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By Amy Zhang January 19, 2021 in Lifestyle, Wellness 2 Comments

How to Create and Stick to a Productive Morning Routine

A confession – before this year, I never had a morning routine. By that I mean, my mornings were never intentional. I would always wake up and jump straight into my day in a frenzy. I was like a human tornado – spinning nonstop from the moment I woke up. Looking back, it was so exhausting. I don’t know how I did it – and I don’t want to do that anymore. I’m not sure if it’s the pandemic or getting older, I’ve come to appreciate calmer mornings. Like, a full on morning routine that’s drawn out and downright lazy. Nothing starts the day better, I swear.

Starting my days with intention has done wonders for my anxiety and type-A personality. Even if you’re not a “morning person,” there are so many benefits to gain from creating and sticking to a routine. You don’t have to wake up at 5am and cross everything off your to-do list by noon. But finding the time – even if it’s just 30 minutes – to start your day with intention will kickstart an entire day of good habits and mindset.

How to Create a Morning Routine

Your morning routine is for you only! It’s not a competition and there’s no such thing as an ideal routine – you do you! Don’t add or do anything that doesn’t speak to your needs. The first couple hours of your day are some of the most precious – don’t waste them on things that do not serve you.

The first thing is to set good habits.

This means going to bed and waking up at as close to the same time as possible everyday – even weekends. I told you, this gets easier as you get older. These days, I rarely stay up past 10am and am always awake by 7am at the latest. This came after years of neglecting sleep, averaging less than 6 hours of sleep a night, and consuming more caffeine than what is considered clinically healthy.

If you’re looking for some books to kick start good habits and start your morning off right, I recommend Tiny Habits and The Power of Habit.

Once you have a target time to wake up, you can estimate approximately how much time you will have before you need to officially “start your day.” If you’re concerned about not having enough time to do everything in your ideal routine, you can either *try* to wake up earlier, or narrow down your morning routine to only focus on what’s most important.

That brings me to my last point on creating your morning routine – it’s all about prioritization.

At the end of the day, there are only 24 hours in the day and only so much you can get done at once. Where having a morning routine has been incredibly beneficial for me is honing in on only what matters. Asking myself, what activities have the most positive impact on the rest of my day? Knowing that I have the most energy in the morning, what are tasks I can get done right away when I wake up to set the day up for success? What are the 3 (yes, only 3!!) most important items to cross off my to-do list today?

My Morning Routine

On a perfect day, I would have time to do all of the below in order before starting my day. Of course, it’s not always possible, as life does get in the way. But I aim to do as many of the items in my ideal morning routine as possible every day, even if it means saying no to other plans or invites. I’ve noticed a remarkable difference in my overall mood and energy levels on the days I follow my routine vs. the days I just go, go, go.

At the very least, I try to meditate and plan out my day, which takes about 20 minutes.

Meditate

Literally every self help book tells you how important meditation is. I chose to ignore this advice for years because I decided meditation just wasn’t for me. It was boring. A waste of time. I’ve changed my mind completely. After sitting through a guided meditation given by a friend recently and feeling all of my anxiety melt away, I decided to give meditation another try.

I love the Calm App, it’s well worth the $79.99 per year (which amounts to less than a quarter for every daily meditation, not to mention all of the other great content you get as well – the bedtime stories are great for helping you fall asleep). I’m not a meditation expert by ANY MEANS – my mind races most days, and sometimes all I want to do is sleep. But I have to constantly remind myself that the benefits are real, and it’s not about having a “perfect” practice, but rather showing myself compassion and self-love.

Journal

Writing out my thoughts with a pen and paper has been a very calming and grounding practice to start my day. It helps me take stock of my emotions and thoughts in a tangible way. Especially when I am feeling a particular negative emotion, I find that a few minutes of journaling typically brings clarity and perspective in a way that sitting with my thoughts alone does not.

