Morning Rituals, Grief, And Renewal

What do you hold onto when life tilts? Jax opens her heart about losing her mom and the calm that came from love, faith, and being present every day. That moment reshaped how we think about time and priorities, and it frames a practical blueprint for building a life that respects what matters most.

We move from reflection into action with a clear New Year reset: a belief audit, a values check-in, and a full digital declutter. Jax shares her multi-planner system—daily schedule, finances, content, curriculum, and wellness—so each lane of life has a home. Then we walk through her 3:30 a.m. workday routine for 2026, designed for midlife energy and focus: a gentle wake-up with visualization, hydration with lemon, and a supplement stack tailored to gut health, cellular energy, skin, and inflammation support. Movement layers in smart: vibration plate, Bend app stretching, 100 kettlebell swings, either strength and lunges or Zumba, and a walking pad session that pairs steps with learning.

Breakfast stays savory and steady with protein, fiber, and veggies, followed by a skincare sequence that prioritizes vitamin C, niacinamide or double serum, rich moisture, and daily SPF. Jax journals with prompts to set intention, packs lunches for herself and her son, and turns the commute into study time with audiobooks and podcasts. Throughout, the theme is simple and strong: systems free attention; attention fuels love and growth. The routine is a living template that will evolve with upcoming bloodwork and functional medicine insights, proving that consistency is kind when it stays flexible.

If the mix of heart and habit speaks to you, subscribe, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review so more women can find it. Join our Facebook group and Instagram channel for daily curriculum notes and glow-up rituals, and hop onto the free Sunday Substack workshop for women over 40 aiming to get 1% better every day.

