This post is sponsored by Egglife.
Wake me up when September ends, Greenday said (clearly dating myself here). But they got it all wrong. I absolutely LOVE September.
Given I started this post with dating myself, I may as well keep the ball rolling. The onset of September reminds me of two things: the crushingly hot temperatures start to cool and New England becomes serenely filled with foliage. And 2. Back to school!
Boston is a huge college city, so September means the flux of students all come rushing back.
While I now have a pretty permanent work routine, it certainly fluctuates. Work gets busy, sleep cycles become erratic, and meal prep falls by the wayside. So here are a few ways I help settle back into a routine.
- Get excited about breakfast.
- Eat a breakfast packed with a variety of colors and food groups. I aim for something with ample protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates to stabilize blood sugar. This bowl (recipe below) checks all of those boxes. I’m getting lots of protein from eggs and egglife egg white wraps have 5g+ of protein per wrap! These wraps are made from simple, nutrient dense ingredients and are also gluten and dairy free (you can get $5 off your order of $25+ on egglifefoods.com with code Lemons5).
- Find forms of movement that are joyful and energizing, rather than stressful and depleting.
- During moments of intense transition, I like to simply move in as many different ways as possible. Rather than having my movement style echo that intensity (i.e. lots of cardio and heavy weights), I instead shift to lower intensity forms of exercise. I love pilates, yoga, walking and gentle stretching because they highlight adding in intention and mindfulness! This is like a giant exhale for the nervous system.
- Give yourself grace
- I like to remind myself that I’m only one person and doing the best I can. Getting back into a routine is never perfect, and allowing myself to make mistakes without judgement can be really helpful. This simple mindset shift is sometimes the difference between an extremely chaotic day and one that feels much more manageable.
- Spend some time on meal prep
- While meal prep can feel mundane, it’s a vital ingredient to a more organized week. I anticipate that busy weeks will mean wanting to plop on the couch immediately upon getting home. So by preparing just a few things before the week begins, I allow myself much more time for me when getting home from work, rather than thinking, planning, and cleaning a whole new dish. I love creating items that are ready to go in the morning, like these breakfast bowls with egglife wraps. egglife wraps make it easy to incorporate your favorite veggies and proteins into any meal! They’re also super sturdy. You can bend, fill, and fold them to make all of your breakfast dreams come true (check out my Mediterranean breakfast wrap or some of egglife’s other great recipes for more meal prep inspo).
- Do one thing every day to take care of yourself
- This is a non-negotiable. As someone who works in a field dedicated to caring for others, I know I need to carve out a bit of extra time to take care of myself. This can be as simple as making an extravagant, yet simple breakfast (see below), going for a walk, scheduling therapy, reading a chapter of a new book, calling a friend. Really just anything to connect me back to my surroundings and to the present moment.
Okay, now let’s get to this divine breakfast recipe:
Here’s what you’ll need:
- egglife talian style egg white wraps (2)
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups arugula
- 1 cup tomatoes
- 1 avocado
- ½ cup quinoa
- 1 cup vegetable stock
Get to it:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Slice egglife Italian style egg white wraps into small strips. Bake for 7-8 minutes, remove and toss to re-distribute them evenly across the pan, then back for an additional 7-8 minutes.
- Boil water. For over medium eggs, boil for 6.5 minutes then transfer to ice cold water.
- In a separate pan, prepare the quinoa according to package directions.
- Time to layer!
- Combine arugula (~1/2cup per bowl), quinoa, tomatoes, egg, and avocado. Top with egglife tortilla strips.
