Hello everyone! My name is Grace. I am a Healthy UNH Intern and senior Nutrition: Dietetics and EcoGastronomy student. This blog describes a day in my current life (March 25) as I follow social distancing requirements.

I have read that about the various things I can do to cope with during this trying time and establishing a routine is so important. Routines have many benefits, such as increased productivity and efficiency and reduced stress. I hope my daily routine inspires you to create a routine that works for you.

6:30 am: Wake up and drink a glass of water. I always seem to wake up super thirsty.

6:40 am: Roll out my yoga mat for a quick yoga practice. I like to start everyday with 30-45 minutes of yoga. I find it calms and centers me for the rest of my busy day.

7:30 am: Finish getting ready for the day and make breakfast - and more importantly brew some coffee! This morning I made one of my favorite breakfasts: a chocolate peanut butter smoothie. To make this, I blend a frozen banana, about 1 cup of almond milk, 2 tablespoons each of cocoa powder and peanut butter, and pour into a tall glass to enjoy. With my hot black coffee and smoothie in hand, I head to my living room, which is now my makeshift classroom, for my first class at 8:10 am.

9:00 am: My first class of the day is finished and my next one is not until noon. I use this time to get some homework done and whenever I get distracted, I take a 2-minute break to work on a puzzle my family has set up. I also do some work for my other job that I work remotely for.

11:00 am: I decide to take a break from school work and do some chores around the house. I grew up hating chores, but cleaning has now become quite therapeutic for me.

11:30 pm: Before my next class (I am a TA for ECOG 401), I make a quick lunch. Today, I had some leftover roasted potatoes and sauerkraut from dinner last night with a hearty spinach salad. My lunch varies every day, but I usually have a salad as part or all of my meal. Since I spend so much time on my computer each day, I try to read a book or magazine instead while I eat to give my eyes a rest.

12:00 pm: It’s time to get back to work! I make a mug of green tea and log on to Zoom for my last class of the day.

1:00 pm: I’m making my family dinner tonight, and we are having a Thai peanut soup. I decide to head to the kitchen to start preparing so the flavors can really develop for a couple hours.

2:00 pm: It is relatively warm outside today so I head outside to go for a 3 mile walk down my road to get some fresh air.

3:00 pm: Back from my walk, I make myself a plate of carrots and crackers with hummus and spend the rest of the afternoon getting homework done.

5:00 pm: It’s finally time to finish prepping dinner! I throw together a quick salad to go along with the soup, which I’ve got reheating on the stove.

5:30 pm: My family sits down and we all enjoy some stress-free quality time together.

6:15 pm: My mom and I walk our dogs around the block for one last bit of exercise and to see if we can catch the sunset. Tonight, unfortunately it is too cloudy to do so.

6:45 pm: I do some computer work for my job as well as any other school assignments I hoped to get done today.

8:00 pm: I get into my pajamas, wash my face, brush my teeth, and finally crawl into my bed. When I am not bingeing Greys Anatomy, I have been watching a lot of the show Rotten on Netflix, which covers current issues in the food system. I may be biased as a Nutrition and EcoGastonomy but I think it is fascinating and definitely worth checking out.

10:00 pm: I turn Netflix off, and head to bed. Good Night!