Morning Rituals

Hey hey hey 😀 Happy Humpday aka Indian Food Wednesday 🙂 Hope you’re having a lovely morning.

After I got home from the gym last night, dinner was a meal of easy components instead of a full-up shebang.

I made a massaged kale salad:

salad

{And it always tastes better if you sing to it while you massage}

-organic purple kale

-lime juice, olive oil, mashed avocado, garlic, cayenne, Nama shoyu

-organic grape tomatoes

The Pilot enjoyed his kale salad with saffron rice (short grain brown rice cooked in veggie broth with saffron, sea salt and tumeric) + organic rotisserie chicken

pilot's dinner

and I had mine grain bowl style with quinoa and Goddess dressing 🙂

grain bowl

The original plan was to have saffron rice on top of the salad, but I kind of failed in cooking it. It was really chewy (even though it cooked for 30 minutes- maybe it needed to cook longer?) and the taste was… off. [The Pilot didn’t eat his, either] Usually we LOVE saffron rice and usually I have no probs making it.. guess I’m still getting the hang of the gas stove :/ So I replaced it with quinoa. Ya win some, ya lose some, right?

So this morning, I thought it would be fun to talk about morning rituals 😀

Here are some of the things that happen in our house every single day:

-6:15-6:30am: We wake up. Bella hears the alarm go off and jumps on the bed to cover us each in Bella kisses. It’s pretty much the best way to wake up 🙂 This morning, she was laying on my stomach, flipped onto her back and giving me Spiderman (upside down) kisses.

-While the Pilot showers, I take Bell out and we either go for a walk or play in the backyard, I leave to workout, or I get ready for work. [Today it was the 3rd]

bell (2)

-Breakfast + blog

me

-Make a to-do list for the day [this happens everyday. I have a small notebook I carry around with me and inside, you can find my entire life. It’s the only way I get everything done]

-Pack snacks (for work all day, or to last me until lunch if I’m not working that day)

What are some of your morning rituals? Do you always work out in the morning? Do you make daily to-do lists?

I’m off- see ya later!
xoxo

Gina

Something to read:

Baby’s palate and food memories shaped before birth (thank you to those of you who sent me this link! My little guy will probably love spicy food, berries, kale, goat cheese and chocolate)

6 healthy, delicious salmon recipes

Shake up your workout routine

Build your own yoga sequence

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76 Comments

  1. Jessica @Baybaybites on August 10, 2011 at 4:27 pm

    I’ve wanted to make a massaged kale salad ever since I saw it on Aarti Party on the Food Network. I’m going to add this to my list!

    My dog wakes me up by sitting right by my head and kicking me in the face with her back paws. 🙂

  2. Katie G. on August 10, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    I get most of my stuff ready at night (lunch packed, clothes layed out, gym clothes layed out). Wake up at 6am, put on gym clothes, make cup of coffee to go, pack the car and drive 1 hour to work. Park my car at work and walk 3 blocks to the gym. Workout. Shower/get ready for work at gym. Arrive at work at 9am. Eat breakfast at my desk while checking emails (usually something easy like instant oatmeal and fruit or cereal).

    I found that the morning works best for me in order to get my workout in and prepare best for the day. It’s a long day, but I always feel so much better when I get everything done and don’t have to stress early in the morning

  3. Katheryn on August 10, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    I get up at 5 or 5:30, drive to the gym, and get my workout on. Once I get home hubby usually scoots off to work and I make breakfast for the kiddies, pack lunches for them, and then walk them to school.

  4. diana@mymarblerye on August 10, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    so cheesy but I love waking up. eating breakfast while reading blogs and checking groupons!

  5. Elena on August 10, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    I wake up at 8.40 am, sit on the bed for 20 sec – so blood circulation can come back to normal after sleeping, drink 0,5 litter of room temp water and go for yoga. After that either come back home and have breakfast or snack on power bar after yoga. Then go mall or come home and cook lunch and prepare dinner. It is Ramadan in this region now – so the she Joe is really different from what I used to – everybody sleeps at day and up at night – I am hardly holding my shedule together with all the influences in here -( we have big Iftar with family at 7 pm on the sunset and then heading to coffee shop with friends. Thatnis e daily routin for now. Cnting the day till Ramadan ends and to go back to normal life -)))
    Q: do you snack before gym? I m sure that ur metabolism really should be kick started with early breakfast.

    • Fitnessista on August 10, 2011 at 8:29 pm

      yep, i always have a small snack before- even if it’s just half a banana with almond butter.

