Welcome to The Vital Life, where we spotlight Vital Proteins employees. This week, Customer Advocate team member Jake Kocinski gives us a peek inside his day.
My alarm goes off around 6:35 a.m. After hitting snooze a few times, I hop in the shower. I’m definitely not a morning person by any means so I keep noise to a minimum and try to be as efficient as possible. Once I’m out of the shower, I don’t give my “outfit” much thought as I throw on jeans and a t-shirt. I don’t even eat breakfast until I get to work but rather drink about 1 liter of water with a pinch of Himalayan sea salt for optimal re-hydration. Fun fact: humans typically lose about 1 liter of water just through normal breathing while we sleep!
I’m out the door by 7:20 a.m. and the commute is 1.5 hours each way by car, train, and bus. During the train and bus commute, I put earbuds in and either listen to some relaxing music and doze off, listen to a podcast (Pardon My Take, Redline Radio, Aubrey Marcus Podcast, and The Joe Rogan Experience are favorites) or read (currently juggling two books: Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins and Alone On The Wall by Alex Honnold).
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Once settled in at the office around 8:45 a.m., I head to the kitchen. There, I make a Peach Matcha Collagen Latte, which calls for 8 oz. of hot water, 1 scoop of Vital Proteins Peach Matcha Collagen, and 1 scoop of our Coconut Collagen Creamer. I follow this up with some yogurt and granola (Siggi’s & Purely Elizabeth brands) or oatmeal, fresh fruit, and granola.
Peach Matcha Collagen is my absolute favorite Vital Proteins product! Matcha or green tea powder is naturally slightly bitter, so the addition of peach powder simply rounds out the taste while not being too “peachy” by any means. I love that matcha provides an “alert calm” in users thanks to its amino acid L-theanine. Matcha is also loaded with antioxidants – 143x that of regular green tea! The Coconut Collagen Creamer provides a great source of healthy fats (any keto lovers out there?) from the coconut powder and also happens to be free of dairy, gluten, and artificial sweeteners! L-theanine, antioxidants, and healthy fats aside, this Peach Matcha Collagen Latte provides me with my morning collagen fix.
RELATED: How to Use Matcha (Plus, 7 Recipes to Get You Started)
After the work day is over at 5 p.m., I usually head to a conveniently timed 5:30 p.m. hot yoga class at CorePower Yoga about 2-3x per week! Being able to unwind while increasing mobility/flexibility is very important to me. I try my best to avoid the “death of desk” i.e. hunched over shoulders, a stiff neck and lower back, and tight hip flexors.
After yoga class, I head to the closest bus and take that to the train. Having to adhere to public transportation times puts me home at 8:30 p.m. When I walk through the door I’m pleasantly greeted by Stella, the family’s black lab! She gives me a few face licks in return for a great belly rub (if I do say so myself)! Then I head to the kitchen and scarf down dinner while usually sipping on Vital Proteins Beef Bone Broth Collagen with added Himalayan sea salt, black pepper, 1 lemon slice, and 1 tablespoon of MCT oil. Combining this with 1-2 servings of Cartilage Collagen capsules makes for great joint support – especially after a tough hot yoga class! After dinner, I may do some restorative stretches, play video games with my close friends, or watch some Netflix, Hulu, or HBO. Then it’s time for bed before doing it all over again tomorrow!
