and I’ll share them.