A Day in Sarah's Life
Sarah Stevenson - or better known as "Sarah's Day"- is one of our favourite wellness vloggers, social media personalities and JUNO Activists. To get to know Sarah a little better and to hear what a true day in the life of Sarah looks like, we recently caught up with her and asked her a few questions. If you ever wondered what Sarah's 5 top tips for staying healthy are and how sleep impacts her life - just keep on reading to get inspired.
Tell us a bit about yourself, what you do and why sleep is important to you.
I’m Sarah Stevenson, otherwise known as Sarah’s Day and I’m a health and fitness YouTuber from Sydney! Staying fit, filming my day, editing my content and collaborating with awesome brands is a crazy adventure that is pretty demanding on my body and schedule. Waking up before 6am every morning and training everyday means that adequate sleep is one of the most important aspects in maintaining my healthy lifestyle. Without proper rest and recovery I would honestly be unable to achieve everything necessary in my busy day.
What does an average ‘day in the life’ of Sarah look like? How does the quality of your sleep impact this?
On average you’ll find me waking up around 6am. Depending on what day of the week it is I’ll either hit up a full-body sweaty workout to start my day, or head straight to my home office to start editing YouTube videos and reply to emails. I engage in high intensity functional training roughly five times a week, and listening to my body I also practice hot yoga, pilates and strength training when I feel like mixing it up. Living an extremely active lifestyle is demanding on my body which is why I find it so important to not only get an adequate amount of sleep, but invest in the actual quality of my sleep. Optimum recovery is imperative in my lifestyle, as I don’t have time to wait for my body to catch up. I’m always on the go, so my body needs to be rested, revitalised and up for adventure everyday!
What is your morning routine from waking up to starting your day?
If I’m not waking up and heading straight out the door to smash out my 6am full-body workout, the first thing I do is make my bed. I know – my Mother would be so proud right!? I’m a self-proclaimed clean freak and love to work in a neat and tidy space. I always like to start my day with warm lemon water, followed by organic bone broth to assist in muscle recovery and gut healing. After smashing out some morning emails and editing YouTube content while I eat my breakfast I usually reward myself with a sneaky bike ride up to my favourite coffee shop for a long black with a dash of almond milk. YUM! You’re a busy person and your days are packed with activity, training and work commitments – how do you unwind? My motto in life is ‘listen to your body’. I truly try to live by this every day, which means my activities, training, diet and unwinding routine vary every single day. If I’m feeling agitated or stressed my go-to is hot yoga! I love to move my body, sweat it out and immerse myself in the intention for that class. Other times I’m easily pleased with a healthy hot chocolate and net-flix. I’m a sucker for a good health doco!
What is your bedtime routine and how does this affect your sleep?
I’m a super sensitive sleeper! As a child we couldn’t work out why I couldn’t fall asleep or I would wake up to the feeling of a hair falling across my face, eventually the doctor diagnosed me with hyper-sensitivity (I know… who even knew that was a thing right!?). Nowadays I have a strict bedtime routine I like to stick to, to ensure my body is relaxed and ready to sleep. At least one hour before I head off to bed I try to eliminate all screens from my eyes. No phones, T.V or computer. After my shower I massage a unique blend of sleep inducing essential oils onto the pressure point of my body. I’m pretty much like a walking lavender flower by 10:30pm. Once I hop into bed, my boyfriend will usually chat to me about his day until I’m almost asleep. I’ve always found something calming about story-time I suppose. I also focus on listening to my breath and inhaling deeply into my chest to help relax my entire body, helping me drift off to sleep.
What foods do you find best to support healthy energy levels? Is there anything you find helps or hinders good quality sleep?
I always make sure to include a healthy source of fat into each of my meals and snacks. My favourite healthy sources of fat come from avocados, flax seed oil, nuts, seeds, oily fish and coconut oil. I include a good quality source of protein in every main meal to assist in muscle recovery and love to snack on carbohydrates derived from whole foods. Usually this is just fruit, paleo bars, fruit and nut mix and smoothies. Getting enough healthy fats throughout the day always helps my sleeping habits. If I’m finding it particularly difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep, I’ll take a shot of cod liver oil before bed (I know this sounds gross but I swear by it!). I also try to avoid cacao, coffee and cinnamon an hour before heading off to bed as I find these ingredients stimulate my brain.
What are your five top tips to staying happy, healthy and full energy to support an active lifestyle?
1. Listen to your body
2. Eat whole foods and don’t over complicate your diet
3. Train in a way that makes your body and mind feel good! Don’t be afraid to mix up your workouts
4. Get enough sleep to promote muscle recovery and repair
5. Write a schedule and try your best to stick to it!
What do you think of your Juno mattress and do you think it’s made a difference to your active lifestyle? If so, how?
I can honestly say I am absolutely IN LOVE with my Juno mattress! I’ve always loved soft, cosy mattresses, but found that I would wake up with a tight back, headache or I would get too hot from the cushioning throughout the night. Juno mattresses are the perfect combination of soft cushioning, and support. I feel like I wake up so much more refreshed and energised nowadays, my body feels limber and repaired from a good nights sleep! One of my favourite things is the fact that I no longer feel movement from my boyfriend sleeping next to me. No matter how much he tosses and turns, I literally feel no movement or bounce on my side! I still can’t believe how strong and sturdy the mattress is, but it feels like a squishy cloud on my body!
What’s something funny we don’t know about you?
Honestly, I’m basically an open book so I feel like everyone knows everything about me. I’m notorious for over-sharing haha. I suppose while we’re talking about sleeping habits, I’ll share my ‘get me out of bed’ movement. You know that saying ‘roll out of bed’ well… I think I’ve taken that saying a little too seriously. I’m notorious for rolling out of bed… literally. If my alarm goes off any time before 6am, I like to live by my other life motto ‘don’t think, just do!’. I like to roll my body all the way over to the right side of my mattress, hook my legs over the side and engage my abs to lift myself out of bed. Because let’s be honest… ain’t no body got time to use their arms before 6am #lazygirlproblems.
