What is holding you back?

I'm sure you've seen this picture - or something similar - floating around the interwebs for awhile now. I really love the sentiment here. It's so easy to say, "Oh, it's just going to take forever to do it," and use that as a reason to NOT take that first step towards that which you want to reach.

Let's be honest with ourselves. That ain't a reason, baby. That's an EXCUSE.

"Don't focus on producing an excuse, focus on producing a RESULT."

I was having this discussion with a guy at work yesterday and it was just blowing my mind how he had an excuse for everything, and how he was quick to blame other people in his life and using them and what they did 10 years ago as a crutch. Those who know me will not be surprised to hear that I sat there and challenged everything he said, and I used my favourite Dani-isms.

"Ego will keep you BROKE."
"You've got to weigh your EGO with your BANK ACCOUNT and see which one weighs more."
"Life and death is in the power of the tongue, and you will eat the fruit of it."

Why do we use excuses to justify our lack of action? Is it because our ego sits in the back of our mind and says, "We need to come up with something witty to say so that people won't think we're being lazy, or so they don't think we're afraid to fail."

Really, though, isn't that what excuses are? Aren't they simply our egos coming up with words to say so that others won't judge us for NOT doing something?

What does it matter what they think anyway? Isn't that again just our egos assuming that those people are going to go home and think about us day in and day out saying, "I can't believe how lazy they are! I can't believe how scared they are!"

So I want you to think about this for a moment:
Is it your EGO that is stopping you from stepping up and reaching for that goal, that dream, that vision that you have for your life? Is it the EGO of fear? Is it the ego of staying within your comfort zone? Is it the know-it-all ego telling you that you don't need to do it because you're totally set and you've got it all dialed in? Is it the SHYNESS ego, telling you that you're simply to shy to step up and do it? Or is it the EXCUSES ego saying, "We can't afford it,"or "I wasn't raised in the right type of family," or "My husband/wife doesn't support me," or even "I don't have the time?"

The time is going to pass REGARDLESS of what you are or are not doing.

I could have finished my college degrees 3 times over by now, but I still haven't made that time. I sure have made plenty of excuses. The bottom line is that it hasn't been as important to me as other things have been. If it had been, I would have been done YEARS ago!

I know that I have spent a lot of time coming up with excuses. I am not going to do that anymore.

What about you? What is keeping you from stepping up and making it happen?

Spaghetti (Squash) in Garlic Gravy

 

So this Big Ol' Bowl of Deliciousness has been brought to you by the Goddess of Scrumptiousness:

http://goddessofscrumptiousness.tumblr.com/post/21091490328/spaghetti-in-garlic-gravy-with-herbs-and-lemon

Of course, hers and mine look a little bit different! I need a cool bowl and serving tools like hers I think! I found this recipe on Pinterest, a friend of mine posted it to Facebook and I immediately knew that it was a MUST MAKE!

As you know by now, not only am I gluten intolerant and thus I tweak most recipes to accommodate that. This one could easily be made with gluten free noodles, something I will do at another time (and I prefer the quinoa ones, the brown rice ones are always too sticky for my taste). The spaghetti squash was, as always, delightful! I am a sucker for squash!

So, I like my tomatoes oven roasted, so I just threw them in a cake pan and put them on the top rack of the oven for about 10-12 minutes while my spaghetti squash cooked.

'Maters fresh out the oven

To cook the spaghetti squash, I cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, coat it lightly with olive oil, and then place the halves face down on a tin foil lined cookie sheet. I bake it at 375 for about 45-55 minutes depending on the size. Mmmmm!

Now, time for the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash

1 pound chicken breast fillets (skinless and boneless, sliced into 1 inch chunks)

For the chicken marinade:

1 teaspoons dried thyme

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped (if using dried, use half of the amount)

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of ½ a lemon

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon coarse salt (not table salt)

½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

2 Tablespoons coconut oil (to sauté the marinated chicken)

-  Add all the marinade ingredients into the chicken and marinate for 20 minutes (if making this dish in pronto) or over night (if making this dish the next day… much better).

-  Saute the marinated chicken in coconut oil until cooked (about 4-5 minutes) then set aside.

