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carol@inkwellcoaching.com

Crown Point, IN

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August 28, 2025

7 Late Summer Wellness Tips

The nights and days are cooler. Darkness comes earlier. The sky looks like fall. I even saw some leaves in Michigan that had turned brilliant red. How

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Blog
August 21, 2025

What to Do with All That Zucchini

Yesterday, my friend Lisa presented me with a zucchini that looked as though it had taken growth hormones. It was gigantic! She told me that she grate

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Food, Fun, Health
August 14, 2025

Echoes of Summer

Can you feel the shift? The days are steamy–yet the calendar is getting a bit crowded with commitments that pair better with the cooler days of

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Food, Fun, Health
August 7, 2025

August Anxiety. Sunscreen vs. School Bells

This time of year, I feel a mixture of emotions. On the one hand, summer is in full swing. The flowers are thriving, temperatures still soar, and ther

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Family, Health, Personal Development
July 30, 2025

Recharging After Your Vacation

Have you ever returned home from a vacation and thought to yourself, “Gee, I could use a vacation.”? I know I have. It seems wrong. We have such a

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Food, Health
July 20, 2025

Traveler’s Guide to Food and Fitness

Summer vacations. I’ve always been a big fan of vacations any time of year. They are SO FUN, and people are usually very nice to you when you’re a

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Food, Fun, Health
July 16, 2025

The Peach vs. Nectarine Debate

I love them both. Lately I’ve been wondering about their slight differences, which sent me down the rabbit hole of looking into their unique charact

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Food, Health
July 9, 2025

The Dog Days of Summer

How often I’ve heard this phrase, yet never knew that Dog Days were official. Turns out, the Dog Days of Summer run from July 3 to August 11. This t

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Food, Fun, Health
July 3, 2025

Can Bananas Ruin Your Berry Smoothie?

This past week I received an email with this question: “I recently read an article about bananas reducing the nutrition of the berries in a smoothie

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Food, Health
June 26, 2025

Hot Weather, Cool Tips

Lots of ideas swirling around in my head today—to which Mr. Non-Compliant would say, “Uh Oh!” Since I couldn’t decide on one topic, thought I&

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Food, Health

Feeling Stressed? Gorge on Bliss

February 24, 2022
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Fun, Health, Hope, Personal Development

I’ve had conversations with lots of people lately, and everyone is a bit stressed. Well, maybe more than a bit.

Stress shows up lots of ways. It is cumulative and sometimes feels as though it compounds daily.

We’re all expected to “handle” it. Many times, we think we are, then the bottom falls out.

We get sick; we blow up at a loved one; we binge on junk food or alcohol; we sleep too much or not at all; we lose our joy.

It’s time to do something that you love doing—just because.   

Not everyone can take a vacation now, which I strongly suggest doing if it’s at all possible.

If not, figure out what you can do. It doesn’t have to cost money or take an entire day or weekend, although it can.

Take a break from your routine in some way and have stress-free fun.

Some ideas:

  • If you can’t take any trips in the very near future, plan your next vacation and figure out a rough timeline of when you can get away. Having something to look forward to is part of the fun and gives you daydream material.
  • Go on a planned date with your spouse or significant other. Again, make it an event that you can look forward to: the symphony, a concert, play or movie, bowling (if that’s your thing).
  • Stay at home and binge watch movies or read or cook interesting food.
  • Athletes, if you haven’t planned your next competition or race, check out some ideas for your next event. Shop for new gear for your sport. Isn’t it time to replace those shoes?
  • Gardeners, plan your spring planting schedule. Need some new tools? Spring really is almost here. My daffodils are peaking through the ground.
  • Get together with friends and cook a themed meal together. Include everything from music to drinks to the food.
  • Go on a positivity diet. I got this one from my coach, Emily, and it has nothing to do with food. She recommends doing this for a minimum of 3 months. (Sounds like a good Lenten practice, which begins March 2.) Take it a week at a time and see how much better you begin to feel. Watch only funny or cute videos, movies, etc. Only listen to happy music, and only have positive conversations. No gossip, and no mean self-talk either. She says you are to “fast from cynicism, sarcasm, and gossip, and gorge on bliss.” (Rose, Emily. Break Your Bad Love Habits: 5 Steps to Free Yourself from Heartbreak and Transform Your Relationships Forever (p. 10). Kindle Edition.)
  • Bake a birthday cake and pretend it’s your birthday and celebrate amazing you.
  • Anything else you can come up with that makes you feel joyful and is not stressful.

Remember to do your best to get your sleep, drink your water, and eat some vegetables. Exercise helps a great deal too. Choose one to prioritize and practice. During stressful times, things start to slide that help us cope.

Success is showing up and doing something. It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beneficial. 

Oh, Mr. Non-Compliant baked me my birth month cake and it was amazing. It made me very happy. I’m spoiled.

Blessings and love to you,
Health Coach Carol

 “A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The One Habit that May Reduce Stress, Improve Sleep, and Increase Productivity

February 17, 2022
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Health, Personal Development

This one habit may also help improve your relationships and encourage more consistency with healthy nutrition and fitness.

This magical habit: bookending your days.

Intentionally mark the beginning and end of each day.

This is something I could improve upon.

In the morning, spend anywhere from 5 minutes (to get started if that’s all you can manage) to one hour (ideally) setting yourself up for a great day. This is time that is set aside for you to ramp up your energy, focus your mind, and help you grow as a person.

During this time, you could:

  • Do some light stretching, take a walk, or go for an intense workout
  • Meditate or pray
  • Study a topic of interest or personal development by reading or listening to a book or course
  • Set an intention for your day (not a “To Do” list, but an attitude that you’d like to carry with you. Examples: being present to others; having a spirit of forgiveness; peacefulness; clarity)
  • Do a brain dump and write 3 pages longhand, whatever comes to mind. Also known as Morning Pages.

