So you had a bad day.......

What is a bad day anyway?

It is funny when you hear "I got out of the wrong side of the bed"

or "This day needs to end" 

Have you ever considered that it is you who proclaimed it to be a bad day? And that your expectations and my expectations of a bad day I bet are completely different. Also how we react to they I am sure are different to. 

However we both have the opportunity to turn things around when we notice they are not going the way we want. One key thing that has taken me some time to really know, learn and practice. Is that it is all ME! I create my day, I create my actions and I am responsible for my HAPPINESS! I say this because one day this winter I was having a stressed out melt down. My husband looked at me and said you are creating this, you have to make your own happiness. It hit me! Then it hit me again. It is my responsibility to make my days AWESOME. It is my responsibilty to be simply HAPPY! After taking a few deep breaths I had to get my journal out and take some notes. 

I recommend you to get your Journal out! 

Make a list of activities activities that make you happy. Have a variety of BIG and small. 

Here are a few of mine- 

Hot Coffee

A Good Book

Hot Yoga

Massage/Pedicure/Facial

A Good nights Sleep

Wine

A Tropical Vacation

A Outdoor Run

Since this day I make sure some of these items happen daily, weekly and monthly. Two months has past and I sure can feel a difference. 

I do want to disclose that sometimes a bad day may be out of our control.  Such as loosing a loved one. However if you have the habits of creating your own happiness you will have the strength to get thru tuff times. 

One last thing to always remember like anything this take practice and you will be challenged from time to time. Do not forget to find complete Gratitude in that tomorrow is a new day.

Keep up the great work, Enjoy your Journey!  

Nut Date Cookies

 I have to Confess I have never cooked with dates before. I pulled out a few different ingredients that I had on had and my food processor and I started mixing. These were the most simple things to make. Once I frozen and had the chance to officially taste test, I was sold! Yes I will be creating more new recipe with dates. I can sense our options are unlimited, for new tasty treats. I hope you enjoy these as much as I have. 

Nut Date Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of raw almonds & cashews

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/3 cup almond butter (or any nut butter)
1 cup of Medjool dates, pitted and squished down into your measuring cup

1/2 banana

1 teaspoon of vanilla paste or extract
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 scoop Choc. Whey Protein Powder (I use Isagenix)

Directions:

Add your almonds, cashews & sunflower seeds to your food processor and blend until it becomes a flour texture.  Then add your nut butter, dates, banana, vanilla, maple syrup and protein powder.  Blend until it forms a large dough ball.  Then scoop out 1 inch dough balls.  I place on onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Place in freezer until chilled/frozen then layer in a container and store in freezer. 

Enjoy~

My favorite way to Meal Prep

Now that the snow is melted and the weather is slowly warming up Sunday nights we grill. This is also my favorite way to meal prep. We just add extra veggies and protein to the grill. Two bonuses is that because we grill there are not extra dishes and since my husband grills he gets involved in the meal prep. Shhh do not tell him not sure if he has noticed!

Yes we are busted sometimes we turn into a date night and add wine. 

Notice we fill the grill, no open space.  I have containers that I divide up the extras for my 

husbands lunches thru the week. If I have extra I just freeze his lunches. (I do this if I think they will be in the fridge longer then a week) I love having these individual sized lunches for the two of us.

They are ready at any time. 

For those of you who know me well I prefer chicken or fish. I am noticing that I am obsessed with Brussels Sprouts. This is one of my favorite meals. Something else you should know I am all about super simple meals. We can all grill a chicken breast and cut Brussels Sprouts in half and wrap in foil. DONE a healthy dinner is that simple. 

I wanted to share with you a new favorite. Sriacha BBQ Sauce. I can only find this at Trader Joes. 

I love this on my Turkey Burgers and Chicken. You do not need a lot but adds a ton of flavor. 

Make your next grilling night a food prep night. I promise you will not feel like you meal prepping.  Fill that grill do not waste any space. 

Have checked in with your mind?

Your Mind the the most Powerful Muscle

A big part of our Journey is personal development. I was having a conversation with a friend recently. We were talking about the battle of "the up and down pattern with our weight" and why is that?

Making personal development a non-negotionable will be your game changer. Many of us go thru the pattern of taking off the weight only to put it right back on. Trust me I did this for years. You know what is the difference is now? I work on my mind, consistently. I work towards developing everyday.

Where to start you ask? First you want to schedule in time each day. For me I like to make it the same time, then I do not even have to think about it. Your schedule may change often so find your jive. I wake up earlier in the morning to get it done. I find it so peaceful my kids are sleeping, I have a hot cup of coffee and I am rested. I feel this set my mind up to have the positive attitude I need to enjoy the day.

How long for each day?  Start a with 10-15 minutes with time. Then work up to a little longer. I would love to see you enjoying 30 minutes. However you will know how much time you enjoy to have.

What to do during this time? Here are a few great ideas,

• Daily Devotionals
• Reading (personal development, business topics)
• Gratitude Practice: Get a Journal and each day write a minimum of 10 things you are grateful for. Some days challenge yourself and write as many as you can for 1 minute. These things can be as simple as sleep, hot cup of coffee, health foods, able to workout! A Gratitude Practice is magical! 
• Journaling: Add in your gratitude practice just a habit of writing down thoughts, ideas, expressions! It feels good! 
• Prayer/Meditation
• Just enjoying QUIET time: We rarely have quietness in our days.  We need it. It is important to be ok in the moments of quiet and let our mind wander. 
• Find a online coaching program

I personally am always switching theses practices up. However always doing my gratitude practice.
Why I told my friend to get back on track of working on her mind was because I knew everything else would fall into place. When we struggle we start thinking negative. "You cannot do this" "You are not strong" "You will just fall off again" Yet when working our mind we will have more positive thoughts and will feel more confident to push it in the gym and to eat healthier!

Now go, schedule it in. Get a Journal and get started. Remember one thing, do not be hard on yourself, it is not about being perfect. You are perfect just the way you are!

Squash Zoodles Bake

Last week I was inspired by 2 of our favorite meals and combine them into one. 

Squash Zoodles Bake

Ingredients:
1 Large spaghetti squash (cooked, I cook mine in the crock pot)
2 Zucchini
1 lb Grass fed beef or ground turkey. 
1 jar Organic Spaghetti sauce. 
1/2 Yellow onion chopped
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1 cup Organic Mozzarella Cheese. 

Take your cooked Spaghetti Squash and shred into your 9X13 non stick pan.  Spread your squash to make a bottom layer. Then take out your Veggie Spiralizer and 2 Zucchinis. Spirals your zucchinis to create your next layer.  Brown your hamburger and add in chopped onion, garlic powder and Italian seasoning  Once fully cooked add in Spaghetti Sauce. Once mixed well make your meat sauce your next layer. Then top with cheese. 

Bake at 375 for 40-45 min.  I served with more cheese and Parmesan cheese on the side (my kids like extra cheese) and a side salad. 

Banana Yogurt Pancakes

Yesterday morning we changed up our favorite Banana Protein Pancakes. Now we have new favorite so much that we had to make them again this morning.

Banana Yogurt Pancakes

1 Banana

3 Eggs

1 cups Oats

1/3 cup ground flax seed

1 cup Greek Yogurt

1/2 tsp. of Vanilla 

Dash of Baking Powder

1/2 frozen or fresh blueberries

Blend all ingredients together besides the blueberries. Once mixed well pour onto griddle. Then add in your blueberries, a few to each pancake. Flip, once light brown on each side ready to enjoy! We like to top ours with Maple Syrup and Peanut Butter.  

You are invited to join us tomorrow night!