For the garlic gravy:

½ stick (1/4 cup) grassfed unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, finely minced

2 Tablespoons almond flour (use coconut if you can, it will make a much better roux)

1 ½ cups chicken stock (I cut this down because almond flour did not thicken it the way I wanted)

1 Tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup parsley, chopped (to sprinkle/finish the pasta) (I used dried parsley, it's what I had)

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

2 cups whole cherry tomatoes

-  Place sauté pan over medium heat and add butter and olive oil.

-  Saute garlic until fragrant and soft.

-  Add the flour and cook for a minute.

-  Add chicken stock and simmer gravy until thickened then add the chopped basil.

-  Season with salt and pepper.

-  Add the sauteed chicken in the gravy then toss the cooked spaghetti into this  sauce.

-  Add the cherry tomatoes and finish the dish with the chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese (serve extra on the side).

I prepped my sauce ingredients ahead of time so it would be easier to throw them together at the end:

 

And here is the final product! It was DELICIOUS and I am DEFINITELY going to make this again, except I have an idea in mind. Stay tuned for my tweaks!

Setting SMART goals!

I just came across THE best picture that relates to goal setting. I find it so useful that I actually wrote it up on a notecard and pinned it to the wall next to me!

Setting goals is one of those things that so many people have difficult with. One of my business coaches said to me at the beginning of the year, "If you have to hype yourself up for your goal, you haven't broken it down small enough. Break your goal down into small pieces, and make it like the ingredients in a recipe."

So you take your Big Audacious Goal and you say to yourself, "What are each of the individual pieces to this goal?" Write them all down like line items on a page. Then go through and say, "Which one must be done first? Second?" ...and so on down the line.Then assign a due date to the first one. Once you've done it, assign the next due date to item 2. If you push yourself too hard, you'll put too much pressure on yourself and you'll likely go stagnant again, so just focus on one thing at a time. Each little piece then adds up to the total B.A.G. and will help you achieve it!

So, set Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound mini goals in order to get you to your Big Audacious Goal by year end!

You may also look at setting quarterly milestones if you feel that is more fitting for you. Where would you like to be in 90 days? 120 days?

You CAN get to where you want to go - you just have to make sure you're not overwhelming yourself! Take bite sized pieces out of your B.A.G. and get them done one at a time. You may even surprise yourself by being finished in half the time! Which means what? You get to set another B.A.G. and go for it too!

Have an AWESOME Thursday!

Not just weight lost - INCHES lost too!

I TOTALLY forgot to add in about the inches I lost! I averaged 1 1/2" of loss =) SWEET! I am pretty stoked about that, it's a great place to start from with my fitness program. I am excited to see what the next 90 days will bring for a body change!

Also, I went down 2% in body fat. I think that's pretty awesome!

I will leave you with this great motivational poster I came across yesterday. Definitely some great advice! 

 

Ultimate Reset Recap: Day 21, all DONE!

Wow! So I thought I'd keep up on this and then, as you know can, LIFE happened! So what have I done instead of blogging? Here's a couple pictures!

I spent time in the glorious sunshine!

I took a riding lesson!

I walked with my sister!

I walked to work!

I kept up on my schedule!

I did my first Flex Friday picture!

Okay okay, that's not ALL I did. I worked, and I worked some more, and then I worked a little more! I cooked, and I workout out, and I did a LOT of walking because it's simply beautiful this time of year. I worked on my goals with Chalene Johnson and her 30 Day Push challenge - a FREE program she offers to help you create and achieve your goals. You can check it out and sign up here: http://www.30daypush.com
I can't recommend this program more! It's been helping me immensely! I feel I have accomplished more in the last two weeks than I did in the last two months of the year!

I also did my personal development, something I do every week. My mentor and coach is Dani Johnson: http://www.danijohnson.com . Thanks to the training she provides every week, for free, I have earned multiple promotions at work, strengthened my marriage, renewed my relationship with God, and am building deeper and more meaningful relationships with friends, family, and new people that I meet. I am really excited about what this year has in store for me!

By now you're thinking, "What on Earth does this have to do with the Ultimate Reset, Adrienne? GET TO THE POINT!"

This has EVERYTHING to do with the Ultimate Reset! In my telling you what I did over these few weeks I am showing you that 21 days of cleansing my system didn't interfere with my day to day life. It didn't cause difficulties, didn't interrupt my schedule, and didn't make me feel pressured in any way.

So then, what DID it do?

