0 (1s):
Hello, and welcome to the get lean and eat clean podcast. My name is Brian grin. I'm a certified health coach, trainer and author. And this podcast is for middle-aged men and women looking to optimize their health and get their bodies back to what it once was 10 to 15 years ago. I will give you simple, actionable items to get long-term sustainable results. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show.
1 (33s):
All right, welcome to the get lean eat clean podcast. My name is Brian grin, and I hope you're having a great day and had a great weekend. I'm excited to talk to you about my evening and morning routine. And if you listened to any of my interviews with my, the health experts I have every week, you'll know, I ask my guests quite a bit, maybe not every show, but almost every show. What do they do to optimize their health with their morning routine and their evening routine? And I'm going to discuss mine today and you know, you don't have to have exactly or do exactly what I do. You know, it's a psych, everybody's a little bit different. We have a different schedule, but I think more importantly, try to find time to weave in some type of routine.
1 (1m 21s):
And you'll find that, you know, ending your day and starting your day on the right foot. It's so important. And it creates this snowball effect that leads to a great sleep or the start of a day. So let me start with my evening routine. And this is something that I'm always tweaking, trying to find sort of the optimal way to wind down in the evening, sort of shut off the body and the mind. I think this is so important. Cause you know, once a day goes, a lot of us are busy. We have a lot of responsibilities and goals that we want to do throughout the day. And it's so important to, you know, give some time to yourself at the evening time and be very present.
1 (2m 6s):
And so one of the things I like to do right off the bat, actually, after I eat, I like to go for a walk. Now, granted I have two dogs and I usually go with my wife, Erin on a walk with the two dogs after we're done eating. This is just an one way to wind down, helps get the dogs to settle down. Also, you know, after dinner, you've heard me talk about it before. A great goal is to go for a walk after dinner, whether you have dogs or not just for blood sugar, maintenance and digestion. And essentially it doesn't have to be this hardcore walk. It could be a 10, 15, 20 minute walk through the neighborhood. And this was sort of is this like the signal to get you to sort of, you know, your body and your mind to start to realize, you know what it's starting to get towards the evening.
1 (2m 55s):
I should settle down a little bit. Another thing that I like to do is obviously shut my devices off or limit blue light exposure either through screens or TV. Now, if you do have to do some work late night, you know, you can also wear some blue light glasses and you know, obviously blue light wearing glasses have been sort of this trend that's that's increasing throughout the years. Mainly probably because of COVID and everyone was working from home and staring at screens all day, doing zoom calls. So they've, their sales have increased a ton. I actually found a study in 2017, done by the university of Houston found that participants wearing glasses showed about a 58% increase in their nighttime melatonin levels.
1 (3m 44s):
So by using blue-blocking glasses, we can improve sleep and still continue to use our devices. That's nice because you know, you can be productive at night. So I think, I think that's it. I have blue blue blocking glasses and I like them. And I do find that it helps sort of ease the screen use on my eyes and it can help sort of like settle down. But also I don't register recommend if you don't have to doing productive, try to do productive work late at night. I sure can't but some people really work well at night, but then again, if you're trying to won't wind down, I wouldn't recommend staring at screens, whether you have blue blocking glasses or not, because we want to sort of take our mind away from what we've been doing throughout the day.
1 (4m 29s):
So as the American academy of ophthalmology says, they take a little bit of a different approach is that you don't need to spend extra money on blue light glasses to improve sleep, simply decrease evening time, screen time, and set the MOSIS excuse me, and set devices to night mode. So anyways, I'll leave it with that. You can pick and choose how you want to do that, but definitely you want to limit your blue light exposure towards the evening. So you can start secreting melatonin and get a better night's sleep. Now, this is another thing that I've been doing a little bit here and there. Maybe not every night, but a little bit of sleep meditation.
1 (5m 9s):
My sister Alicia is gotten into meditation and she recommended a few apps. One of them was 10% happier app and she said, Oren, J Sofer. And you can look it up. I'll put a link in the, in the show notes. She's like, his voice is soothing and it'll put you right to sleep. So you'll probably fall asleep right then. So if you've never done any sleep meditation, check out 10% happier and orange a sofa. I have no affiliation with them at all, but this was her recommendation and something I've been messing around with. And I do find that it helps me fall asleep. So give it a go. If you've never tried that it doesn't have to be a long meditation. We're talking like 10 minutes.
1 (5m 51s):
Lastly, a little bit of sauna use, not everyone has a sauna. I totally get that. I actually was lucky enough to put an infrared sauna in because of the benefits that I have found and that I've heard through just listening to other podcasts and just doing research on my own. The national Institute of health have infrared linked infrared therapy with improved sleep quality. And it does this in many ways. It calms, it relaxes us, makes it easier for us to fall asleep after a stressful day. Secondly, the infrared therapy uses red light, which in turn causes your body to produce melatonin. So the more melatonin your body creates before bed, the easier it will be to fall and stay asleep.
