2 Sunday Habits that Ended my Weekday Anxiety
- Monique Rey
- Jul 6
- 5 min read
Pull up a chair. Let's talk about the Sunday scaries— because I don't think they're really about Monday.
I used to think that pit in my stomach on Sunday evening was about the week ahead. The calendar, the meetings, the school drop-offs. But when I actually sat with it, I realized it wasn't the week stressing me out.
It was the not-knowing.Not knowing what we were going to eat.
Not knowing if I'd have the energy to figure it out on a random Tuesday at 5 p.m. with a hungry toddler on my hip.
Not knowing if we'd end up ordering takeout again. These 2 Sunday habits have shifted my mindset. I have more to share, but that will be for another post.
Lately, eating out has started to feel almost scary. You don't know what's really in it, how it was cooked, or what it's going to do to how you feel the next day. And too be honest, it's so disappointing to spend $50 on a meal that wasn't gratifying.
So, a few habits became non-negotiable for me. Not because I'm inherently disciplined, but because I simply got tired of feeling behind or rushed, anticipating what I couldn't control before the week even started.
Habit 1. Lemon Water, First Thing Sunday Morning
Before coffee, before checking my phone, and before anyone else in this house needs anything from me — lemon water. It's simple, but it does real work:
Rehydrates after a long night's fast.
Gives digestion a gentle nudge to wake up, because starting the week bloated is a no!
Grants me sixty seconds that belong to nobody but me.
Ultimately, it's less about the lemon and more about the order. It tells my body the day is starting on my terms, not everyone else's. Whatever this warm drink is for you, you owe this to your nervous system with a nice deep breath.
The Bonus Habit: The Sunday Brain Dump
I said I had more to share, so here's one I'm not saving for another post — because it pairs with the lemon water like they were made for each other.
Sunday before dinner, I take a plain piece of paper and dump everything out of my head. Not a to-do list — a dump. The appointments, the field trip form, the email I never answered, the low-grade worry I can't even name yet. All of it, onto the page, no organizing allowed.
Here's why the timing matters: your brain repeats what it's afraid you'll forget. That's what the 10pm mental conference actually is — your mind running its inventory because it doesn't trust that anything is written down.
Do the dump before evening, and by the time your head hits the pillow, your brain already knows the list is living somewhere safe. It has nothing left to rehearse.
Lemon water opens my Sunday. The brain dump closes it. One tells my body the day starts on my terms — the other tells my mind the week doesn't get to follow me to bed.
That's the whole habit. Lemon water. A Sunday prep session. A page full of everything I refuse to carry into Monday. And a week that doesn't feel like it's coming at me before it's even started
✨️The Sunday Dump Guide Prompts
A few of you are going to sit down tonight, pen in hand, and go completely blank — because a lifetime of to-do lists taught your brain that paper is for tasks, not for unloading. So here's your permission slip and your starting lines. Answer any of them, in any order, in messy handwriting. Nobody's grading this. The only rule: don't organize. Dump.
The prompts:
What's circling? Write down every single thing your brain has reminded you of more than once today — the form, the email, the appointment, the thing you were supposed to defrost. If it's pinged you twice, it goes on the page.
What am I dreading this week? Name it specifically. "Wednesday" isn't an answer — the 2pm meeting on Wednesday is. Dread shrinks when it has edges.
What didn't get finished this week? Not as a guilt list — as a release. Unfinished things are the loudest ones at 10pm. Write them down so they stop auditioning for your attention.
What can come OFF the list entirely? There's usually one thing on your plate out of pure momentum. Find it. Cross it out. Feel that.
What does Monday-me need from Sunday-me? One thing. Not five. The outfit laid out, the egg cups in the fridge, the bag by the door. Pick the one with the biggest payoff.
What am I carrying that isn't mine? Someone else's mood, someone else's deadline, someone else's opinion of how your week should look. Write it down — then leave it on the page. It doesn't get to come to bed.
What's one thing I'm actually looking forward to? End here, always. Your week deserves at least one thing on paper that isn't a demand.
Then fold the page, leave it in the kitchen — not the nightstand — and go to bed. Everything on it will still be handled tomorrow. That's the whole point: it's handled on paper, so it doesn't have to be handled at 3am.
Habit 2. Sunday Meal Prep Isn't About Willpower. It's About Peace.
Here's the thing nobody tells you about meal prepping: it's not a discipline flex. It's not about eating "perfectly" all week. It's about buying back your own headspace.
"Meal prep takes one whole category of stress and just... removes it from the week."
On Saturday, I shop for all the things. And this is also when I start my meal prep for lunch and breakfast for the week. While my meal prep is going (batch cooking grass fed beef, sweet potatoes, and broccoli), I'm usually folding laundry. My goal is to mostly rest on Sunday and spend that time really enjoying cooking Sunday dinner that will likely double for Tuesday as well
When Sunday-me spends an hour or two getting the first two dinners of the week ready, weekday-me isn't standing in front of the fridge at 5:45 p.m. making a decision she doesn't have the bandwidth for.
Tuesday I make an easy fast cooking protein like shrimp and batch sides that will be for Tuesday night and Thursday (Wednesday & Friday, we plan to typically grab something out)
We will generally stick to this as it works well for our schedules and the kiddos. One less decision in a day that's already full of them — what to wear, who needs what, and whose forehead you're checking for a fever.
It's not about the recipes being fancy. It's about not having to think.And when you don't have to think about dinner, you have more of yourself left for everything else.
This Isn't a Diet. It's a Habit.
I want to be really clear about something: this isn't a "clean eating" rule, a reset, or a challenge. It's not about being rigid. It's about the lifestyle you live and the habits you keep, quietly, in the background, so the big things don't feel quite so big.
Optimal isn't about perfect labs or perfect meals. It's the small, repeatable things that make an ordinary Tuesday feel manageable.
That's the whole habit. Lemon water. A Sunday prep session. And a week that doesn't feel like it's coming at me before it's even started.
If you need some easy ideas you can pit on repeat for meal prep, grab the Symptom Kitchen.
It's my go-to (Free) Guide that helps you put yummy and quick meals on repeat while boosting energy, getting in nutrients for hair, skin, and nails, and chipping away at those 3am wake ups.
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