It made me feel AMAZING! My energy has been through the roof since day one! I upped my daily walk from 3 miles to over 5.5 miles without any lag in energy. I come home from my walk feeling even MORE motivated and have been getting a ton of things done. My attitude has been cheerful, sunny and bright - even more than usual! I have been SLEEPING. Like, really well! Those who know me know that I battle insomnia, and these past 3 weeks I have been sleeping through the night with MINIMAL wake ups. I typically wake up every hour after the first two or three I am asleep. (Being that I sleep an average of 8-9 hours a night, that's a LOT of waking up).

My digestion has been spot on, even better than usual! I have definitely noticed a change in that area.

I didn't miss coffee as much as I thought I would, which was a surprise! I did give coffee up for a spell a year or so ago and switched entirely to green tea, so I have tried that before. However, I LOVE coffee (even decaf!) so not drinking it for 3 weeks is really a big thing for me. I am not the type of person who drinks it for the caffeine alone. I drink it because I truly love the taste, the smell, and everything else! Mmmm... COFFEE!

I did lose some weight, though not a dramatic amount. I wasn't expecting to drop 15 pounds - could you imagine? I'd be exo-skeletal! Ha! I will do the final weigh-in tomorrow morning, but I have been holding steady at about 6 lbs.


The major thing this Reset is intended to do is to get your body back in balance, get your system alkalized and your pH levels back to where they should be. It gets your bowels moving correctly, cleans the toxins out, and gets your stomach doing it's job in the way that it should. The food is broken down in your stomach, and then the nutrients are absorbed in the intestine. If those two things aren't doing what they need to do, you aren't getting what you need to get!

Do I think that the Reset fulfilled it's intended purpose? Absolutely. I truly feel awesome and I am SO glad I did it. I can't wait for a couple of my family members to give it a shot, I am confident they will see some incredible results from it.

I will do the Reset again sometime during the summer, as I fully believe it is worth doing 2x per year for optimum health.

Let me know what your thoughts are! Leave me a comment, I would love to talk more about my experience!

What have I been eating? A pictorial!

Since it was a bit time consuming to add pics in to the last posts, here I will just put the pictures and a little description of each thing! You will find that there is a lot of repetition in what I eat, and that is because I save money by making extra food and eating it for a couple of days. In general I get my protein from whole eggs, chicken, and beef.

Stir fried veggies (I used coconut aminos instead of soy sauce)

 with chia seeds.

Oven roasted beets, parsnips, carrots, and sweet onion.

Oven roasted root vegetables.

Stir fry: cauliflower, bok choy, green pepper, carrots, green onion.

Orange, apple, mango and banana, with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Sweet potatoes, fire roasted tomatoes, sweet onion.

Snack time! Orange slices and almonds.

Breakfast: cantelope, mango and banana with cinnamon and chia seeds

Kale, spinach, quinoa and almonds, with coconut aminos and rice vinegar.

Pre-oven root vegetables. I'm obsessed!

Eggs whites, spinach and chia seeds.

Egg whites and spinach.

Egg white protein shake: banana, blueberry, chia seeds, cinnamon, coconut milk.

Stir fried vegetables.

Egg whites, roasted root veggies, spinach.

Did I mention I lvoe stir fry? Snow peas, red peppers, zucchini, bok choy, carrot, green onion.

Leftover stir fry over a bed of oven roasted kale.

Egg white smoothie: banana, coconut milk, blueberry, chia seeds.

Banana, mango, coconut milk, cinnamon, ginger, chia seeds.

Reclaim Recap: Days 3-7

Good morning good morning!

I am so excited to be writing this post this morning. It's a beautiful day today and I am stoked to get it started!

I am on a different computer so I don't have access to my pictures at the moment, but the minute that I do I will get them up here! I just wanted to go over my menu for these days and talk about how I've been feeling.

Truthfully I feel AMAZING! Tons of energy! Yesterday I went on a walk "with" my sister - this means that we call each other on the phone while we walk! It's an awesome way for us to stay connected and spend time together even though we're a thousand miles away from each other. Technology is pretty sweet! Anywhoodles, I was walking along just gabbing away and I felt like I could have walked. All. Day. Long. Seriously, there was no end to my energy! However, I had an appointment to get to at 10:30 so I had to be home within the hour. But my energy level has stayed up and consistent this whole time!