Plan out my day

I recently bought the Day Designer Planner thanks to a recommendation from my friend Camille, which was truthfully way more than I wanted to spend on a planner, but honestly it was money well spent. I can plan out what my entire looks by, hour by hour if I’m feeling really crazy. But most importantly, it allows me to write down my entire to-do list and then prioritize the top 3 most important tasks for the day. I try to do these first and focus on them. It’s really a great planner and well worth the price if you use it everyday.

Drink warm lemon water

I try to do this first, even before coffee. Supposedly it’s good for your digestion. I love that it’s a soothing ritual to do while listening to a podcast or audiobook.

Make coffee

We try to make coffee at home most days, either pour over coffee or our own cold brew at home. The process is a bit time consuming and methodical, but a part of my morning I’ve come to really love. I usually multitask while making coffee – straightening the kitchen/living areas and then feeding our dog. By the way – these are our favorite beans EVER.

Breakfast

I’m not the biggest breakfast eater, but I am making a concerted effort to eat breakfast and fuel my body for the day. It’s definitely a habit I have to instill over time. I usually do eggs, oatmeal, or a smoothie, depending on my hunger levels and if I had time to workout.

Bonus points if I get 8 hours of sleep, do an at home workout, manage to squeeze in some reading, do my full skincare routine, make the bed, and avoid checking emails/texts/social media this entire time.

What’s your ideal morning routine?

By Amy Zhang January 12, 2021 in Lifestyle, Wellness 2 Comments

How I’m Practicing Self-Care in 2021

We’re only 12 days into 2021, and it’s already shaping up to be a crazy ride! In an effort to stay true to my resolution of practicing more self-love (and by proxy, self-care), I’ve been making a concerted effort to identify what practices in my life allow me to fill my cup, and which ones leave me drained. The past year really forced me to critically evaluate everything in my life – my choices, behaviors, mindsets, relationships – and think about the role they were playing in my health. Some of my goals for myself – to SLOW DOWN and say NO more often. After all, if you don’t take care of yourself and love yourself first, who will?

Here’s how I’m practicing self-care in 2021:

+ Establishing a morning routine

I always viewed a set morning routine as something YouTubers did, but preferred a slightly more ~unstructured~ morning to allow myself to do as I please. What I didn’t realize is how much joy having an actual morning routine can bring, if you fill it with practices that energize you. I never thought I’d be a meditation & journaling first thing in the morning kind of girl, but I tried it out at the recommendation of a few friends and what do you know, I’m sold. I downloaded Calm and bought myself a journal. And now it’s how I start every morning. I love it, but your ideal morning might look different. Try a few different routines until you find one that works for you.

+ Limiting the news and social media

To be clear, this does not mean I’m not reading any news or on social media at all. I personally think it’s important to be informed and to have a perspective on what’s going on in the world around, but I don’t feel that being up to the minute in what’s going on in the world is the best for my mental health. There are a lot of studies that show overconsumption of news and reading headlines can be detrimental to mental health, and I found that reading the news everyday was triggering a lot of negative emotions and reactions in myself. It’s also incredibly distracting and a time suck.

+ Investing in myself

Last year really put a lot of things into perspective for me. I realized at the end of the day I was investing a lot of time into events, energy into people, and money into material possessions that ultimately didn’t bring any joy or positivity into my life. At the end of the day, my close relationships, health, and career are so much more important. An act of self-care to me today isn’t rewarding myself by buying new clothes. I’d much rather save or invest the money for my future goals (and travel when we’re able to do that again). I’m also investing in my health by kicking off the year with Whole30 (a full post to come on this) and dedicating an hour everyday to move my body, even if it’s just a walk around the neighborhood.

+ Dedicated time to do nothing

I used to really look down on doing nothing. I thought if my day wasn’t meticulously scheduled out hour by hour, and if I wasn’t running around with my head cut off like a chicken, I was doing something wrong. At the end of the day my body not so gently told me to SLOW DOWN. And maybe once in a while, do nothing? So now I actually schedule blocks of time throughout the week to “do nothing” – and it’s been glorious. Some of my favorite things to do during this time? Read a book, take a bubble bath, write, journal, go outside, cook. It really is all about the simple things in life.

