Healthy Morning Routine Checklist for Adults Printable pdf
Mornings can be a great time to get your day started on the right foot, but only if you have a healthy morning routine checklist in place.
A healthy morning routine checklist can help make sure you don’t forget anything important and that you start your day with positive energy.
Starting your day off with a positive, uplifting, and invigorating healthy morning routine can set you up for more happy and successful days.
But how do you get started setting up your own healthy morning routine checklist? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered, and I’m including a printable pdf version too so you can easily stay on track with your new morning routine.
**This post might contain affiliate links to items I own and love and feel will benefit you immensely. Read full disclosure here.**
Why I Started Using a Healthy Morning Routine Checklist
Finding myself being a recently postpartum mother now once again, I knew I needed to make some changes in my health and wellness routine. As with any new mom, life is crazy busy. Every second is accounted for wiping butts, rocking to sleep, and snuggling my new tiny human.
Throw in the fact that this is my 3rd child and you can easily understand how my already minimal “me time” has vanished. I quickly began feeling my energy becoming depleted, my digestion slowing, and my level-headed calmness all slipping away.
I knew I need to grab hold of the reins of my health and wellness now!
Mom life can be overwhelming between caring for the kids, keeping up with the household chores (or at least attempting to), and then maybe remembering to find the time to take care of yourself!
Where was my health slipping?
Postpartum your body is already healing, recovering, and putting itself back together for about 6 months on average. We all think in 6 weeks you’ll be back to yourself but it’s not that simple. Yes, you can definitely lose the baby weight in 6 weeks, but that in no way means you are “back to normal.”
I’ve been finding it really hard to remember to take my supplements every morning. Or doing anything really for me in the morning at all.
But I know it’s important!
How I Started My Healthy Morning Routine Checklist
I knew I needed to make a change in some of my health choices. So I set decided to 5 goals that I needed to achieve:
- Optimize my sleep and wake routine.
- Find a way to get adequate nutrition into my busy days as easily as I could.
- Find something that makes me feel energized and vibrant because my sleep is going to be erratic at this time of my life.
- Make sure I’m doing something to keep my immune system high! It is believed that most of your immune system is in your gut, and after having baby mine has been working super slowly to say the least. We should daily be working on keeping our immune system optimal so we can stay healthy.
- Find a way to aquire personal calming strength. What I mean is make time for a mental and physical reset each day. A few minutes of “me time” maybe? Or some fresh air? I knew I’d find it somewhere.
So with these goals in mind I was able to create a phenomenally effective healthy morning routine checklist that had the power to start my days off right.
And now I’m ready to share that list with you so you can also conquer your mornings!
Healthy Morning Routine Checklist for Adults with Printable pdf
I am absolutely ecstatic that I found myself in this predicament. In an insanely busy time of my life, stretched thin, and knowing that my health lies at the core of my ability to function optimally as a busy homeschooling, work-at-home mom of 3.
How you might ask, can I possibly see this as a good thing?
Because the pressure of the situation allowed me to create a life-changing morning routine that only takes around 30 minutes and it led me to some amazing health resources that can change your life.
1 Don’t Hit Snooze
This is number one for a reason! Hitting snooze trains your brain to think that it’s okay to be lazy and not get up when you first wake up. It also can make you groggier all throughout your day because you’ve now interrupted your natural sleep cycle.
But HOW do you stop hitting that snooze button over and over?
Try these simple tips:
- go to bed earlier
- put the alarm across the room
- make it a song that you really like
- utter (if even in your head) a mantra that makes you excited to wake up once you hear it like, “this will be a beautiful day” or “I am flooded with positive energy now.”
On the flip side, using positive night affirmations can help with sleep which in turn can make rising without that snooze easier too.
2 Look at Natural Light ASAP
A lot of people think that they can just wake up however and it’ll all be the same. But that’s not true!
The best way to wake up is by getting exposed to natural light. This helps to reset your Circadian rhythm which is your body’s sleep/wake cycle. It also helps to stop the natural secretion of the hormone melatonin, which keeps you feeling groggy and makes you want to go back to sleep.
So as soon as you wake up (even before you get out of bed) try to open the curtains or blinds and let that natural light in.