  6. Kayla on August 10, 2011 at 5:33 pm

    What is goddess dressing? Is that a brand?

    • Fitnessista on August 10, 2011 at 8:29 pm

      trader joe’s 🙂

  7. Jen @familyfoodfitnessandfun on August 10, 2011 at 6:27 pm

    YAY! Someone else who makes a to-do list! They are so great…without it, I wouldn’t get anything done. I wake up before 6:00 a.m. for my workouts each morning. I love doing it in the morning because everyone else is sleeping and then I get it done and out of the way 🙂

  8. Amber on August 10, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    I was just talking about this the other day with my hubby 🙂 I love getting up in the morning, cooking breakfast while cleaning up the kitchen. Then I sit down to eat while checking e-mail, reading blogs, and planning out my day. I have become obsessed with google calendar and have started planning out my day with that in order to have an enjoyable and successful day!

  9. Kristin (Cook, Bake and Nibble) on August 10, 2011 at 7:16 pm

    My ritual is pretty much the same every morning- wake up, rub eyes & make my way to the bathroom for face washing & bizznazz. Lemon water while I read blogs, go for jog or do 30 minutes yoga, make smoothie, blog, and get to work!

    Even if I’m working at my catering job, I still keep my morning ritual, just earlier! I like rituals 🙂

    xo

  10. Jennifer on August 10, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    aww that picture of Bella is so cute! I love her bows, what a little sweetheart 🙂

    • Fitnessista on August 10, 2011 at 8:26 pm

      she is a little angel 🙂

  11. Lyndsi @ Lyndsi and David on August 10, 2011 at 7:32 pm

    I have to make a to-do list each day to prioritize and know what needs to be done *today.* I also make grocery and other shopping lists. I apparently love lists 🙂

  12. Jenna on August 10, 2011 at 7:52 pm

    Oh man, I’m so ridiculous, I get up EXACTLY 10 minutes before I have to be at work. I hate waking up. I don’t even do my hair most days. I’m up, dressed, and out. Luckily, my husband and I work the same job, so he puts our lunch together (I make it the night before, lol).

  13. MMiller on August 10, 2011 at 9:53 pm

    I find I get much more accomplished when I make a list!

  14. Jill on August 10, 2011 at 10:27 pm

    I am NOT a morning person but I try. Once I actually get OUT of the bed, I do ok. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I get up at 5 to go to an outdoor bootcamp class, Tuesdays/Thursdays I wake up at 6:45 to get ready for work. I used to always make breakfast like toast or eggs, but lately I just drink a cup of coffee or tea while I look at your blog and whatever Glamour blogs I missed the night before and then right before I leave I make a smoothie to take with me and drink throughout the morning at my desk.

  15. Ali @ urbanfruitbat on August 11, 2011 at 12:42 am

    What is it that you sing whilst you are kale massaging? I like to work out and check my e-mails as soon as I get up. Gets things moving and gets correspondence started!

    • Fitnessista on August 11, 2011 at 10:31 am

      it depends on what kinda mood i’m in. the other night it was “bad romance” but i changed the words a little. haha

  16. Chelsea @ One Healthy Munchkin on August 11, 2011 at 8:00 am

    I love massaged kale salads! And I love how soft my hands are afterwards from the olive oil. 😀

    My morning ritual depends on if it’s during the school year when I have classes or during the summer when I have work. Today because it’s my day off, my morning looks like this: 7 am – wake up, 7:30 am – make breakfast – 7:45 am – eat & blog, 8:45 am – gym.

  17. Lori on August 11, 2011 at 10:45 am

    Gina, wait until your son wakes you up with kisses!! OMG, it is the most sweetest, best thing in the world!

  18. Gillian on August 14, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    love this post! i’m developing some new morning rituals now that i have a steady schedule..

    wake up, drink lots of water, get dressed, make lunch, eat breakfast, read blogs, brush teeth, out the door!

    im pretty fast 🙂 the whole thing takes me about 40 minutes… as long as i’m not wishy washy about my clothing choices 🙂

  19. Jacquelyn on August 14, 2011 at 8:27 pm

    Every time I see you put quinoa on a salad I think “she’s nuts!” I love quinoa and I love salads but the idea of mixing the two never occurred to me and seemed a little crazy. But I have to tell you… this past week my mom made quinoa for dinner and I decided to put the leftovers on my salad. OMG. Delicious. Now I’m obsessed. Thanks for inspiring new eats!

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