By Carla Oates
Mornings can be chaotic—between dedicating time to make a healthy breakfast, squeezing in exercise and completing your morning skincare routine—it’s no wonder so many of us feel exhausted and overwhelmed by 9am.
So, to help streamline your mornings, we’ve created a simple morning routine checklist, so that you can ensure you’re ticking the boxes when it comes to prioritising your health and wellbeing—especially as we head into the depths of winter when our immunity can also take a hit.
Here we go…
Vitamin D For Immunity: Let In The Sunshine!
There’s no denying the pull of the doona when your alarm goes off in the morning and all you feel like doing is snuggling down and pressing snooze. But during winter, it’s even more important to jump out of bed, open those blinds and let in that sunshine as it’s estimated that by the end of winter, around 36% of us are vitamin D deficient (compared to 14% at the end of summer). While it’s only natural that we are exposed to less vitamin D-rich daylight during the cooler months as days get shorter and more gloomy—we also tend to spend more time indoors and often, this is where we pick up the common cold and flu from being in close vicinity to others. Although we know how important vitamin D is for our bone health, it also plays a key role in maintaining our mood as well as our digestive wellbeing. And, considering 70% of our immune system resides in our gut, it’s therefore essential we boost our intake of vitamin D-rich supplements (like The Beauty Chef’s IMMUNE FOOD and BODY Inner Beauty Support powders) and foods (including fatty fish, egg yolks, liver and mushrooms) if we are to feel healthy and well all winter long.
Get Physical
Motivation to exercise during winter can be low, we get it. But moving your body will not only keep you warm and get your blood pumping—but regular exercise is also associated with greater immune function which is even more of a reason to get moving in winter. It doesn’t matter what type of exercise you choose to partake in either, walking, running, yoga, Pilates, weights… as long as it’s regular and consistent, you’ll reap the rewards.
Boost Your Immunity Over Winter With Inner Beauty
We advocate for maintaing a consistent inner beauty routine all year round—but as the seasons shift, it’s important to consider the products you’re integrating as your needs change. During winter, for example, it’s important to bolster your immune health as much as possible and protect your skin from the harsh environmental effects of cool air combined with lower humidity and indoor heating. That’s why adding our ANTIOXIDANT Inner Beauty Boost and IMMUNE FOOD Inner Beauty Support to your morning skincare routine can be so beneficial. While ANTIOXIDANT is a probiotic elixir that contains selenium for immunity and vitamin C to protect against free radical damage, IMMUNE FOOD is a potent probiotic powder with turkey tail mushroom, vitamin D-rich shiitake mushroom, zinc and vitamin C—for immune systen function—plus prebiotic green banana starch to help support digestive wellbeing.
Combat Dry Winter Skin
Dry skin is super common during winter as our delicate skin barrier can be compromised due to the cooler temperatures and lack of moisture in the air. The key is to help maintain moisture as much as possible by locking in hydration to bolster the skin’s protective barrier. At the same time, avoid over-exfoliating–which can strip skin of its natural lipids and leave it more vulnerable to external stressors and where possible, up your intake of omegas. These essential fatty acids quench dry skin, reduce inflammation and help to maintain skin’s natural structural integrity. While noshing on lots of healthy fats like avocado, nuts, fatty oily fish and coconut will be beneficial—integrating OMEGA ELIXIR Inner Beauty Boost into your morning skincare routine is a simple way to ensure you’re receiving a healthy ratio of plant-based omega 3, 6, 7 and 9 oils.
Eat Your Favourite Breakfast
They say brekkie is the most important meal of the day, but aside from boosting your energy and kickstarting your digestive system—breakfast is also an opportunity for self-care and enjoyment! That’s why we recommend ditching your usual slice of boring toast and upping the stakes with a sumptuous smoothie or perhaps our Superfruit Breakfast Bowl. If you struggle to remember to take your GLOW in the morning, too, stirring it through yoghurt and adding a sprinkle of muesli and fresh berries is a great way to get your daily dose of probiotic goodness.