As I said before, I have already cut a lot of foods out of my diet due to health related issues. For many of you, that's why you follow my recipe page and read my posts - you eat the same way that I do! So I am fortunate to have gone through much of the "detox" from sugars, grains, etc a long time ago. Many people who do this cleanse have a rough time the first 3-5 days, but after the initial detox they feel great!

Okay, on to the menu portion:

Day 3:
Breakfast: Protein shake; 2 bananas, 10 oz unsweetened coconut milk, 2 T chia seeds, cinnamon, and a large cup of ice
Lunch: Brussel sprouts and roasted chicken
Dinner: Nori with carrot and egg, cucumbers with rice vinegar, coconut aminos & chia seeds

Day 4:
Breakfast: 2 eggs with brussel sprouts & broccoli
Lunch: Protein shake (same as above) and 12 almonds
Dinner: Chicken and veggie stir fry: cauliflower, bok choy, green onion, carrot, green pepper, coconut aminos, coconut oil
Snack: Apple

Day 5:
Breakfast: Quinoa with steamed broccoli, and cucumber/carrot salad (leftover)
Lunch: Chicken and veggie stir fry
Snack: Apple with 12 almonds
Dinner: Veggie stir fry (same as above, made a new batch)

Day 6:
Breakfast: Protein shake (same as above)
Lunch: Stir fry, almonds
Snack: Orange, almonds, coconut milk
Dinner: Oven roasted veggies: beets, parsnips, carrot, onion; & quinoa

Day 7:
Breakfast: fresh fruit mix seasoned w/cinnamon and nutmeg: banana, mango, apple, orange
Lunch: Oven roasted veggies w/quinoa, almonds
Dinner: Sweet potato, kale w/chia seeds, oven roasted veggies

So, as you can see I tend to eat a lot of the same thing! I like to make enough to have leftovers so that it is easier for me to grab and go the next day. The program does come with an entire meal plan and recipe guide, so you actually don't need to do as much thinking as I have, but again I follow a different diet so I have tweaked it to make it work for me. The only thing not typical of my regular lifestyle is the quinoa. I do keep that to 1/4 C or less per serving, just something else for my stomach to break down.

I hope you are enjoying my posts! I am excited to get through the next 2 weeks and tell you my results! Have an amazing day!

Reclaim! Days 1-2 Recap

Wow, what a week it has been! Definitely was forced out of my ho-hum same ol' same ol', and I do believe it was a good thing. I hadn't realized how I had fallen into the trap of eating so much of the same thing over and over again! It's nice to have some variety, and I have been reintroduced to some of my favourite old friends in the vegetable family =) Welcome back, parsnips!

Anyway, as I said in my previous post I would be doing some tweaking to the recipes. I have been having a little bit of quinoa here and there, though in limited quantity (~1/4 C). Not sure I really want to introduce too much grain, but it is nice to have something with some substance that lasts a little longer in my tummy!

I bought some coconut aminos to use in lieu of any soy based products for stir fry and they are amazing! The stir fry was so good I had it two nights in a row =) I know, no matter what I still am a creature of habit and I don't mind eating the same foods over and over again. I did procure some egg whites just in case I need a protein boost in the next week or so, but for now I'm doing well and haven't had meat in a couple of days! We'll see how I do!

I've been starting my day off with organic green tea instead of coffee - no coffee allowed on reset! That has been going well and I have some new friends to delight me as I drink:

Owl tea set! So fun!

They are sure to bring a smile to my face!

 I'll detail my daily menu and what I ate below. I hope you like pictures because I am including some of those as well! I will admit that I get hungry in between meals, but I am not experiencing any blood sugar spikes/drops, or getting symptomatic with my hypoglycemia. That has nearly disappeared since switching to Paleo. I do believe it helps that I eat every 3 hours or so though!

Day 1 Menu

Breakfast: 

2 eggs cooked in coconut oil 

Spinach sauteed in coconut oil 

1 small banana w/chia seeds (not pictured)

I LOVE having pan fried eggs for breakfast! And the coconut oil just does something to help crisp up the edges... yummmy! I like to break my yolks, and I always season with salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika. It's a great combination for seasoning!

Lunch Day 1: Artisnal lettucs w/carrots and green peppers

A simple salad for lunch, topped with plain ol' balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I keep my dressing pretty straight forward, but mostly that's because I don't want to make my own mayonnaise! 

