Pursuit of Wellness - Solo: My Updated Morning Routine for Emotional & Hormonal Balance

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

Ep. 175: In this episode, I’m sharing my updated morning routine and how it’s shifted to support my mental health, hormones, and overall well-being. My mornings used to be intense—early workouts, strict schedules—but right now, I’m prioritizing flexibility and balance. I’ll walk you through what my routine looks like today, from wake-up time and workouts to small habits that make a big difference. Whether you’re looking for new wellness ideas or just curious about what’s working for me, I hope this gives you some inspiration. Leave Me a Message - click here! For Mari’s Instagram click here! For Pursuit of Wellness Podcast’s Instagram click here! For Mari’s Newsletter click here! Sponsored By: Get 100+ advanced lab tests with Function Health. Skip the waitlist at FunctionHealth.com/a/mari-llewellyn and take control of your health today. You have until February 24th to take advantage of our exclusive 20% off discount code. Visit Carawayhome.com/MARI or use code MARI at checkout to get 20% off your order. Shop Quince for luxury essentials at 50-80% less than similar brands. Get free shipping & 365-day returns at Quince.com/POW. Boost your metabolism with Lumen, the handheld metabolic coach. Get real-time insights and personalized nutrition plans. Visit Lumen.me/POW for 20% off! Show Links: Try Bloom’s Juicy Orange Sparkling Energy—refreshing, fizzy, and crash-free. Fuel your day with Bloom! Nourish your gut, immunity, and glow with Bloom Colostrum & Collagen Peptides. This 3-in-1 formula supports wellness from within. Try it for yourself! Boost your wellness with Bloom Greens, packed with vitamins, nutrients, and superfoods for daily energy and digestion. Make it part of your routine today! Sobriety, Fitness, Gratitude: The Tools That built Michael Chernow’s Life Topics Discussed 00:00:09:16: Welcome 00:01:24:21: Old morning workout routine  00:02:38:09: Current morning routine 00:07:45:08: Current workout routine  00:11:57:08: Current breakfast 00:15:14:19: Supplements  00:16:29:04: Skincare  00:20:50:17: Hair  00:21:41:05: Clothes 00:22:46:03: Where to get Bloom products

This is the Pursuit of Wellness podcast and I'm your host, Mari Llewellyn. What's up guys? Welcome back to another solo episode. Today we are talking all things, my current morning routine and I think this will be a good episode to do now because things have changed a decent amount Probably if you've been with me for a while, they've changed a lot because my morning routine used to be Super intense and there's definitely a time and place for that But that time is not now for me my morning routine lately has been much more mental health slash fertility hormone focus. Like let's say

it's my feminine-era morning routine, it's been way more flexible, it's been way more enjoyable I would say. Definitely still some health things sprinkled in there and some non-negotiables but I you know if you've been following me lately I've been following me lately, I've been going through IVF and it's definitely taken a mental and physical toll on me. And I don't have the bandwidth that I used to have. And although exercise is still an important part of my life,

it makes me feel so good. It's not, it's no longer a top, top, top priority. So I wanna fill you guys in on what that looks like and give you an inside look. If you've been with me for a while, as I said, I used to wake up at 5.30 a.m. and roll out of bed and go directly to Gold's Gym and do a crazy workout for an hour and a half. And it's okay to evolve and grow and change.

I think that's such a big thing I wanna emphasize because the old me, I had such a hard time letting go of my routines. Nothing could get in the way of me waking up at 5.30 and going to the gym. And if anything changed, like if I was sick or going through something, or if there was a workout class I got invited to,

I would say no every time and just keep doing my thing because I think I was so reliant on my routine for some reason as like a safety blanket and now I kind of like change things day to day depending on what my mood is or what's going on which is really nice and it's given me like a sense of freedom that I didn't have before so yeah let's hop in and give you a look at what it looks like now and truthfully it changes every day but I will give you a look at what it is like typically and there's some things in here that don't change. So lately I wake up between seven and seven thirty which still feels like a luxury when I went so long waking up at like 5, 5.30. 7 to 7.30 feels really really doable. Something that I've been

doing recently which was actually inspired by Michael Chernow who came on the show very recently. If you go back and look at my recent episodes he talked about sobriety and gratitude and prayer were a really big part of his routine. And what he does is first thing in the morning and last thing at night, he gets on his knees and says a prayer. And as you guys know,

I've been just like leaning way more into like my spirituality and praying and gratitude and things like that during my IVF journey. And I have started saying a prayer every single morning and I say something, you know, in my head for people in my life, for things I'm going through, for, you know, just like giving me the strength to get through what I need to get through that day

or whatever it may be. And it's just this moment of like gratitude, asking for help and being present. And I felt like it has put me in a really good head space to take on the rest of the day, which is so nice. And then, you know, last thing at night, saying thank you, you know, thinking about the great things that happened to me that day,

just like taking a moment to soak it in because it's so easy to just blast through everything and focus on the negative. So that is something I've implemented that I really, really love. The next thing I do, and also I should mention before I say the prayer, I open the blinds because I want to see outside right away. And then I turn off my hatch rain noise machine that I have going, and I head into the bathroom, do the normal things, brush my teeth, brush my hair, throw on some kind of active wear, dog walking outfit.

