Real Routines x Julie Nguyen
Julie Nguyen is the CEO & Co-founder of Methodology. Designed to help busy professionals transform their bodies and lives, Methodology delivers gourmet, nourishing, fully cooked meals that are sustainably packaged in reusable glass jars and bentos. Methodology ships nationwide to the 48 contiguous US states.
Take Three
Sleep accessories: Julie sleeps with an eye mask and ear plugs every night. “This will give you at least an extra hour of sleep if you’re a light sleeper, which is game changing for how you feel and perform the next day. I feel so strongly about this I’ve designed a 100% mulberry silk sleep eye mask for Methodology that will launch later this year,” said Julie.
Travel solo: Solo travel has helped Julie leapfrog herself every year in so many ways. “I’ll never stop doing it, even after I get married,” admits Julie. “This is an incredible way to make friends with locals to truly learn about the local culture and, more importantly, to reimagine a more ideal version of yourself that’s more aligned with your dream life. When you travel alone you get to reinvent yourself and experiment with being someone new whom you’d never thought you could be,” she said.
Find you energy: “Learn how and when to be in your masculine vs. feminine energy for healthier relationships at work, with friends, and in your love life. I used to only be in my masculine energy because this is what had helped me succeed at school and at work. This is the energy of doing and driving things forward. Feminine energy, on the other hand, is about going with the flow, attracting, and inviting. It wasn’t until I learned the power of when and how to be in my feminine energy that I was able to also succeed in my romantic relationships and feel more balanced overall, she said.
My Routine
Morning routine: “I always wake up naturally without an alarm clock to ensure I’ve gotten enough sleep. I never schedule early morning meetings. First thing upon waking, I do a 15-minute HIIT workout using the Sweat app then walk for 30 minutes on a 10-15% incline on a treadmill. After I shower, I have Methodology organic ceremonial matcha because it has half the caffeine of coffee plus has L-theanine, which improves relaxation and sleep. Plus in Eastern medicine, green tea is “cooling” whereas coffee is “warming,” and I’ve noticed that eating more cooling foods and fewer warming foods has helped immensely with keeping my acne and eczema at bay,” said Julie.
Evening routine: “I finish dinner 3 hours before I want to fall asleep, so most days I eat dinner alone at 5 or 6 PM. I aim to be in bed by 8:30 PM on Sunday to Thursday nights and asleep by 9:30 PM. Some nights I pass out as early as 8 PM! I go to bed whenever I feel sleepy. I always use an eye mask and ear plugs to make sure I sleep through the night because I’m a light sleeper. I track my sleep with both the Oura ring and the ShutEye iPhone app, which records all the sounds I make all night like coughing, talking, or snoring. Getting adequate sleep is the single more important thing we can do for our health, so my life revolves around sleeping enough even if it means working or socializing less than I’d like. When I sleep enough, it’s 10x easier for me to do deep work, exercise, eat healthy, and be a kind person the next day. I sleep at least 8 hours a night. Sometimes as much as 10 hours if I didn’t sleep enough the night prior,” said Julie.
Workout routine: “Every day I do a 15-minute HIIT workout using the Sweat app then walk for 30 minutes incline walking at 10-15% on a treadmill. I never miss a day no matter what. I’ve found it’s easier to maintain the habit of working out when I do it every day rather than a few days a week because this removes all negotiation about whether to work out today or tomorrow. It’s transformed my body. I’m in better shape in my 40s than I was in my 20s, even though I had a personal trainer and was doing much longer workouts then. But my diet is also way better now thanks to Methodology,” she said.
Social media routine: “The most game-changing routine I’ve started in the past year is limiting my social media and dating apps to a 30-minute window once a day. I’m such an addict that I have to have two iPhones to make this possible. One iPhone has those apps on it, and one iPhone doesn’t. I keep the iPhone that has dating and social media apps on it tucked away in another room or in my purse when I’m not supposed to be using it. Since doing this, I’ve noticed improvements in my confidence, feelings of peace, and ability to stay focused on doing deep, hard work for hours,” said Julie.
Favorite Things
Reading: “The Diary of a CEO” by Steven Bartlett. It includes the 33 laws of business and life. “I’ll take notes and come up with takeaways for things to try doing differently in my business and personal life. If I like the book a lot I’ll probably re-read it again in a few months. I read 3-4 books a week. I’ve been doing that since I was a kid. Reading is my main hobby, the thing I spend the most time doing each week when I’m not working. I can’t wait to write my own book someday,” said Julie.
Recipe: “My favorite high-fiber vegetable to eat to fill me up and improve my gut health is artichoke. Chop off the top third of the artichoke and steam it for 25 minutes. Serve it with unfiltered extra virgin olive oil and truffle sea salt. It tastes amazing and is so good for you. Eat it as a snack or before dinner and you’ll have almost no appetite for dinner because it’s so nourishing,” said Julie.
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