How are you practicing self-care this year? xx

By Amy Zhang January 2, 2021 in Lifestyle 2 Comments

My Intentions for 2021

Happy New Year!!!! What a crazy year 2020 was. I started 2020 with the worst hangover I can remember and this year without any, so it’s safe to say things are already looking up. I can’t explain why, but the start of this new year feels different than past years. I’m doing my best to stay optimistic, and I really do feel so much promise and potential in the air. To signify the start of a new and hopefully much better year, I wanted to write out my intentions and resolutions to hold myself accountable and have something to look back on at the end of this year. Here’s to 2021 and hopefully the best year yet for all of you!

My Intentions for 2021

Self-love.

2020 was a challenging year, to say the least. From everything that was happening in the world around us and feeling completely powerless to do anything about it, to the direct impact coronavirus had on our careers and personal plans, it was incredibly emotional and difficult at times. As someone who tries to push through adversity by always seeing the bright side and being grateful for what I have, at times it felt like too much to put on a fake happy face when inside I felt like the world was crumbling around me. I took several months to seriously reset my expectations and aspirations and just allow myself to feel negative emotions. I allowed myself to feel sad about postponing my wedding, to feel devastated about the state of the world, and anxious about the uncertainty that seemed to permeate every aspect of life.

In 2021, I want to continue to allow myself to feel emotions, both positive and negative. But I want to leave a lot of the pain of 2020 behind me and move forward, however uncertain the future remains. Which brings me to my next intention for the new year –

Living without fear.

When I reflect on the past year, I realize how much time I was living in fear and paralyzed by anxiety. Everything in the world felt uncertain, and for most of the year I didn’t know how to fully handle it. I didn’t know if we should postpone or cancel our wedding, and felt angry when I looked around and saw other people throwing massive weddings.

I was also ashamed in promoting consumerism and frivolous purchases when people were losing their jobs, their life savings, their lives during a pandemic. So I stopped blogging and creating content completely because of this shame. Over time, I learned to be more compassionate and empathetic towards others – after all, we were all living through our very first pandemic! Even if you don’t agree with someone else’s decisions, I try to put myself in their shoes to at least try to understand where they are coming from, and give people the benefit of the doubt that they are most likely trying their best.

Now, I’ve realized that by being more intentional and thoughtful with the content I create, I can be a creator with integrity and intention, even during a pandemic. Creating content and being mindful of the state of the world around you doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. I’m looking forward to creating more and tapping into my creative side more in the new year.

Conscious consumption.

Something I want to bring into the new year with me is the concept of more conscious consumption. 2020 taught me to reevaluate not only what I buy, but how much and where I buy from. It really led me to rethink potential purchases and really sit with them before making the decision to buy. I went through my closet and did a deep purge on Poshmark (shop my closet here) and really made an effort to limit purchases. I’ve cut down on buying fast fashion completely and am committed to buying as many pieces as possible from resale platforms vs. buying new.

We’ve also made an effort to shop more locally – from supporting local restaurants and removing delivery apps from our phones, to buying groceries from the farmer’s market, to selecting local boutiques and Etsy shops for gifts, we’ve made a more conscious effort than ever to support small and local businesses.

Financial growth.

A couple of years ago I started to get more serious with my personal finances and have made a point to be more aggressive each year in terms of saving and investments. I want to commit to becoming more financially literate in 2021 and maximizing my earnings and savings potential even further. Whereas in the past I would look forward to treating myself with a new handbag or pair of shoes, I get a lot more satisfaction these days putting the money into an ETF and view it as an investment in myself and future. (I guess this is what happens when you turn 30, huh?).

Health.

