A Travel-Obsessed Founder’s Portable Regimen for Skin, Sleep, and Breakfast

Open up a box from Methodology and prepare to feel really taken care of. Reusable glass jars hold vegetables and chicken for a dreamy pho, delicious protein snacks are boxed like chocolates, and apple-cider-vinegar-spiked shrubs come in adorable bottles that might as well be labeled “Drink me.” “I wanted to bridge the gap between food as medicine and food as pleasure,” says Julie Nguyen, the meal-delivery service’s San Francisco–based cofounder and CEO.

A Wall Street–meets–Silicon Valley career (first J.P. Morgan, then the start-up Lumosity) made Nguyen intimately familiar with the pitfalls of having no time to cook. “I really leaned into takeout,” she says, laughing. But her health suffered terribly; after trying every meal-prep and meal-delivery service and not finding one that balanced the healthy, minimally processed, gut-balancing food she needed with the deliciousness and ease she craved, Nguyen saw a white space.

Since 2015, Methodology has delivered over 3 million meals—and it’s now available nationwide. Nguyen, whose world-traveler tendencies are reflected in the wide-ranging cuisines of her recipes, runs the company from all over the world. Wherever she is—at home or in a far-flung hotel room—her routine is essentially the same, she says: “I check a bag and bring full-size products when I travel, and I do quick, easy workouts that can be done anywhere.”

5:30 a.m.

Because I’m usually asleep by 9:30 p.m., I wake up naturally by 6 a.m. most mornings, and I don’t use an alarm or book early-morning meetings or flights. This ensures I always get enough sleep. I can’t stand how I feel the next day if I don’t sleep enough—hungry, cranky, and foggy.

6 a.m.

I do a HIIT workout using the Sweat app. I never miss a day—365 days a year. The consistency has transformed my body and given me muscle definition for the first time in my life. I’m nomadic, so I love that you can do these workouts even in a tiny hotel room with nothing but a chair. If I do have access to a gym, I add heavy weights, as well as a 30-minute walk at a 10 percent incline.

7 a.m.

I shower after I work out. I’m hooked on this shampoo—it smells so good and works up into the thickest lather—and conditioner, which leaves my hair super silky. I use both to keep my hair from going flat or frizzy.

I wash my hair every other day because it takes 20 minutes to dry it. Between washes, I use dry shampoo.

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7:10 a.m.

My skin does best when I follow a clean diet (no gluten, dairy, refined sugar, coffee, or alcohol) and a simple clean beauty routine. I wash my face with water, then put on sunscreen and follow with serum.

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For makeup, I use Kosas Revealer concealer, as well as a neutral-colored matte eye shadow as needed. I don’t wear foundation—I want my skin to look dewy and natural.

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To give me a glowy look, I love a soft pink on my cheeks and lips, like goop’s Colorblur Glow Balm in Slipper.

I curl my hair every day with a curling iron. I like how much more finished I look with curled hair, and it takes me only five minutes to do it.

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