Sure it’s easiest and best to just leave the curtains drawn but sometimes we need to block out the sun to go to sleep and don’t have that luxury. So if that’s the case just pop them open ASAP.
3 Drink a Giant Glass of Water
I’m sure you’ve heard this one before for numerous health benefits but it applies here as well! When you first wake up in the morning your body is slightly dehydrated. Drinking water will help to rehydrate your cells, jump-start your metabolism, and help to flush out toxins.
A lot of this routine comes naturally to me now, but this is one I still have to force myself to do. However, after I pound that glass of water first thing in the morning I ALWAYS feel better. I can literally feel it rehydrating my cells.
I have also found that doing this step of your new healthy morning routine checklist makes it a lot easier to drink more water throughout the day.
Having a glass of water first thing in the morning makes a substantial difference to the amount of water you are able to consume easily throughout the day.
You can even try warm water with lemon if you are sip and savor kind of person.
4 Brush Your Teeth
For some people, this is an unwelcome chore in the morning and there are others who rush to do it. I am one of the latter.
For me knowing and tasting that I have morning breath is horrid and I do not feel awake until it is gone.
So brush your teeth and tongue and get that morning fresh feeling!
5 Brush Your Hair
This all depends on the length of your hair really. I’m sure it doesn’t apply to a lot of guys. But for us gals or any guys with long hair, it is a crazy mess in the morning.
Getting the yuck out feels refreshing and cleansing in the morning, and only takes a minute.
6 Make Your Bed
I know, I know. “Who has time for that?” But just hear me out!
Making your bed first thing in the morning starts your day off with a sense of accomplishment. It sets the tone for the day and tells your brain that you are ready to get things done!
It also helps to keep your room clean and makes it a more inviting space to be in.
Plus, it only takes 60 seconds and is totally worth it.
7 Stay off Social Media
I’ve seen a lot of morning checklists that tell you to ban electronics for an hour after waking. But I believe there has to be a balance between being healthy and being realistic in today’s modern world.
While of course rolling over and hopping on your phone isn’t a great idea, many of us include something like going through our emails before really starting the day part of our getting things in order or even prepping for work routine.
I do however recommend staying off social media until after you complete your healthy morning routine checklist. It is far too easy to get bombarded with negativity or get sucked into minutes or hours of mindlessly scrolling.
8 Add in 5-10 Minutes of Pilates, Yoga, or Stretching
When you sleep your muscles can tighten up from lack of motion. Stress can make you sore and tired.
All exercise is phenomenal for you! It is a great way to start the day. But there’s something to say for Pilates, yoga, or even stretching in the morning… it’s awesome.
Stretching the muscles that tightened and possibly even knotted overnight before the kids are up is a mental and physical reset.
I find that following along with a YouTube video or Beachbody on Demand is extra refreshing in the morning. I don’t have to craft my own routine or remember any exercise moves. I simply follow along and let someone else help my half-way awake brain remember to breathe, stand with good posture, and get ready to tackle my insanely busy mom day.
So once you take you’ve gotten cleaned up in the morning (and maybe set the coffee to brew too as I do) try a wonderful quick Pilates or Yoga routine and see how absolutely amazing it is for your mind and body in the morning. Some of my favorites are:
- Anything by Boho Beautiful (it’s both yoga and Pilates routines) its my YouTube favorite
- Blogilates has some great routines too
- Sara Beth Yoga
- 3 Week Yoga Retreat (through BOD, which is technically cheaper than just buying the 3 week program because you get one year of this plus over 1400 other workouts that you can use to better your health every day for only $40 more. But you can also check out 3 week yoga retreat alone here.)
9 Add in 5 – 10 Minutes of Meditation
This may take on a different form for you than it does for me and that is ok.
But whatever meditation means to you, before the kids wake up ideally, find about 5 to 10 minutes to just breathe, think and enjoy. Appreciate, relax, and just be. Stop thinking about all the lists and all the loads of laundry for the day and everything that is buzzing around in your head.
It could mean sitting calmly and thinking positively about a mantra that resonates with you, it could be following along with a meditation or it could mean a bit of Bible study.
Here are some great ways to practice a teeny tiny bit of meditation to set your mommy mind right for the morning:
- Think of a word to devote your day to. Calmness, patience, and productivity are some great examples. Breathe in the word and let it become part of your day and part of what you will achieve.