And of course, physical health and well-being. If last year taught me anything, it’s to never take anything for granted, especially our physical health. I always look forward to starting the year with Dry January, and am even more excited that we are doing Whole30 this year. I’m looking forward to kicking the year off with a physical and mental reset, and want to be more intentonal moving forward with how I treat my body and what I put into it.

What are your intentions or resolutions for 2021? xx

By Amy Zhang December 12, 2020 in Lifestyle, Wellness 1 Comment

Sakara Review – My Experience with the Organic, Plant-Based Meal Plan

While I’ve always had an aversion to the words “detox” and “cleanse,” and shy away from anything related to crash diets or unsustainable eating habits. What can I say, I love to eat! But between a very busy end of the year work schedule, indulging a little too much during the month of November, and a killer Black Friday promotion, I finally convinced myself to bite the bullet and treat myself to a Sakara meal plan. I’ve tried other meal plans in the past but was drawn to Sakara’s emphasis on eating lots of plants and nutrient-rich foods.

Sakara has been on my radar for years. Touted as a luxury organic, plant-based meal plan based on a whole-food, nutrient-dense diet, Sakara is beloved by celebrities and models. I’ve seen the hype all over the internet and social media. But I wanted to try for myself and see how my body felt on plan.

I ordered the 5-day meal plan and opted for lunch and dinner from Sakara. I’m not the biggest fan of breakfast. So I made my own smoothies for breakfast everyday. I also supplemented the meals with my own snacks. But did stick to eating entirely plant-based for the week. I’m always a little apprehensive of overly glowing reviews. The skeptic in me can’t help but wonder, is it too good to be true? I wanted to share my honest review of Sakara – there was a lot that I loved about my experience! – but also share some of the potential downsides.

Sakara Review: My Experience with Sakara

Day 1

I woke up at 6am and the first 3 days of meals had already arrived on my doorstep. The meals are clearly marked with when they should be eaten and with instructions for reheating if needed. One thing I really loved about the meals is how each meal highlighted a seasonal superfood.

I unpacked my meals for Monday through Wednesday. And my immediate thoughts were – is this going to be enough food? My two meals a day also came with a daily probiotic and a satchel of detox tea for each day. I chose this plan for convenience rather than to lose weight. But at first glance I couldn’t help but think this would be a great weight loss plan if you were looking for structure and portion control. Sakara doesn’t provide calorie counts – one of their 9 Pillars of Nutrition is no calorie counting (which I love!) – and focus more on the nutrient density of their meals as opposed to calorie count.

The meal plan also suggests eliminating caffeine (in addition to gluten, dairy, sugar, and alcohol). But I still had my morning coffee everyday, along with my favorite smoothie for breakfast.

Lunch

by 11am I was ready for lunch, and had the H2O glow salad. Which was filled with bright greens and other vegetables. Although it was delicious, I was pretty hungry a few hours later and had to scarf down a Sakara energy bar.

You can’t make any changes or modifications to your first week of meals. But Sakara does have a super easy to use portal on their website where you can manage your subscription. You can change the number of days and meals you receive week to week. And also swap out 2 meals a week. In the future, I would likely assess the daily menu and substitute a different meal for the lighter salads or just know to add a snack.

By 4 pm I was starving… dinner was a Thai veggie burger salad with root vegetable fries. The meals indicate on the packaging if they should be reheated or not. I HIGHLY recommend reheating all of the dinners. I threw the burger patty and fries into the air fryer for 5 minutes which made my dinner substantially more delicious. This meal was actually so yummy. And surprisingly filling.

Day 2

I didn’t wake up super hungry. I made my coffee and had a cup of the detox tea that came with the meal plan. And I actually really loved this tea. Unlike other “detox” teas that are essentially laxatives, this one tastes good (rooibos, lemongrass, and rose) and didn’t have any of those crazy effects. I’m actually reordering a box to drink on its own afterward.

