My Morning and Evening Wellness Routine as a Functional Nutrition Dietitian: Daily Habits for Spiritual Health, Gut Health, and Hormone Balance

This routine will vary reflecting life changes. The key is maintaining small, consistent habits. The goal is longevity.

sleep

My morning starts with a good sleep routine. I typically sleep after Ishaa’ prayer and wake up pretty early to focus on my spiritual health. Try to figure out how many hours of sleep you need to feel at your best. A sign of well-rested restorative sleep is being able to fall asleep quickly and waking up feeling energized and ready to start the day with minimal to no interruptions during the sleep cycles (light, deep, REM) specifically deep sleep. Sleep cycles begin with light sleep, where the heart rate begins to slows down and the body relaxes. That transitions into deep sleep, the most restorative stage, during which the body repairs tissues, builds bone and muscle, and strengthens the immune system. REM, rapid eye movement, is the next sleep cycle/stage to occur. This stage is when dreaming occurs as well as memory consolidation and learning. While we sleep, these stages or cycles repeat in a cyclical pattern, each lasting about 90 minutes, ensuring a balanced and well rested sleep.

وَجَعَلْنَا نَوْمَكُمْ سُبَاتًۭا┃سورة النبإ (78:9)┃“And We made your sleep [a means for] rest.”

وَجَعَلْنَا ٱلَّيْلَ لِبَاسًۭا┃سورة النبإ (78:10)┃“And made the night as a cover.”

Without the dark, we wouldn’t have melatonin production to sleep properly. Our bodies naturally produce melatonin when it gets dark.

On days when I get less sleep than usual, I make it a point to nourish my body with a breakfast rich in high-quality bioavailable (animal) protein and fiber. This helps support my mood, energy levels, cortisol/hormonal balance, blood sugar, and my nervous system (stress resilience/management) throughout the day. I might also have a little qayloola but that’s not typical.

I’ve swapped late night IG doomscrolling with my kindle or Quran.

Tips for better sleep

I open the ultrahuman ring app and look at my sleep score, total sleep time, & sleep cycles as soon as I wake.

1. Try to eat your last meal 2-3 hours before sleep so it is not interrupted by blood sugar elevation and ongoing digestion which will disrupt overall sleep quality.
2. Get enough movement during the day which helps your body feel naturally tired at night and ready for sleep.
3. Morning sunlight to support melatonin production later at night
4. Aim to get less blue light from screens in the evening that inhibit melatonin production. (thank you hustle culture and apple)
5. No big white bright fluorescent lights after sunset
6. Sauna or warm shower late at night (helps to decrease overall body temperature for better sleep)
7. A body pregnancy pillow so you can wrap yourself around it
8. Neom body oil – Lavender, Jasmine, and Brazilian Rosewood
9. Saffron or Rose Oud on hair and behind ears
10. ASMR & the universe

factors that affect sleep quality

1. Room temperature
2. Humidity
3. Noise levels
4. Stimulants like caffeine
5. Prolonged blood sugar spikes from late night eating
6. Waking up in the middle of the night from a hormone imbalance such as elevated cortisol
7. Blue light exposure before sleep (inhibits melatonin production which is needed for deep quality sleep)

Note: the total time required for sleep doesn’t account for the barakah (ongoing spiritual blessings) in your time. You may get less hours of optimal deep, light, and REM sleep, but have more barakah during the day by starting your day with worship (prayer), reciting your morning adhkar, reciting surah al-baqarah daily or every 2-3 days, or reciting istighfar before/after fajr/during the day. Barakah is intangible and can’t be measured using worldly metrics.

الدنيا مزرعة الآخرة

Locked in with dhikr always.

ٱلَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ قِيَـٰمًۭا وَقُعُودًۭا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَـٰذَا بَـٰطِلًۭا سُبْحَـٰنَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ ١٩١

Dhikr: أَلاَ بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوب – “Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest, inner peace, tranquility.” Color coded dhikr counters with you at all times even while working so working turns into worshipping. (ambitious in dunya & akhira: aiming for ihsaan in both dunya & akhira)

Prayer: Salah on time. The only productivity metric that actually matters is how much have I worshipped Allah (SWT). Have I put in the work to become part of the 1% in Jannah.

(51:56) وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُون┃سورة الذاريات┃“I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.“

قال ابن القيم رحمه الله – “من أدامَ التسبيح: انفرجت أساريره

ومن أدام الحمد: تتابعت عليه الخيرات

ومن أدام الاستغفار: فُتحت له المغاليق 

Spiritual health

Spiritual Nourishment Days ❦ من ذاق عرف: The days where I felt I spent too much time with people are the days I binge listen to islamic lectures to build up my iman and indulgeeeee in Quran, Dhikr, Taddabur until I feel that spiritually I’m in the green again.