It's been super cold in Austin lately, so I bundle up and then it's time to head into the kitchen. The very first thing I do in the kitchen is take any medication that needs to be taken on an empty stomach, pretty sure my thyroid medication is what I take. And then I make a hydro flask, so I take a big cup like this, if you're watching on Spotify on video, I take a big cup of water and I add all my fancy things into it so that I have that going for the day. So I'll throw in some like electrolytes or something. I always throw in a scoop of Bloom

colostrum and collagen peptides. That has been amazing for my skin and gut health and I do it every single day. If I'm exercising I throw in my creatine which has been amazing and I'll throw in a scoop of glutamine which is great for gut health and Then some ice cubes and honestly it tastes really good and I'll like drink it while I exercise or whatever I'm doing Then it's time to go let the prince out. I head upstairs to Arnold's bedroom Which is so funny that he has a whole room We haven't really filled the rooms upstairs yet because we don't have kids yet or anything So Arnold has his own bedroom and his crate and he loves his

crate so I wake him up and let him out which is so cute. I give him a little cuddle and then he just shoots downstairs like this. He basically flies down the stairs. He's so fast and crazy. Then I feed him which is the whole thing. He goes and sits on his little place we call it. I go place and he goes and sits on this platform. Arnold's a very crazy dog, like very high-energy, very food obsessed, so we have like a whole system with him because otherwise it's just madness. So he goes on his place, I put his collar on and then I put his snood on which is like this thing that holds his ears back. I'm doing a deep dive right now onto Arnold's routine, but it's just necessary.

I have a snood for him, which like if you haven't seen it on my story, it's so funny it's like a little scarf because his ears get in his food and The snood has like animal eyes on it and it's just the cutest thing. I have like a frog one and a bear one And he looks so funny so I do that give Arnold his breakfast and Then it's time to let him outside because he needs to be outside immediately. So let him out, and then him and I go on a walk.

We kind of switch up the walks we do in my neighborhood, but we get outside, I get some steps, I get some sunlight, Arnold gets his steps, he gets his playtime. It's honestly like the nicest way to start the day, and I normally walk for like 30 minutes with him It's a really nice way to get some sunlight like stay off my phone Be present get outside and also I should mention Greg handles Lulu Like we divide and conquer responsibilities. So he handles Lulu. I handle Arnold and

That's that so then I get home and I either make myself a coffee in our Breville machine or I grab an energy drink. Depends on the mood. If I'm weightlifting, it's probably an energy drink. If I'm headed to Pilates, maybe it's a coffee. My new favorite flavor is our juicy orange. It's subtle, orange, fizzy, so good good at this point. It's time for my exercise So I'll either change into a workout outfit or I'm already in one and I'm either heading down to our garage

For our home gym to do a weightlifting session, which I probably would have already decided what I'm doing I'm either using the strength app which is my fitness app that I've been developing since I started this career, like it's all the workout plans I've been following since the beginning, and there's videos and different workouts for different body group, body like muscle groups, et cetera. And then I'm either doing that or I'm doing Pilates, maybe walking, whatever it may be.

So that's what I've gotten really flexible with, to be honest. Probably weightlifting like three times a week, Pilates twice a week. Sometimes I'll do a Barry's class, sometimes I'll go walk around the trail, just depends. I just try and switch it up every day. I weightlift for about 40 minutes,

Pilates is for an hour. Maybe I'll walk on the treadmill to get some steps as well. Like I'm definitely trying to hit that 10K steps every day. It is tough when it's cold outside. As you guys know, I am someone who has completely transformed my life through a dedicated wellness journey. I lost over 90 pounds and I'm always looking for tools to provide deeper insights into my body.

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skip functions waitlist and gain instant access at functionhealth.com slash a slash Mari dash Llewellyn. We'll make sure we have that link available in our description box as well. February is the time for entertaining, whether it's a Galentine's Day brunch with the girls or a Super Bowl watch party. There are so many different things you can do at your house.