The meals this day were ok. A winter salad for lunch and “Revitalizing Risotto” for dinner. I wanted to stick to the meal plan. But as someone who is used to eating a lot more protein as opposed to grains throughout the day, I was really hungry throughout the day. I think the meals are delicious and I love how bright and colorful they are. But if you’re active and used to eating way more, it truthfully may not be enough calories.

It did feel like I was “resetting” my taste buds in a way. I found that throughout the week I felt more conscious of what was going into my body, and I wasn’t mindlessly snacking at all. If I felt hungry I would choose fruits or raw nuts as a snack, rather than chips or a cookie. It was a lot easier to say no to dessert when I had eaten so many vegetables throughout the day (and also knowing how much money I was spending on the meal plan!).

Day 3

By Wednesday I did feel less bloated, but I was also extremely hungry. Lunch was another salad, but the dinner (a corn muffin and a Southwest Sunset soup – which tasted like a vegan chili) – was my favorite meal of the week yet.

Day 4

Sakara divides their deliveries throughout the week so the food in your fridge is always fresh. Meals last for up to 3 days refrigerated, so if you happen to need to skip a meal for any reason, you can revisit it the next day. I received my second shipment for the latter half of the week by 6am again (their deliveries are between midnight and 6am) and was actually excited about the meals for the last two days. By Thursday I no longer felt super hungry throughout the day, and was really looking forward to eating the plant-based meals.

Day 5

The last day of my meal plan! My feelings towards Sakara definitely grew over the week as I came to really appreciate the variety in meals and how great I felt from eating plant-based for the week. By the end of the day, I was sad the week was over, and am looking to re-order and incorporate some Sakara meals into my regular routine.

My Honest Review of Sakara

Overall, I really liked my experience with Sakara. If you’re looking for a healthy plant-based meal plan, it’s one of the best options that are widely available on the market.

Pros:

+ Ease of use – the subscription portal on the website is SO easy to use. You can manage your calendar easily to change the number of meals and days you receive or skip weeks altogether. Their customer service is also A+.

+ Convenient – if you want to eat healthily but don’t have time to cook or want to think about what you’re eating, a meal plan is a great way to get variety and ensure you’re getting the nutrients you need. I LOVED how many greens I ate throughout the week – at least 3 cups a day – and my skin and digestion saw the benefits after the first 3 days of eating plant-based.

+ Great for detox or simply to “stay on track” – Sakara offers different levels of detox if you’re looking for a more “cleanse” like experience. I actually think the meal plan is a great way to eat healthy during the week and stay on track. In fact, Sakara actually encourages you to indulge in foods you love on the weekends, which is how I like to live my life!

+ Plant-based – if you already eat a vegan diet or want to eat a more plant-based diet, Sakara makes doing so easy and yummy. Although the meals look small at first glance, they are filled with nuts and seeds, grains, and beans to add additional bulk and protein to fill you up.

+ Diverse meals – the problem with meal prepping for one is you tend to end up eating the same thing every day. With Sakara, every day’s meals and flavors were different. So you never feel bored throughout the week. My favorite dishes were the Asian inspired flavors – the Thai and Indian meals were incredible.

Cons:

– Expensive – probably the biggest downside to Sakara, as with all high-end meal plans, is its price. It’s definitely a splurge. And something I wish I could do every day. I’ll definitely use it for a few weeks here and there when I need a reset or work is really crazy. But I will probably stick to meal planning and cooking for other weeks.

– Food quantity – although I loved most of my meals and the peace of mind that came with knowing my food was pre-portioned and filled with all of the nutrients I need, I was very hungry the first two days. If you are accustomed to eating a high protein diet, it might also be an adjustment as Sakara is much more grain and carbohydrate-heavy (as many plant-based diets are!). However, I will say it was a helpful exercise for me in recognizing hunger cues. And learning how to listen to my body when it came to food. I also felt encouraged to choose healthier options for snacks when I was hungry. And overall became more mindful of what I was eating and putting into my body.