1 (6m 34s):
I will find when I do use so infrared, even for like 20 minutes that I have better sleep. And I actually find that I actually fall asleep quicker, but I'm a pretty good sleeper as it is. But if, if sleep is really an issue, this is something maybe you should look into. Okay? So those are some of the things that I use in my evening. I can't say I use them all the time, but I try to implement at least two or three out of the four things that I mentioned now, morning routine is a big one as well. And I know sometimes people get up and just go. I will say, if you could set your alarm 10, 15 minutes early, so you have time for yourself.
1 (7m 14s):
If you have kids, it's important to have time for yourself and simply going for a morning walk. If that's going to be your morning routine, then you were doing nothing before. Then I think that's a big step in the right direction. You get some natural sunlight and you know what? The one thing that morning walk does, it creates positive momentum for the rest of the day. It check it off, you've done something and it sort of gets you in that mindset of, okay, I'm going to have a nice productive day. Some other things that I like to do other than a morning walk because I have dogs. So I, I take them every morning on a walk is I try to read 10 minutes a day. I'm lucky enough that I have a little bit of time in the morning. You know, I usually, I usually like to have about, I'd say about an hour to an excuse me, half hour to 40 minutes to dedicate to myself without turning on my phone.
1 (8m 4s):
And that is reading because reading is something that I'm not great at. I will say, but 10 minutes a day I can do. I've also picked up some new hobbies. I am getting piano lessons. So maybe pick up a hobby. If you don't want to read, you know, you can paint for 10 minutes or you can play piano, which is what I'm doing or guitar. And I just do 10, 15 minutes a day. So learning an instrument, I was doing a little bit of research. I, you know, we all know the benefits of just helping with your brain and neuroplasticity and things like that. It's sort of a peaceful retreat. You know, I find it as a peaceful retreat there and a 2016 study therapeutic outcomes of playing music include better communication skills, improved emotional release and decreased anxiety and agitation.
1 (8m 57s):
So musical training promotes cognitive function, mental health, and a connection to others. So that alone can be a big step in the right direction. I think as we get older, we feel like, oh, why should we take up a new hobby? But why not? Can be a lot, can be beneficial to a lot of people, including myself. I like to do a little bit of movement prep. Okay. And again, like I said, start with one of these. You don't have to do all of them movement prep. Obviously, if you went for a walk and that's all you can fit in, start with that. But I like to do a little bit of maybe like a light yoga class. If you're familiar with yoga, just getting the body moving, doesn't have to be a deep stretch or anything.
1 (9m 37s):
You know, if you, if you know yoga like cat, cow, getting some spine movements in there, maybe some down dog or some pigeon, if you're unfamiliar with that, there's plenty of obviously guidance on, on YouTube or there's an app I used to go to a lot with was downward dog app downdog app is, is the name of it. So get some movement prep, think about it. Even laying down for 7, 6, 7, 8 hours, and you get 40 plus you don't move like you did when you were twenties, when you were in your twenties. So do a little bit of movement prep. And lastly, this is something that I've added in more over the last few months. Most recently is a gratitude journal.
1 (10m 18s):
So blessed in many ways. And I actually found a study that was done a few years ago, showing that gratitude means you are acknowledging the goodness in your life. And by writing these things down, you're able to feel more positive. You're able to feel positive emotions, relish, good experiences, and build strong relationships. And it's a recipe for a much happier life. So we all have many things to be grateful for. I know I do. And I think writing it out is a great way to, to do that. So if you don't have a gratitude journal, you don't need to buy one. You could literally just put, just grab a bunch of paper and just start writing it there, or even keep like a doc with it. But I think it just, it's a way to look back and just see how many things that we have, that a lot of people really don't have.
1 (11m 2s):
So that is all I got for you. That was my morning routine. Like I said, you know, listen to this again, if you want to hear it again. But the main thing is take one or two or even three things from the things that I've mentioned with my morning routine and my evening routine. And hopefully this will help you lead a happier, healthier life. So again, hope you're enjoying my micro podcasts. Feel free to write a review, ask a question if you got on YouTube or on social media. And I hope this helps you with your routine, whether it's in the morning or in the evening. And I appreciate you listening, have a great rest of the day and thanks so much.
1 (11m 43s):
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1 (12m 24s):
If this sounds like a fit for you, email me@brianatbriangrin.com with the subject line blueprint. That's brian@briangrin.com with the subject line blueprint.
0 (12m 41s):
Thanks for listening to the get lean eat clean podcast. I understand there are millions of other podcasts out there and you've chosen to listen to mine. And I appreciate that. Check out the show notes@briangrin.com for everything that was mentioned in this episode, feel free to subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend or family member who looking to get their body back to what it once was. Thanks again, and have a great day.
