Welcome to My Morning Routine, where wellness-savvy folks share their personal (frequently surprising, often healthy) morning rituals—to help you make your a.m.’s more awesome. 

Jennifer AnistonEmmy-winning actress, producer, co-owner of Living Proof

8 a.m. If I’m working, I’m up at 4:30, 5 a.m. If not, between 8 and 9 a.m., because I’m a late-night person—I putter. But usually when I wake up, I’ll make my standard cup of hot water with a slice of lemon in there.

Then I wash my face—my whole face regime is just soap and water to wake myself up, then some sort of Aveeno daily moisturizer that’s got SPF in it. It’s quick. I never linger too long anywhere, to be honest; things need to be as easy as possible [for me]. And when I’m on a movie I don’t have time to be leisurely, so then my whole routine gets sped up.

8:30 a.m. There’s usually some sort of meditation at that point. Usually 20 minutes, or 10 if I can’t get the full amount of time in. It’s a set [Transcendental Meditation mantra] that I do every time.

9 a.m. Then we have some breakfast. Usually I’ll have a shake, with some sort of pure protein, then bananas, blueberries, frozen cherries, stevia, a vegetable mix of dynamic greens that goes in there, maca powder, and a little cacao. There’s a collagen peptide that I’ve been loving—I’ve been seeing a difference! My nails are stronger and there’s a healthier… how do you explain it? A glow. It’s sort of that working from the inside-out thing.

If I don’t have a shake, I’ll just have some toast and poached eggs with some avocado. Or millet cereal with almond milk and bananas—it’s really yummy, and you can get it hot for winter months.

9:30 a.m. Then I’ll go do a workout of some sort. I have a trainer, a wonderful woman who I do this spin-yoga class [with]. We spin for half an hour, and then do yoga for 40 minutes. That’s pretty intense. Then I go to a gym, where I do strength training or just my own thing on the treadmill, the bike, or the elliptical, just to change things up. Keeping your body confused is always the key for me.

The treadmill can be hard! If I’m watching television I can’t run, because I have to focus on what I’m listening to. [So] it’s usually music. And it’s really good to get sprints in, to get in that interval training, because it’s monotonous to do one pace. The whole time your body goes, “I know what’s happening…” It’s good to pump it up and then take it down.

Originally posted March 23, 2016. Updated May 11, 2018.

Actress Sophia Bush always makes time for meditating in the morning too. Here’s how. And for help finding a protein powder to add to your Aniston-inspired shake, these are the five healthiest options.