And I personally love to have my caraway cookware out on my stove. And I like to use it for baking, for my sourdough, my cookies. It is the perfect way to host. Plus, I love the fact that I know I'm serving with toxin-free cookware. 95% of home goods are made with toxic chemicals like PTFE's or Teflon and over 70% of fry pans sold in America contain Teflon. 97% of Americans have PFA's toxic chemicals from non-toxic cookware in their blood. It is so important to make

the switch guys and use non-toxic cookware. Make the swap to non-toxic living today with Caraway's cookware set. It will save you $150 versus buying the items individually and just a reminder you have until February 24th to take advantage of our exclusive 20% off discount code. So visit carawayhome.com slash Mari or use code Mari, M-A-R-I at checkout to get 20% off your order. Yeah. Yeah. And I really enjoyed Pilates. I find it to be very hard, especially the class I take

here in Austin, which is called Forma, and it's literally impossible. Like, I'm shaking. It's torture. So yeah, I'm doing one or the other. After I'm done exercising, it is time for breakfast. I am a breakfast girl. Like, I will never be someone who skips breakfast. I know girls who wait till lunch, or they intermittent fast. Couldn't be me. I wake up starving. And I like breakfast food. I lately eat sourdough, which I've been making myself. I actually need to make another loaf ASAP, because I'm running low. I use the ballerina farms recipe from YouTube. She posted it two years ago and it makes two loaves.

And what I do is I eat one fresh and then I slice the other one and put it in the freezer. And honestly, toasting from frozen is amazing because it's frozen like at the freshest time. And then I eat my eggs from my chicken coop. This is like my dream situation. Like the fact that I can even say that to me is the coolest thing. I do want to grow my own berries at some point and have a garden,

but I'm not all the way there yet. I'll figure that out at some point. Sometimes I'll do like a yogurt bowl with granola, but like protein is so, so, so important to me. So if I'm doing yogurt, I want to use something that has a high protein content. Like there's a Skyr, S-K-Y-R Skyr, has high protein in it. I'll do that. You could do Fye, whatever. I've also been drinking this juice every single day. I either drink it with breakfast or dinner and it's for fertility.

So any queens listening who are doing IVF, trying to have a baby, trying naturally, doing IEY, whatever, you need to be consuming pomegranates. Like I'm sorry, pomegranates are my new personality. I'm obsessed with them. They literally work. Like I've watched it happen in other people. Pomegranates are nature's fertility medication.

I think because they have such high folic acid, they help with the lining of the uterus. They help with embryo implantation. So I am chugging pomegranate and beet juice to help with the chances of my embryos implanting right away. I shouldn't say embryos, that sounds like I'm gonna have twins. Embryo. So I am consuming pomegranates regularly. I'm eating the seeds, I'm drinking the juice, I'm doing all the things. So what I do is I mix pomegranate juice pure. You want to get pure.

I think my brand is called Lakeway. The ingredients should say pomegranate seeds and water and that's it. So that plus pure beet juice with some seltzer, ice cubes and a straw because that stuff's like, it's gonna die your mouth so you wanna use a straw. And I drink that every single day. You could also sprinkle like pomegranate seeds on your yogurt or like whatever, but you need to be consuming that if you wanna have a baby.

That is my opinion. I'm having breakfast, I cook it myself every day. I cook with butter by the way or ghee. I don't cook with olive oil and I put butter on my sourdough bread with flaky salt. Yum I don't put honey cuz like I can't have sweets in the morning Like I have a really hard time with that. It makes me like feel brain foggy So I skip that and honestly when I eat breakfast, this is a time where I like check my phone See what's on the cowl for the day

Has anyone texted me I go on Instagram. I see my tik tok phone, see what's on the cowl for the day. Has anyone texted me? I go on Instagram, I see my TikTok stuff, which is honestly scary. Every time I click on TikTok, I get scared. Because I feel like anything could have happened on there overnight, do you know what I mean? What's going on? And then after I've eaten,

that's when I really take all my supplements. So it is a lot more simplified than it used to be. If you've listened to this podcast for the last two years, I used to take a crazy amount of supplements because I thought it was helping my skin or like whatever I was doing, like going through it. Now it's way more like fertility focused and I'd say simplified.

So normally I'm taking my bloom greens every day to get in all my vitamins and nutrients. Or you could mix that in with your Hydroflask or with your pomegranate beet juice. I actually saw a girl comment on my TikTok saying she mixes her pomegranate juice with her greens, which I think is genius. I also told you guys, I take this IVF egg freeze pack,

like a supplement pill pack. If you just Google that, you'll find it. It has everything you need in that one pack, which is fantastic. Then I also take, right now I'm taking like vitamin D because we're not getting enough sun, like it's too not sunny enough here in Austin, and zinc. And that's pretty much it.