Dinner was really tasty! I made some baked chicken that I seasoned with pepper, sage, and lemon slices. I wrapped them tightly in some tin foil and baked them at 350* for about 30 minutes. Once they were out of the oven, I salted them!

I love the way sage and lemon combine flavour-wise. One of those little things that I  only recently have found to be appealing to my tastebuds =) Love it! I paired the chicken with some fresh steamed broccoli, my top pick for green vegetables. I love me some "broccoli trees" as my nephew calls them.

Day 2 Menu

I started the day out simply with a protein shake that contained 2 bananas and 2 T of chia seeds, as well as a sprinkling of cinnamon. I love cinnamon! 

For lunch I kept it simple! I diced up some of the leftover baked chicken and I threw it over some artisnal greens, then seasoned lightly with salt and pepper. Last, I dressed it with - what else? - balsamic and olive oil! I know, I know. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it change its dressing! 

For dinner I roasted up some brussel sprouts. Now, I don't know about you, but I LOVE me some brussel sprouts! Especially when you oven roast them and they get all caramelized and crispy:

Oh  yes, this will do nicely!

So being the odd duck that I am, I decided to pair my sprouts with some fried eggs! Yep, eggs. Did I mention that I enjoy eating eggs?

Okay, so this is taking FOREVER and I have other things I need to attend to for awhile! I promise I will be back to recap the next few days, though I may insert my pics FIRST. I think that's going to help me a lot =) xoxo! 

Please feel free to leave a reply and let me know that you are enjoying my posts! 

What, where, and most importantly... WHY?

I figured I ought to take a moment to talk about what exactly it is that I'm doing, what is involved in it, and why I decided to travel this particular path on my journey to my optimum state of health and wellness.

If you have been following my Facebook you know that I adopted the Paleo lifestyle about a year and a half ago. A brief summary behind the decision: I have been allergic to gluten (the protein found in wheat, rye, barley, etc) all of my life but was undiagnosed until 2009. Upon discovery of the allergy, I went "gluten free" but nothing really changed; I still felt ill a good portion of the time, still suffered GERD frequently, was lethargic, etc. I had merely changed WHAT I was eating, not the habits I had. Due to my issues, I tried all sorts of diets and ended up following the Blood Type diet, which had me basically eating a vegetarian diet - something I had done for years previously. I ended up feeling far worse than I ever had before, and it turned out that I was severely anemic. I added iron supplements, but still followed the "diet." Needless to say I didn't improve very much. Fast forward a bit later that year and a friend of mine began talking about Paleo. They shared some stories with me, as well as their own personal journey, and I thought to myself, "Why not give this a go? It's the exact opposite of what I'm doing now." I basically went from subsisting on grains, veggies, fruit and tofu/soy, to eating red meat, chicken/turkey, veggies and fruit with no grains, legumes, soy, and limited (to no) dairy. Within two weeks I felt like a new person, and it has only gone up from there! I credit Paleo for a large part of the change in my life. It truly turned everything around and I've never felt better.

So why now? Why this cleanse? If I feel so much better, why do I need to "reset" myself?

The answer is simple: I allowed myself to fall back into some old habits, eating foods that are on the No  list.

What I really like about this "reset" is that it's not just about the food you eat. It also has a regiment of supplements and stimulate a healthier gut and to help balance out the pH levels in your body. It comes with a comprehensive guide book that answers your questions, details out your meals, the schedule for the supplements, etc. They even give you a little "to go" bag so you can take what you need with you! I thought that was pretty clever!

The true test for me with this cleanse is that it tapers you into a super clean "vegan" style of eating. Because I do not eat grains (rice, quinoa, corn, etc) or legumes (soy, beans) I must adapt the meals to suit what I can eat. Thanks to a good friend I was linked to a post about being a vegetarian Paleo (quite the oxy moron!) and the only animal product on the protein source list was egg whites! It is my intention to avoid using those as week 2 and 3 commence, but if I am in need of protein then I will be using egg whites at the very least, and possibly whole eggs.

So, I know that was kind of long winded and possibly a bit dry to read, but thanks for sticking through it! I will be adding posts as I go along and I know I need to catch up since I just finished day 2, but I'm kind of tired and I hope you will forgive me that I will be doing those day 1 and 2 posts tomorrow! Which means I will need to catch up on day 3 at that point but hey, I'm going to keep THOSE posts simple!

xoxo!
~Adrienne