If you typically begin your day listening to the news, reading emails, or scrolling social media, try some different habits for two weeks. Take note of what your day is like depending on how you begin it.

See if your new habit helps you feel calmer and clearer—more productive.

At the end of the day, bookend with another habit. An hour is ideal—do what you can.

Maybe:

  • Cook a simple meal, which can be meditative (If you enjoy cooking, that is)
  • Read something lighthearted
  • Listen to music
  • Stretch or meditate
  • Do a brain dump or gratitude journaling
  • Take a bath or shower

Any calming activity that helps you relax is a good choice.

Again, try this for two weeks and see if you find your overall quality of life improving.

Consistency in bookending your days may lead to a variety of positive results.

Experiment with the amount of time you spend and the activities you select. These may change over time, or even daily.

Do what works. The goal is to have set boundaries for your day, separating the time you give to others and the time set apart for you.

Bookends. 

And in case you’re wondering, I’m still in full birth month celebration mode. I think I may need to bookend my birth month with a warm-up month prior to and a wind-down month after.

I’ll see if I can convince Mr. Non-Compliant to go along with that idea.

Cheers to more February fun,
Carol

“Though, February is short, it is filled with lots of love and sweet surprises.” ― Charmaine J. Forde

9 Reasons for Celebrating Your Birth Month

February 10, 2022
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Food, Fun

Another year around the sun complete. Time to celebrate my birth month as I begin the journey for another go around.

My dear friend, Cheryl, finally found the perfect card to express this sentiment. 

If you’re not on board with a lengthier celebration, perhaps you need to rethink your position.

9 Reasons why it’s good to celebrate your birthday for at least a month:

  1. How many lunches/dinners with friends and family can you really pack into one day?
  2. Snail mail is a bit slower these days, and all your cards and packages may not arrive exactly on time.
  3. You take the pressure off those who may feel bad for missing “The Day.”
  4. It gives you more time to see all the Facebook greetings.
  5. Celebrating is fun and enough things in life are not.
  6. It makes it possible for you to do things you like to do but may not be able to do on your birthDAY.
  7. Restaurants love to treat birthday people with complimentary dessert and song, and sometimes the gatherings are on a different day.
  8. You are very special and one day doesn’t do you justice.
  9. Why not?

Birthdays are also fun because there’s FINALLY a benefit to getting all those excess emails the rest of the year.

I scored a FREE Bundtlet from “Nothing Bundt Cakes.” Yes, it was as delicious as it looks. Half of it was just right with a bit of chocolate oat milk ice cream. 

Note: This is the gluten-free cake. They always carry GF chocolate chip bundlets, and you’d never know it’s GF.

Panera gifted me with a reward for $2.00 off my next beverage.

Houlihan’s will give me a complimentary entrée, up to $15.

These cool offers are valid for anywhere from 1-2 weeks after my birthday. See, even food establishments know that it’s good to celebrate for more than a single day.

I must really be extra efficient since I was born in the shortest month. Each year, I improve my celebratory skills.

 Thanks to my family and lots of friends, I’m off to a great start.

And I’ve only just begun.

Feeling the love,
Carol

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”— E. E. Cummings

Best Easy Cornbread

February 3, 2022
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Food, Fun, Health

Last week we were basking in 11° weather here in Indiana. This week we had a blizzard.

If you’ve ever lived in a wintery weather place, you can visualize the scene: snow piling up non-stop all night into day; blowing so that you’re not sure if it’s still snowing or only blowing; and seeing 12-15 inches of the white stuff everywhere.

I thought it would never stop.

Fun times. Even my gym cancelled classes and closed early. It is beautiful, as I look out my window. 

What’s a girl to do in a blizzard? (After I cleared the driveway, of course.) Why, make cornbread to go with the Chicken Lemon Rice Soup.

 EDIT on the soup recipe from last week’s blog post. I forgot to mention that you can use organic chicken bone broth as your base instead of chicken broth. The bone broth contains more protein and adds lots of health benefits, especially if you make your own.

Here’s the link to my blog post on bone broth and a chicken bone broth recipe Bone Broth Recipe

Since the best carbohydrates we can consume are in the form of fruits and vegetables, cornbread is a real treat.

Sometimes, like after playing in the snow, I indulge. It was moist, delicious, and really hit the spot with the soup. I began my meal with a tossed salad and dessert was a mandarin orange. 

This is gluten-free; however, you could use all-purpose flour. I’ve also included substitutions to make it dairy-free. The original recipe called for ½ cup sugar. I cut the sugar to 1/3 cup and preferred it. I like to minimize sugar whenever I can achieve a delicious product with a bit less, since we would all do well to eliminate it from our diets. I’m not quite there. Progress, not perfection. 

Best Easy Cornbread

  • 3/4 cup gluten-free cornmeal
  • 1 cup Namaste Gluten-Free Perfect Blend Flour or all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 to ½ cup organic sugar
  • 2 ½ tsp. baking powder (aluminum-free)
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup milk or reconstituted goat milk or dairy-free alternative
  • 1 egg
  • 1/8 cup melted butter or Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Sticks

Add the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir with a wire whisk until well blended. Add the milk, egg, and butter. Stir the batter until all the ingredients are blended. Butter a 6″ X 9″ or 8″ X 8″ pan and evenly spread batter into pan. Bake at 375°F for approximately 20-25 minutes until lightly brown. Enjoy warm. Store leftovers in an air-tight container. May be frozen.

Bon appétit,
Health Coach Carol

“Snowflakes are one of nature ‘s most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together.” — Vesta M. Kelly

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