And like any medication that I need to be taking. I really feel like that's all you need. And then, you know, obviously at night I'm taking like magnesium and stuff, but way more simple than it used to be, thank goodness. After my supplements, it's time to head into the bathroom to get ready. So this is a moment where maybe if I'm feeling extra fancy,

I'm gonna do red light therapy. You guys know I love Bonchage. I love the face mask. Really good for acne scarring, wrinkles, like whatever. Great way to like, you know, meditate, read a book, do something. or I'll do one of my Epicutus sheet masks or I'll do a zhuwei eye patches just something to like vibe out I wash my face with clear stem always

Do all my serums moisturizers lately I've been gua sha-ing I do not know if I'm doing it right, like a little whatever jaw, cheekbone, down the neck, trying to flush the puff and the toxins. I feel like with everything going on with me lately, hormonally, like I feel like a science experiment, I like, my face looks different every day, so it just makes me feel like I'm doing something, like I'm chiseling something. So I'll do that for a minute when I'm like moisturized. And then unless I'm recording, like if I'm recording like this and I'm on camera

or I'm doing a shoot, then I'm gonna do makeup. And I never put a ton of makeup on, but like for me, this is a lot right now. And I've like found a lot of things I really like, like actually I used some new stuff today that I got because of my friend Hannah Chodey cause she's like a beauty influencer and posts really good makeup.

And I put like Bobbi Brown vitamin something as a face base and I do a say slip tint moisturizer and I do Westman Atelier concealer. If you want to see my makeup routine, honestly go on my TikTok cause I've done it on there a couple times. But most of the time, I literally just put Color Science Sunscreen, which is acne safe,

and it has tint to it, so it makes your face look a little more tan. Maybe I'll do a little bit of concealer on acne scars, little bit of the road freckle blush. I have an acne safe powder that I'll sometimes use, eyebrow gel by Victoria Beckham, Benefit Lip Tin and that's it. I like it to look really really natural. If you're looking to revamp your wardrobe in 2025, Quince is my go-to for luxury essentials

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Thank you Lumen for sponsoring this episode. And then for my hair, I mean, I'm not much of a hair gal. Lately, I've been super into like getting a blowout and trying to make it last as long as possible. So like you go to like Milk and Honey if you're here in Austin or Chicago or LA, get a blow out, make it last. My hair gets greasy quite easily. So actually I recently got the Crown Affair dry shampoo and it's pretty fantastic

and that will help me make it last longer. So I'll make it last for like four days is like my max and that's like an efficient way of doing my hair. If not, I love my Dyson Airw air wrap I did that today for the flippy ends or I really like the air straight That's a new Dyson product that you could like blow out and it's like a straightener And it goes from wet to dry and it's completely straight, which is like kind of crazy But yeah, I'm not like a huge hair girl So I just do what I can and then we go into the closet today

I'm wearing like a real outfit. Like today I had to wear jeans and like a whole thing because I did a shoot at Walmart. But normally I'm wearing active wear and like trying to make it look cute. You know what I mean? Like I'm wearing a workout set and I'm trying to make it like good for real life.

And then depends on the day. Sometimes I'm working from home in my upstairs office or I'm heading into the office, like right now I'm in the studio, then I'll probably dress a bit nicer, but usually by like 9.30, 10, I'm heading out the door, going somewhere for work, whatever it may be, and that's the morning. That really is the morning, and that's way more chill than I'm used to, but I'm loving it, and I'm loving it and I'm really enjoying it.

And I know it wasn't too biohacky, too crazy, too wellness-y, but I just wanna be honest, like this is where I'm at. This is what the bandwidth of what I am able to offer right now. And that is okay. And I hope you got some little tidbits from here guys. And I know I mentioned a few products,

so maybe we'll try and link them in the description box if you want to try the bloom energy drink. It's at Target Walmart Kroger Meyer it's in a lot of retail stores now. You can also get out on Amazon our variety pack you can get our colostrum and collagen peptides at Walmart and Target and Yeah guys, I really appreciate you listening. A reminder, I know a lot of you listen but not all of you are subscribed to the show and if you're not subscribed you might miss an episode

and we have really, really fun episodes coming out, a lot of solos, I know you guys really enjoy the solos in the girl chats, there's a lot of those coming because right now I'm very much feeling pulled to doing more solos. I feel like I'm going through a lot in my life, and although I love my guest episodes and my experts, I'm just in an era where I'm really focusing on what I'm going through and wanting to chat with my friends and things like that, so a lot more girly chats coming. So make sure you subscribe to the show, leave a review if you loved it,

go follow me on TikTok and Instagram, we'll link all of that in the description box and I'll see you guys on the next episode, bye. ["Sweet Home Alone"] Thank you for joining us on the Pursuit of Wellness podcast. To support this show, please rate and review and share with your loved ones. If you want to be reminded of new episodes, click the subscribe button on your preferred podcast or video player. You can sign up for my newsletter to receive my favourites at marielawellen.com, it will be

linked in the show notes. This podcast is a Pursuit Network production brought to you by Michaela Phillips, Joel Contartese, Davielle Waldner, Jen Lauren, and Mackenzie Maisel. You can also watch the full video of each episode on our YouTube channel at Pursuit of Wellness podcast. Love you, Power Girls and Power Boys. I will see you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice

and does not constitute a provider-patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor or health team.