Taking back time: a review and refinement of the new routine

 Last week I set out my plans for a new routine, more particularly a new morning routine. How did it go? Well, the answer is quite well. So far. The first lesson I learnt was to stop watching the clock. There really is no need to achieve x in y amount of time, and all before nine o’clock, when you don’t need to be out of the house for work or an appointment.

The first day was a bit of a shock to the system. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure I’d be able to do yoga ten minutes after getting out of bed. However, I discovered that if I did my usual morning physio exercises for sciatica first, then these acted as a warmup, and I could then persuade my creaking limbs into a downdog or pigeon pose. In fact, it became easier as the week progressed. That first day I got up at Mr VV’s usual time of 7am. It was dark. And it was pretty chilly. The dogs weren’t keen and after their early morning sortie they both went back to bed. Sensible dogs.

Mr VV generally takes care of things first thing while I try to grab another couple of minutes under the duvet. Usually, I’m fuelled first thing by a strong coffee, but I wanted to leave this to savour with breakfast. So, I replaced the caffeine hit with a mug of hot water and lemon juice. Drinking hot lemon juice used to be quite a thing back in the day, although I think its popularity has waned as there’s risk it rots your teeth (solution = drink it through a straw, just makes sure it’s a reusable one). However, the Healthline blog was still talking about it in 2019. Maybe the benefits outweigh the disadvantages? Certainly, it is said to aid weight loss, help digestion, freshen breath, improve skin and prevent kidney stones.

Day one, I rolled out the yoga mat, drew back the curtains and watched the sky turn from dark blue to purple to pink to beautiful blue while I went through my routines. Recently, I’ve been following the Yoga With Kassandra YouTube channel so I decided to join the 30-day Morning Yoga Challenge. (See – still can’t give up the targets). But, after day one, I decided to switch round the ten-minute Calm meditation and the yoga sessions. Sitting on the zafu with a mug of warm lemon juice between my palms is the perfect way to start the day. As I suspected, both dogs were happy to go back to bed until at least nine o’clock, so after yoga I tried some more energetic exercise alternating between Lucy’s cardio toning sessions and some Walk At Home.

Day Two called for an earlier start than usual as workmen were due to change the boiler. We were all up well before seven on a particularly chilly morning, requiring two fleeces (indoors!). Typically, there was no sign of any plumbers until 10.30! Given the chilly, dark mornings I began to wonder whether it might be better to follow the natural body clock and get up when it is light. Certainly, this is what the dogs prefer. So, on day three we started our routine at eight. Interestingly, I found that it didn’t make that much difference to the day. Everything still gets done – just don’t watch the clock.

The greatest surprise of this new routine has been breakfast. Eating later, at around ten, is far more relaxing than previously. I found that I enjoyed the food, and I could eat more. Thus, cutting out any mid-morning snacking. In fact, the new routine almost equates to 16/8 intermittent fasting. My breakfast has now expanded from four tablespoons of muesli to include a couple of French favourites. I’ve discovered that applesauce (compote) is great on muesli and counts as one of your five-a-day as long as it’s sugar free. This is followed by three or four French toasts – biscottes – with vegan spread and jam. These are essentially the dried bread slices which are so beloved by the French for their petit dej. I’ve bought the ‘complet’ variety, so brown bread. It’s obviously an acquired taste, as David Lebovitz, the Parisian blogger wrote: “I don’t know who wants to eat bread that could double as a ginger grater, but from the space it takes up [on the supermarket shelves] it’s obviously popular.” Well, I quite like it, and so does Bumble.

As the week drew to a close it was time to review progress. Was I trying to pack too much into the early morning? I still had one eye on the clock, and I wondered if I might get better results by moving some of my fitness routine to later in the day. I’d found a great 4,000-step Lucy routine, but it took 25 minutes and by that time the dogs were itching to go out. So, the next day, which incidentally coincided with the return of workmen yet again, I just did the meditation, yoga, shower, dog walk, breakfast routine and left the Walk at Home session to later in the day. It fitted perfectly into that awkward gap between the end of the working day and starting to make dinner; a time when there’s a great temptation to lie on the sofa eating peanuts whilst scrolling through social media.