In USA TODAY’s The Essentials, celebrities share what fuels their lives, whether it’s at home, on set, or on the road.
Ginger Zee, ABC News’ chief meteorologist, is putting all of her necessities (aside from her husband, Ben Aaron, and their two sons, Adrian, 9, and Miles, 7) on your radar.
Zee, an early riser for “Good Morning America,” admits “I can’t imagine having a leisurely morning. But I take it, and I make 3:45 a.m. feel as leisurely as possible.” And on days when Zee’s not heading into the studio, she could be chasing a storm, “driving to a tornado” and “doing my makeup in the car,” she says. In either case, the 44-year-old is sharing all of her Essentials, from A to Zee.
Ginger Zee reveals her daily essentials, from yoga to an ideal morning
Ginger Zee on her daily essentials and how she spends her mornings.
Ginger Zee wears a sleep ring: ‘We don’t put enough emphasis on’ rest
“I’m a scientist. I love data,” Zee says, so she’s delighted by the information she can gather from her sleep ring, a wearable health monitor and tracking device. Zee, who has been diagnosed with narcolepsy, finds it “empowering.”
“It’s not like it’s breaking news that alcohol changes and makes your sleep worse,” Zee explains. “I knew that, but processed sugar and time of day that I have things, exercise, when I do it, when I sauna or massage or mostly hydration − honestly, that’s the big one that I can tell a huge difference in my sleep.
“My sleep is so critical. It’s the foundation of my health, my mental health, my physical health, all of (ours),” she continues. “And we don’t put enough emphasis on it.”
Her morning routine: Checking in and setting an intention
“One of my favorite moments is just my wake-up and my moment of checking in with myself,” Zee says.
“I know that sounds very kind of easy and simplistic, but a lot of people don’t do it. A lot of people rush right into whatever it is, and then they haven’t really answered, ‘How are you?’ or ‘What am I feeling?’”
Next, Zee hops into the shower and helps set the tone of her day using her steamy shower glass as a writing board.
“I make little fists that make little footprints on (the glass) and I put both my children’s names,” she says. “Then I put both my handprints for my husband and I,” signifying, “this is the core of who I am. Then I write an intention for the day, like you do in yoga at the beginning of a practice.” Zee identifies a goal for the day and writes that on the shower as well.
Meditation: It ‘should be used more and more every day’
Zee does a guided meditation on her way into work. She likes the Calm app and recommends the meditations offered by Dan Harris, a former anchor for ABC News, and acknowledges the free options available as well. Know “you don’t have to commit (to) 20 minutes,” Zee says. “It can be a one-minute, a five-minute, a 10-minute” meditation, she says. “Meditation is just a moment of reflection, and a moment of groundedness and preparedness, and I think should be used more and more every day.”
Her on-the-road essentials: Reusable utensils and eye patches
When Zee is reporting on the road, she brings reusable water bottles and utensils, which she washes after using. While she likes to avoid waste when she can, she relies on single-use eye patches.
“Those are pretty necessary because a lot of times we’ve been up, we’ve been doing the other shows late and then we’re waking up three hours, four hours later,” Zee says. “So getting the de-puff is a pretty crucial essential for me.”
She adds with a laugh, “I’m not perfect.” But she nixed face wipes eight years ago, she says, opting for coconut oil on a washcloth instead. Earth “has cared for us for so long,” she says. “Something as simple as just looking around you and (asking), ‘Where could I reduce waste?’ That’s something that is essential to me.”
The attitude required dealing with critics: ‘Great empathy for these people’
Years of criticism has taught Zee not to absorb the negativity of online trolls. In March, someone left a critical comment on an Instagram video. “You’re not aging well,” they wrote. Zee responded to the user that it is “a privilege to be aging in any manner – thanks for your opinion though.”
Derisive comments “usually says a lot about who they are and what’s wrong with them,” she says, adding she has “empathy for these people who are so sad or they need to get that out. And I take it that way and it’s much easier to take when you start seeing that.
“My first reaction (to the comment) was, ‘Thank God I get to get older,’” she adds. “There (were) a lot of years in my 20s and teens where I was like − like a lot of other people – ‘I don’t even know if I’m worth it.’ I’m so lucky to be alive, let alone aging. Good! Your opinion is that I’m not aging well, but the point is I’m aging. And I really meant that. I meant that it is a privilege to be able to be aging.”
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