5 Habits To Level Up Your Summer Morning Routine in 2024
I’m not going to waste your time by saying having a good morning routine in the summer consists of making your bed, drinking a glass of water first thing when you wake up, getting fresh air, eating a healthy breakfast, or brushing your teeth. Those are the basics that you should do all year round. LOL.
In this post, I’m sharing realistic healthy habits to help you really level up this summer season.
Take parts of this routine and make it your own. Summer is a time of fun, and play but also putting in the work to better yourself and run towards completing your priorities.
This post is all about healthy habits to boost your morning routine this summer.
Make a fresh juice or smoothie
My juicer changed my life. I know that sounds intense but it really did. Now my juicer, the Hurom H-400 slow juicer, is PRICEY. But worth every single penny. I also have a small Ninja blender. I use both every day.
Since daily juicing my skin is clearer, inflammation in my body has reduced and I barely have menstrual cramps. My protein-packed smoothies help me get probiotics, healthy fats, and extra greens in my diet.
In the summer you have such a variety of fruits and vegetables to choose from that are in season. It’s a great time to take advantage. I typically drink my juice and/or smoothies on an empty stomach first thing in the morning. I tend to batch a couple days worth of juice too and I don’t have a cup of coffee.
I typically rotate between making a hydrating juice which has celery, apple, and ginger, and a Vitamin C-rich juice which has oranges, carrots, apple, and cucumber. A few days before my menstrual cycle, I make beet, spinach, apple, ginger, and carrot juice. In the summers, I love to have watermelon juice anytime in the morning or the afternoon too. On the weekends, I go to the farmer’s market and get a bag of navel oranges to make myself a glass of fresh orange juice.
My daily smoothie consists of lots of greens, frozen berries, chia seeds, collagen peptide powder, vanilla protein powder, creatine (since I’m focused on gaining muscle), nut butter, organic bananas, and usually unsweetened almond milk.
Add an extra skincare tool (plus SPF of course)
You probably have a morning skincare regime already, but I challenge you to add something extra that strengthens your skin barrier, hydrates and makes your skin further glow.
This could mean a five-minute gua-sha session, investing in a red light LED face mask, or ice rolling. Something I’ve started doing nearly daily in the mornings has been a sheet mask. I put a silicon mask on top of it to lock in hydration for my combination dry skin. I love it and I feel like I’m doing both self-care and skincare while I’m working, cleaning up my apartment, or on my walking pad.
@aylennpark Here are my mom and I’s tips for maximizing your sheet masks!!✨ #sheetmask #glowyskin #skincaretips #koreanskincare #kbeauty #momanddaughter #glassskin ♬ original sound – Aylen Park
The most important thing to any good skincare morning routine is SPF. Try to get a moisturizer, spray, or powder with SPF 50 if possible. Remember to re-apply every two hours and put it on any area of your body that will be exposed to the sun.
Get 5,000 steps before noon
I’m a huge advocate of walking. I lost 12 pounds in 2022 and hitting 10,000 steps consistently every day was a major part of my fat loss, in addition to reverse dieting.
I’ve found that frontloading my steps early in the day significantly helps me reach my step goal. Most people who work an office job or in front of computers most of the day will get 2,000-3,000 steps in their day naturally. So a 45-minute walk in the morning, then getting regular steps during the day, plus an evening walk will keep your step count high.
Walking has so many amazing benefits including overall longevity, good for your digestion, mobility, and improves your memory and sleep. Physical exercise is also easier in the summer mornings since temperatures aren’t as high.
Listen to a podcast or read non-fiction
While drinking tea or my juice, I try to read a few pages of a non-fiction book. Having reading time grounds me and gets my mind in thinking mode. Sometimes I read finance books, personal development books, or memoirs (mostly celebrity memoirs lol). I also have an Audible subscription where I listen to non-fiction books.
I also have an entire podcast routine. I listen to an episode of Balanced Black Girl, Brown Ambition, Too Smart For This, or Hot Girl Energy when I walk to work in the mornings. Literally, these podcasts are like your friends giving you advice or teaching you about a topic that helps you really make progress in your wellness journey or career. I love listening to topics on mental health, budgeting, and glowing up in the morning. It helps prepare me for the daily grind.
Related post: How To Be Like Olivia Pope
Plan your day and make a to-do list
The best way to have productive summer days is to actually plan your schedule out. Some people swear by time-blocking and others write the top 3 things to get done for the day.
@erinondemand Stop trying to do it all and focus on doing what matters NOW. #businesstip #planner2022 #entrepreneurship ♬ original sound – erinondemand
I combine a few methods. Usually at my kitchen table, I write down all the meetings I have for the day in my planner first, then I write three things I need to accomplish for the day and after the list, I write tasks I want to get done. The things I absolutely need to get done for the day, I assign them times in between my meetings.
I’m a big proponent of paper planning. Sometimes I fall off and skip a few days, but I can honestly say my planner brings me a level of peace when I use it. My days have some kind of structure, I write positive affirmations in it to make me smile throughout the day, and I feel like I have a sense of control of my day.
If you don’t want to commit to a whole planner, go digital like Google Cal. It’s still a good idea to at least use a notepad to write a detailed to-do list. The summer months seem to always flash before my eyes that I want to maximize what I do and how I spend my time.
You don’t need to do all these healthy habits at once. Ease in and try to have a consistent wake-up time to start incorporating these things into your morning routine. There are plenty of ways to level up and I hope you found something in this post to fit your personal needs.
Let me know on IG (@girlwithdrive) if you’ve found this helpful!