Morning Routine Products

Transcript

Welcome And Episode Frame

SPEAKER_00 1:01

So, hello, ladies. Welcome to episode 31, season two of the Midlife Glowgetter Podcast. So happy to meet with you today. So happy you are listening and turning in. So I will be delivering some life updates and then going over in detail my typical workday morning routine for 2026. So thanks for joining and we'll get started. So let's first touch on some life updates. So on January 2nd, my beautiful, loving mom passed away at 7:30 p.m. in the emergency room hospital room. I was with her, my son, my dad, and my other sister at my home, and my mom started having breathing problems and went into shock. I gave her CPR, my son held her hand, my sister called 911, and the paramedics arrived. She was 85 due to be 86 on February 18th. She was not feeling well the previous two to three days and was vomiting a couple times. She was feeling better that Friday, and she did decide if she was not feeling 100% better by Saturday, the next day, she was going to the hospital. She did not have a temperature and did not have any pain. She was stable on the way to the hospital, which is only about five minutes away. We arrived at the emergency room and she stopped breathing and her heart stopped. The staff there performed CPR for about 25 minutes. My sister and I were in the room when she took her last breath. My dad, my son, my other sister, and niece arrived, and we gathered in the hospital room with her and prayed with our priest. I was not scared sitting next to her body. No one was. She was a warm, loving woman. I was consoled and at peace knowing that we will be reunited in heaven someday. It ended up being that she had aspired a couple days before at home, and her body went into sepsis. Her struggling to breathe to passing away was over a span of 30 minutes. I am grateful she passed away quickly and did not suffer. I miss her. We are a close family. We love each other. I am at peace because I know she loved us and we loved her to the very end. So if you take anything from this story, hold your loved ones closely. Tell them you love them. Show them you love them. Take the time with them because they can be gone in an instant. Life is short. It's not about a to-do list, it's not about social media, it's not about money. It's about quality time and memories with your loved ones, making each moment count. I can say peacefully that I have no regrets that I spent every day with my mom. I called her every day at lunch at work. I cooked and cleaned for her. I bought her new skincare items every week. I watched movies with her in the news. I shared my dreams with her. I asked her life questions and we spoke about important subjects. I shared my heart with her and she shared hers. I love you, mom. I miss you. I can't wait to be reunited with you again in heaven. Thank you for being there. Thank you for being my mom, my best friend, and the best grandma to Jake. So we're gonna switch gears and move on to some more life updates. I was supposed to get blood work done by Function Health last week. Uh, you're supposed to get it done within the first three D three days of your period. Uh, but because of my mom's funeral arrangements and everything that was going on, I was not able to do so, which is perfectly fine. So I have rescheduled my blood work for the first week of February and pushed back my functional medicine doctor appointment to March, which is fine. And it's in the books and ready to go. So that is another life update. Also, if you've seen on my social media, I have seen uh I have posted my New Year's reset from January 1st through January 5th. I did as much as I could considering the circumstances each one of those days. I finished up my reset this past weekend, so I am up to date with all the to-dos and I created for the uh prep for New Year's. Some of my favorite things I did for my reset included my word of the year, which is consistency. I did a belief audit and a values check-in. I was making sure all my daily actions and to-dos reflect my values and beliefs. I cleaned up my phone, my iPad, and my laptop, all the apps. I deleted ones I no longer use. I added a couple. My photos I cleaned up and purged and reorganized in different albums, and I cleaned up all my digital files and reorganized files and folders and new names. So I cleaned everything up. I set my planners for the year. So you're gonna think this is intense. I have multiple planners. I have an everyday scheduling planner I purchased from the daily. It's a really thick planner. I have a financial planner from Papier. I have a social media and online scheduling planner from PayPier. I have a curriculum planner that I bought from TikTok. It has a Taylor Swift motif to it, and I love it. And finally, I have a wellness planner from Golden Coil. So, yes, my planner situation is pretty intense. That's just how I roll. So I think I will show my planner process on social media soon so you can see and get ideas for your personal planners and ideas. So I think I'll show that. So watch out for that. I did a wellness and weight loss reset for the New Year's. I did a money reset, a relationship reset, and a style and beauty reset. So if you have any interest on those actual items I did and I completed within the last one to two weeks, check out my social media for the reels, and they have each item listed for each day categorized. So you could check that out and follow and maybe do some of those items if it interests you. So now we'll go on to the main segment. I'm going over my new morning routine on a typical workday for 2026. I love listening and learning from other people's morning routines to get ideas, to brainstorm. So I decided to share mine with you after I created the full morning routine for this year. And just a disclaimer: I wake up super early at 3:30 a.m. and I do go to bed at 8 p.m. the night before. I know this may be too much for many people, too intense. Just take bits and pieces of my morning routine and try it out if you want. You don't have to do everything. This is just what works personally for me and what makes me happy. So we'll get