Have you tried Sakara, or any other meal delivery services? If you’re interested in trying Sakara for the first time, you can get $50 off your first order!

By Amy Zhang November 4, 2020 in Lifestyle, Travel 3 Comments

3 Easy Day Trips to Take from Los Angeles

The year 2020 solidified my love of the day [road] trip. At this point, we are becoming day trip pros. We can have our bags packed and be ready to go within the hour. I am personally a huge fan of getting away for just the day – much less planning involved. And, you get to explore for a full day, but still spend the night in your own bed. (Which is a win-win in my book.) We’ve been exploring our own backyard all summer as we slowly started stepping out to “travel” again. I’m a little ashamed to admit how many local spots I had never visited, despite living in Southern California for over six years. I’ve come to truly appreciate all that Southern California has to offer. And wanted to share some of my favorite spots for a quick day trip from LA.

3 Easy Day Trips to Take from Los Angeles

Santa Barbara

Less than 2 hours up the coast from Los Angeles, Santa Barbara is an oasis away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Staying a night (or two) is highly preferred. But if you only have a day, you can still squeeze a lot out. Santa Barbara’s weather is much more temperate than Los Angeles, even in the summer it doesn’t get unbearably hot. My favorite way to spend the day is to drive up early in the morning, grab a coffee at Handlebar Coffee Roasters, and hang out by the beach. We usually bring the pup with us, so Hendry’s Beach is a favorite – it’s dog friendly, and has a great restaurant right on the beach.

Some of my other favorite things to do: go wine tasting in the Funk Zone or at the Frequency Wines tasting room, grab Mexican food at La Super Rica or Los Agaves, or go on an easy hike (the trails are relatively flat).

If you have more time, there’s even more wine tasting less than an hour away in Santa Ynez.

If you’re completely charmed by Santa Barbara (it’s hard not to be!) and want to splurge on a room for a night, check out the Ritz Carlton Bacara ($$$$) or the new-ish Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito ($$$).

Catalina Island

A few weeks ago I visited Catalina Island for the very first time. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that after 6+ years in Los Angeles I’d never made the trip. But the sentiment I heard from many locals is that they’re guilty of the same! If you haven’t been, you shouldn’t sleep on it. Yes, you can only get there by boat or helicopter, but it’s totally doable for a day trip.

If you’re heading for the day, you can catch an early ferry. (Book in advance as times and spots are limited currently due to COVID). The island is charming in the sense that it feels like time has frozen. And everything on the island is an institution.

There’s a lot to do on the island, you can hang by the beach (reserve a beach chair at Descanso Beach Club in advance and try the island’s signature drink, a Buffalo Milk!), go paddleboarding or kayaking, golf, or even go ziplining. If nothing else, I highly recommend embarking on a self-guided golf cart tour to explore the island further.

Catalina feels like Disneyland – but in a good way. A day trip for me was more than enough, but I’ve heard great things about camping on the island and staying at Pavilion Hotel right on the main street.

Los Alamos

Los Alamos is a tiny town about 2.5 hours from Los Angeles that’s perfect for a quick getaway. Or a stop if you’re driving further north along the coast. I visited “Little Los Angeles” a month ago and can see why it’s often compared to LA. The entire town along Bell Street is only 7 blocks long and feels reminiscent of the Old West. I loved Los Alamos and would love to come back to spend a night or two at Skyview Los Alamos.

While you’re there, stop at one of the many tasting rooms along Bell Street – Bodega (Pinterest dreams come true) and Casa Dumetz are highly recommended.

If you’re a foodie, you’re in luck! Los Alamos punches above its weight class when it comes to dining out. Snag a reservation at Bell’s, a French bistro that is reason enough to make a visit to Los Alamos (run by Food and Wine’s “Best New Chef” Daisy Ryan!). We really loved Bob’s Well Bread (get the bread, duh), which was started by a former Sony exec who took his love for all things bread to Los Alamos.

What are your favorite day trips?

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