- Sip your warm coffee or tea and simply enjoy it. Take in the flavors, the aroma, the stillness of the house that is about to become completely chaotic.
- Take a step outside and relish the fresh air. Take in the sights, the sounds, and the air.
I just finished Beachbody’s 21 Day Unstress Meditation program which is 10 minutes a day and am so proud. Meditation and being calm is very hard for me, I could barely make it through 2 or 3 minute ones at first.
But with practice, it is getting much easier and after 3 weeks I can feel the benefits.
10 Take Your Vitamins
This was a seriously life-altering part of taking charge of my health and is the fastest of my tips to apply. Taking your vitamins and supplements is such a simple part of a healthy morning routine, yet one I was having trouble remembering.
Using the printable pdf healthy morning checklist was really helpful for this for me, I kept it on my fridge.
I’m really picky about anything I put into my body, including vitamins. So I made sure to look for some without any excess garbage in them that are also transparent about where they are sourced.
This lead me to the cleanest, most effective, and reasonably priced vitamins around. They are made by Ritual and I began to include them in my healthy morning routine.
They are perfectly designed to nourish, energize, and support your body and additionally support your digestion, immune system, and overall health.
If you recall, one of my goals was also to keep my immune system high. Ritual not only has an amazing multivitamin but also a super-inclusive probiotic that can help your digestion and immune system, and they come as a package! 2 pills, one check on my list, a $15 discount for bundling, and my health is in check too.
What is in Ritual Multivitamins?
- Omega-3 DHA from microalgae and methylated B12 support brain health
- Calcium-helper nutrients Vitamin D, Magnesium, and Boron help maintain bone health
- Gentle, chelated Iron and methylated Folate promotes red blood cell formation
- Vitamin E, from mixed tocopherols, provides antioxidant support to fight free radicals
- a formulation for all walks of life: women, men, 18+, 50+, prenatal, postnatal, children (formulation is different for kids though)
What’s NOT in Ritual Multivitamins that makes them unique?
- no animal products (vegan)
- no gluten
- no common allergens
- no artificial colorants
- no fillers
What about the probiotic?
Taking probiotics is a great way to get your gut health in check and keep your immune system high. Since I already grew to love everything about the transparency of Ritual’s ingredients (and of their vitamins… you’ll see what I mean when you get them!) I decided to try their probiotics too.
They include 11 billion CFUs of live probiotics and are the only pill I found with prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics together so that those healthy bacteria can thrive in your gut while they aid in keeping you healthy.
If you are ready to give this amazing vitamin combo a try too to simplify and enhance your health and wellness routine at the same time, you can get some right here!
It really made a huge difference for me in filling all my nutritional gaps with ease!
11 Eat a Nutritious Breakfast
You know the old saying, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
And while I used to roll my eyes at that phrase, it turns out there is some scientific evidence to back it up.
A healthy morning routine should always include a nutritious breakfast to help jump start your metabolism and give you energy for the day ahead.
I used to be one of those people who would grab a coffee and go but I quickly learned that was not doing my body any favors.
I now make sure to enjoy a healthy breakfast every morning. My go to is this lactation smoothie. (But it’s great for everyone!) But any whole food meal with lots of protein and healthy carbs is a perfect choice for breakfast.
12 Get Moving
I know, I know. The last thing you want to do when you first wake up is to get out of bed and start sweating.
But trust me, once you get moving you will feel so much better.
Exercising in the morning is a great way to increase your energy levels and help you stay focused throughout the day.
I like to do a quick HIIT workout or some yoga flows to get my body moving and my blood flowing.
But even just going for a brisk walk around the block will do wonders for your energy levels.
Wrapping Up The Healthy Morning Routine Checklist and free Printable pdf
So what do you think?
This routine can be life-changing. In the length of less than a TV show, you can completely get a handle on filling nutritional gaps, enhancing your mental clarity, invigorating your mind and body, and truly preparing for an amazing day.
- Make the time.
- Start the routine.
- Feel amazing
Start by printing out your free healthy morning checklist then hop over to YouTube and find your favorite free morning Pilates or yoga routine. Then come back here and let me know in the comments below how you’re feeling after a week!