started with my morning routine for 2026. So I start the morning off by waking up at 3:30 a.m. I use an off-brand alarm clock similar to the hatch. I do want to pull the trigger and purchase hatch alarm clock. I just haven't yet. But this this alarm clock that I use, I got from Amazon. I think it was like$29. It really is good. I wake up with the birds chirping. There's also different different uh alarms such as crickets and storms and rain and creak. But I wake up with the birds chirping and it lights up a bright daily, bright light. And then I do lay in my bed and do a five-minute visualization in bed. If you're wondering the process of that, check out episode 28 previously in season one. And I do break down how I do my five-minute visualization in bed. And then I go to the bathroom and then I scrape my tongue with a tongue scraper. And then I weigh in. I have a body composition scale, and I do weigh in and it takes my full body composition. Then I will head to the kitchen. I will grab my water bottle. It's room temperature water with a lemon wedge. It's a large 40 ounce, and it's usually filled up to about 30 ounces, 25. And then I also do take IM8, which is basically a shortcut for women who want to support their health without turning wellness into like a second full-time job. It combines gut health, immune defense, cellular energy, and anti-aging nutrients into a daily drink. Um, this is the one that's sponsored by David Beckham, created by him. I do enjoy it. It is a really good drink. It tastes well, it has many nutrients and vitamins, and I take it before I my coffee after I drink my water. And the other thing is with the gut healing, the probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics, I do go to the bathroom, number two, fairly quickly. And it it feels great to get it all out of me. So I know that maybe too much TMI, but it does, it does do that for me. And I I do take it. My son also drinks it. And then after that, I will have a double shot of espresso. And then my supplements, I will start taking. I do take them on an empty stomach. It doesn't bother me. I do have one prescription that I take. It is a small blood pressure pill. It has been downsized, downgraded, and I should be able to get off it soon when I lose some more weight. So I have improved with that, but I'm still taking a blood pressure pill. And then I take fatty 15, which is a supplement. It delivers C15, an essential fatty acid that supports cell membrane health. This matters because of healthy cells equal better metabolism, lower inflammation, and more stable energy. It is, it also promotes heart health, liver health, and metabolic health function, all areas that tend to get difficult in midlife. So I do take fatty 15 for that. And then I take omega-3s. I'm sure many of you have heard of omega-3s. The omega-3s I take are really small, petite pills because I do have a problem taking larger pills and supplements. And a lot of times those omega-3s are large, really large pills. But I do take many omega-3s. You know, omega-3s supports brain health, heart health, joint comfort, hormone balance, inflammation control. Um, it also promotes skin elasticity, mood stability, and recovery from workouts. It is really a glow-up supplement. It's very popular. I'm sure you've heard of omega-3s. So I do take it. And then I take a collagen, but I take a liquid collagen. Um, it is beauty from the inside out. It helps skin firmness, elasticity, hair strength, nail strength, nail growth, joint comfort. So I do take a liquid collagen. And then I take longevity mushrooms, which is kind of an HM medicine. It has a variety of mushrooms like lion's mane, rishi, cordyceps, and jaga for supportive brain health, immune resilience, stress regulation, energy production, and inflammation control. It does give me focus and calm vitality without crashing. So I do take longevity mushrooms. Then I take an NAD plus reservatol and curcurmin. It's basically for cellular energy and repair. It helps with heart health and you know, health, healthy aging pathways. So it really helps with the cellular repair. Um, it also helps with brain health and inflammation balance, which I do have a problem with since I am still overweight. It helps with skin and mood. So it is a liquid in little singular packets like my collagen and longevity mushrooms. Um, everything I go over here, I will link in the show notes so you can check out. Then I take glow, which is CMOS and pearl powder, and that really helps with um trace minerals, magnesium, potassium, thyroid function, digestion, skin hydration, mineral balance, the pearl powder. It's basically for skin luminosity, bone support, nervous system regulation. So that's what I take. And then I take the same brand, it's called Grow. And I have a hard time pronouncing this. It's asta axithin and kelp. It helps with, it's like a axonenthidin is a really strong antioxidant. It supports skin elasticity, eye health, muscle recovery, inflammation control. It it's better, it's it's really good for women over 40. It helps with skin age better. Kelp is nourishment, it has traits of mineral minerals, natural iodine, it helps with the weight, temperature, regulation, focus, hair, skin, mood. So I do take that as well. And everything I go over here, my supplements, I am going to cater to my blood work when I get it done in February. This is what works for me right now, but everything will reflect what my blood work results will be in February when I meet with function health. And I'm not a doctor, but you know, as you know. And so this is just what works for me. Take it with stride. You know, this is just a disclaimer. Make your own decision. So that is basically my supplements. And then I will quickly check my email, my bank account, balances, withdrawals, deposits, and checks. I will do a quick check on my social media and see if there's any messages. And while I'm doing this, I'm ice rolling my face and neck with an ice roller from my freezer. And then I do apply caffeine under-eye serum with eye patches. The eye patches and the under-eye serum are stored in my little mini fridge in my bathroom on the counter. So