Emotional health

Part of taking care of your overall health is not neglecting your emotional health. The days that feel heavy, I make sure to slow down and feel/process my emotions using an islamic perspective/mindset to filter everything through. Life is cyclical – there will always be ups and downs. Sadness is normal but processing & releasing it is key otherwise it gets stored in the body. Life’s ups and downs are a spiritual training ground.

Duaa’ for contentment with decree:  

اللهُمَّ رَضِّنِي بِقَضَائِكَ وَبَارِكْ لِي فِي قَدْرَكَ حَتَّى لَا أُحِبَّ تَعْجِيلَ شَيْءٍ أَخَّرْتَهُ وَلَا تَأْخِيرَ شَيْءٍ عَجَّلْتَهُ

O Allah, make me content (pleased) with Your decree and bless me in Your decree (that is to come), such that I would not like to hasten what has been delayed, nor delay what has been hastened.”  

Morning Habits

وَٱلسَّـٰبِقُونَ ٱلسَّـٰبِقُونَ┃سورة الواقعة (56:10)┃”and the foremost ˹in faith˺ will be the foremost ˹in Paradise.”

وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ┃سورة الذاريات (51:18)┃“And in the hours before dawn, they would ask forgiveness (from Allah).”

Morning prayer: Tahajjud, Fajr + 2 sunnah before, Doha┃اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ عِلْمًا نَافِعًا وَرِزْقًا طَيِّبًا وَعَمَلاً مُتَقَبَّلاً

Morning adkhar: Recite the morning adhkar for spiritual protection + barakah during the day using the Dhikr & Dua app.

Quran: Tajweed/Hifdh teacher every Sunday + Tarteel app

Hadeeth: Hadeeth memorization using Wahi app

Morning sunlight + earth time (grounding my feet and body on the earth): I try to get sunlight in my eyes to regulate my sleep-wake cycle (circadian rhythm) and to help with serotonin production usually by sitting outside, reading, or working/learning on my laptop.

Nature trail walk: this alternates

Surah Al-Baqarah: Surah Al-Baqarah is a non-negotiable daily or every 3 days

Movement: 10-20k steps daily, 2-3x mild strength training, at-home pilates, weighted jump roping.

Business hobby: Amoura (long-term goal)

Inspo: watching The Local Project

Evening Habits

Evening adkhar: Recite the evening adhkar after asr for spiritual protection + barakah during the day using the Dhikr & Dua app.

Reading

Morning reading: Islamic, Health, Nutrition, Herbalism, Functional Medicine, or Business Book

Nourishment

My nutrition philosophy is that I eat in order to worship better. I don’t worship to eat. Your body is an Amaanah and the soul is the more important eternal entity than the body but we need to prioritize both while we are living. (currently gluten-free/caffeine-free & limiting dairy, refined white sugar, & fructose)

Digestive Elixir: I start off the morning and nourish my digestive system with a turmeric, black pepper, ginger, saffron, and coconut water shot or water with chia seeds.

Water: 8 oz H20 with a mix of chia seeds, beet root powder, psyllium husk, prebiotic powder, and herbal tincture.

Honey Sea Salt Latte: 2 shots decaf espresso (any organic coffee beans), 1 cup A2 grass-fed whole milk (8g protein) or organic low-temperature pasteurized grass-fed whole milk (8g protein) or organic half and half, a pinch of celtic sea salt, and 2 tablespoons of raw & unfiltered local honey.

Favorite takeout food will forever be thai food & tuna + zaa’tar bagels. (Pad Kee Mow with Minced Chicken – extra chicken)

Morning & Evening Supplements

Morning Supplements (this varies):

1. Raw black seed oil (100% cold-pressed and hexane free) It has anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties – it’s great for gut health.
2. CBD (full spectrum) under my tongue (the sublingual route) to help relax and support my nervous system (contains a small amount of THC so make sure to titrate the dosage)
3. Magnesium Glycinate
4. Vitamin D3 + K2

Work

I try to work alongside my cycle.

The hours could be client facing (initial & follow up sessions) or admin work including charting, billing various health insurance claims, continuously learning/reading, writing & revising educational blog posts, researching different client’s health conditions + their symptoms and figuring out how to help them best, and organizing all the information that comes with running a business.