rise and shine! – #boostyourpositivity

If you’re part of the Belgian blogosphere you’ve probably noticed that #boostyourpositivity, the blogger initiative by Danone (Activia) and Walkie Talkie PR, is back for a second edition!
I couldn’t be happier about this, since I thoroughly enjoyed the previous edition where I got to know (and meet!) several wonderful people with whom I still stay in touch to date.

Fellow blogger and Mrs. Awesome Kelly kicked off this edition earlier this week and introduced the theme that we would be working with: morning rituals.
I already shared my mornings (#showyourmorning) and bedhead (#mybedhead) on Instagram over the course of the week, but today I’m giving you some insight on how I spend my mornings during the week, weekend and holidays! I will also be giving you some tips and tricks to get everything running smoothly tomorrow morning (thank me later) and to top it all off I’m sharing my favourite breakfast meals (might include some wanderlust, you’ve been warned)!

Let’s start with a confession: I am a true morning person, but believe me when I say that once upon a time this was not so true. I guess my parents’ hard work of not letting me sleep in paid off in the end.
My husband is the total opposite though, which is ok because I truly savour my quiet weekend mornings. And hurray for fellow bloggers like Josie and Hanne with whom I’ll be having a brunch date over the next couple of weeks!

Monday to Friday
During the week I mostly get up by 6.30am. I’m not much of a snoozer while Steven snoozes at least five to ten (!) times. I take a shower, but do not always wash my hair as I’ve been experimenting with washing my hair fewer times (read all about the inspiration for this over on Kim’s blog). I get dressed (I choose my outfit in the morning depending on my mood), do my Photoshop tricks and get downstairs where I am greeted by two insanely hungry bunnies so the first thing I do is give them their vegetables (which I’ve prepared the night before).
As I eat breakfast at work, all I have to do is prepare lunch. I have my/our menu (both lunch and dinner) planned for the week so I only have to look at our planner to know what to prepare. I like my vegetables fresh so I tend to prepare lunch in the morning, but this could easily be done the night before. I also eat soup every day, which I prepare on Sundays and put in the freezer (I always have a batch of two weeks at the ready).
I do take my time for all I’ve mentioned before, sometimes I also squeeze in breakfast and lunch preparation for the husband when I feel like spoiling him (or when he has been snoozing way too long).
I never leave the house before cuddling up to Charlie and Lily and have a ‘talk’ with Akira.
Between 8 and 9am I arrive at work where I’ll have a bowl of Greek yoghurt with strawberries or blueberries and a bit of (home-made) granola and the obvious (large) cup of coffee. While I get up famished (I need my food on given times), I learned that this is the best time to have my breakfast and stay nourished until noon. If I would have breakfast at 6.30am I would eat way too much snacks at work in the morning.

Tips & tricks
* prep your breakfast or lunch the night before. The internet (Pinterest, anyone?) has a million breakfast and lunch ideas. With that in mind breakfast has become one of my favourite meals of the day!
* you shall not snooze. Studies have proved that snoozing is not good and while I tend to sin myself here from time to time, I have noticed the difference: I feel much more sleepy after snoozing for a while than when getting up instantly.
* shower in the morning: it will have you awake and fresh in a couple of minutes (or twenty if you like to take longs showers like I do).
* plan ahead: our lunch and dinner menu is available on the planner in the kitchen. That way I know what to get out of the freezer in the morning or what (healthy) snacks to take with me to work.

Weekend
In the weekend I tend to get up when I wake up, unless the latter is before 6am of course. This morning I woke up at 7am and got to do a truckload of work before my husband got up.
On Saturdays I tend to have breakfast at my computer while catching up on e-mail, blogs and whatnot. That way, I’m fully prepared to tackle my to-do list for the day (as a freelancer work continues over the weekend).
On Sundays I have breakfast/brunch: I’ll have an egg, some bread, I’ll bake something, a cup of slow coffee… and I stay in my PJs until noon. I usually have a pre-breakfast in front of the computer and then again at 10am when the hubby gets downstairs. We take things slow and have breakfast in our couch with the rabbits running around the house. Can you tell Sunday mornings are my favourite?

Tips & tricks
* don’t have an appointment in the morning? Don’t set an alarm and have yourself woken up in a natural way.
* get up when you wake up. The longer you linger in bed, the less productive your day will be.
* have some sandwich toasts or croissants at the ready to bake off in the morning so you don’t have to leave those PJs to get breakfast.

Holiday
When vacationing I love going all out for breakfast. We rarely book a room including breakfast anymore as I love to discover the cool breakfast spots all over the world. It’s also the one time I don’t stay in my PJs until noon, but I don’t mind at all. When we were in Alpe-d’Huez over the summer I loved nothing more than going out to get us fresh baguettes and croissants to have a wonderful breakfast on our sunny balcony.

While we’re at it, let me share some of my favourite breakfast meals!

Eggs Benedict at Bottega Louie, Los Angeles, USA

Buckwheat waffles at L.A. Chapter, Los Angeles, USA

All American at The Breakfast Club, London, UK

Waffles covered with strawberries and white chocolate, Cheeky’s, Palm Springs, USA

Now that I’ve shared my morning rituals and breakfast tips I’m curious to hear about yours! Leave a comment below to share your ultimate tip or where I should have brunch next!