I have a little mini fridge. And then I plan my social media for the day. It usually takes me about 20 minutes. I just set up a plan when I'm gonna post, something I have to do. Then I will jump on my vibration plate for 15 minutes and do some scrolling on social media while I'm on that vibration plate. Then I will do some stretching for 15 minutes. I use the bend app. Then I will do kettlebell swings, 100 of them. It takes about 10 minutes, and this is about 5 a.m. in the morning, and I will listen to a podcast in the background. Then I will either do dumbbells with my arms and lunges for 20 minutes, or I will do a Zumba dance and cardio. If I do the dumbbell arms and lunges, I will listen to a podcast. If not, if I do the Zumba Zumba or Dance Cardio, I will listen to the music on the YouTube video and do the do the workout. Finally, I end up with walking a minimum of 30 minutes on my walking pad. I do not go outside right now because it's dark and because of the weather. But I do this and it is about 5:30 a.m. at this time. While on my walking pad, I do habit stacking, which I will either listen to a podcast or scroll social media while on the walking pad. Then it's breakfast time. I typically make eggs and eggs white, egg whites, uh, spinach, mushrooms, and sweet potato, and either a half a cup of black beans or steamed broccoli. I know that's a really strange breakfast. I don't look at breakfast, dinner, lunch, you know, I eat nutrients. I eat for energy and support. I don't like anything sweet in the morning, and that's I usually like savory, full of fiber and protein. That's what I concentrate on. Then I'll jump in the shower quickly and just soap up and facial exfoliate and cleanse, and it's usually about 6:30 a.m. at this time. Then I will jump out, dry off, and apply body lotion, body oil. Well, body oil, body lotion, and the body powder. Then it's skincare time. And what I first do is I spray my face with Skin Smart Antimicrobial Spray. Then I apply CEO Glow Vitamin C and Turmeric Oil. And that is from Sunday Riley. And then I put on Purita's TXA 6 Niacinamide 10 Retinal Serum. Or I will apply Clarence Double Serum. Then it's Vanny Cream Moisturizer. And then finally, to finish it off, I will apply Innis Free Daily UV Defense Sunscreen. And finally, to finish off, I will apply Vaseline to my lips. So I usually don't go to work with makeup unless it's like a big meeting or an event or something that I'll apply makeup. But typically, 90% of the time, I go clean face with skincare, and I'm confident in that. Now it's teeth care, and I apply toothpaste with a whitening gel and I mix it on my toothbrush with an electric toothbrush. Then I floss and I do oil pulling. And right now, then it's about 6 50 a.m. And then I dress. Clothes are laid out from the night before, so I have no thinking. I just put them on and go. And then I journal for about 15 minutes in my kitchen with the news going on in the background. I journal and I do have journal prompts already laid out in my notes app that I pick and choose from. And a lot of times you will see me posting my journal prompts and stories on social media if you want to check that out. Then it's packing lunchtime. And I do pack my son's lunch. He's still living at home, and I figure I help him out. So I pack my lunch and his lunch. Um, usually for my son Jake, he likes chicken with sponge salad, a side of ranch, an apple or a banana, and yogurt chia pudding with raspberries. His water bottle, I clean and fill up, and I make him an iced coffee to go. For me, it's usually chicken or ground turkey with beans, cucumbers, bell peppers, and sponge salad with um a healthy ranch dressing on the side, a little container or baggie of nuts, a little container of blueberries. And right now, It's about 7:30 a.m. And so that takes me to pack the lunches about 15-20 minutes. And then I leave the house at about 7:50 a.m. I commute to work. It takes about 25 minutes. And I listen to an audiobook or a podcast. So it's habit stacking. So while I'm driving, I'm listening to an audiobook or a podcast. And I'm getting my time worthwhile. I arrived at work and clock in, it's 8:30 a.m. So that is my morning workday routine for 2026. So please again check out the show notes for links of all the products I brought up and mentioned for my morning routine for 2026. I will link everything. It's pretty much on Amazon. And then check out my Facebook group and Instagram channel if you haven't. I post daily facts and information from the weekly curriculum I am learning. And then I also post my daily glow-up rituals and other special content. I don't post on regular social media. It's in the channel of Instagram or in my Facebook group. So become a member or follow if you want. Then if you want, check out my Substack. I am new to Substack. I'm conducting a transformational workshop every week on Sunday at 2 p.m. for 2026. It's free. I don't charge for subscription. And it's for women over 40 looking to transform and become 1% better every day. It's called the Glowgetter Transformational Workshop. And it the substack is under my name, Jack Styes. So that's it. That is episode 31, season two in the books. That's my morning routine on a typical workday. And that was also my life update. I know it was kind of somber in the beginning there. I did this, I just wanted to let you know what was going on in my life. And I thank you for listening and stick around, sticking around. If you did so for this entire episode, if you found value for this episode, if you'd be so kind to leave a review, it helps women like you, like me, find this podcast and episodes and learn. We are all learning from this community and that I'm trying to create. So if you would leave a review, that would be so kind. So I appreciate you. And if you have any questions or comments, positive or negative, please email me or message me on social media. I take all responses and messages with open arms. So I thank you for sticking around. I thank you for your support. I hope you have an amazing and productive week ahead. Watch out for next week. And I just wanted to say I love and miss you, Mom. Love Jax.