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What Lights You Up?

March 28, 2019

In the course of your day, what makes you happy, brings up your energy, and makes you feel truly alive?

What lights you up?

Did a number of things come to mind? Or are you still trying to think of something?

If you’re like me, food plays a role in this—getting together with friends and family to enjoy a delicious meal is a great way to spend part of my day.

How about your work? Are you excited to do whatever it is you spend a good amount of time committed to?

Travel, hobbies, volunteering, music, exercise—are only a few thoughts on this topic. Life is full.

If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, it’s probably affecting your overall health.

There’s a workout I do every week that really lights me up. It’s a group fitness class and the room is typically packed. The instructor is tough. She has mastered the art of pushing us to a level that keeps us all coming back for more.

The energy in the room is always through the roof. We whoop, holler, move and groove to the music, can’t wait until it’s over, and hope we live another day. Each time I survive that hour, I feel as though I can take on the world.

It’s a love/hate relationship.

I think anything that pushes us into the unknown can affect us the same way. We have the desire to try something new, but…what if we fail? What if we succeed?

We learn from messing up, rising above the failure, and giving it another go. The alternative is to stay safe. The alternative is to risk missing out on a great deal of happiness, energy, and life.

The alternative contributes to less than optimal health.

So, if you’d like to make a new recipe, try a group fitness class, change careers, take up golf, or write that book, what’s stopping you?

Fitness begins with food, and encompasses so much more. If you could use some help getting started on some new habits, I’d love to help. It’s my gift to you. We’ll consider the possibilities and ask, “What if…”

Courageously yours,
Carol

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”—Winston Churchill

alive courage energy failure fitness survive

To Instant Pot…or Not

March 21, 2019

Blog, Food, Fun, Health

I recently took the plunge and bought The Instant Pot. I’m not what I would consider a gadget junkie, however when I learned the ease with which I could make (AND PEEL) hard boiled eggs, I decided it was worth the investment.

Peeling hard boiled eggs has been a challenge in my home for…decades. I’ve tried adding baking soda, salt (and whatever else has been suggested) to the water, cooking in a variety of ways, and plunging them in ice cold water. The only chance at “easy” peeling was making sure the eggs were not fresh.

I finally began buying the commercially cooked and peeled eggs, UNTIL NOW. In a mere twenty minutes I have my week’s supply of hard boiled eggs cooked, peeled and stored in the fridge—with zero frustration—even when they are fresh. Pure egg bliss, thanks to my Instant Pot.

Before you take The IP plunge, here are a few considerations.

The Instant Pot is not always the quickest way to cook your food, even though it is a pressure cooker. Thanks to Mrs. Dornberg’s Culinary Experience class on this topic, I’m figuring out when it’s the best cooking option for what I’m making.

For example, if a piece of meat has to cook for an hour, time must be added on for the unit to reach the proper heat and pressure; add that hour of cooking time; then, depending on the instructions, add another 15-20 minutes to allow the steam to naturally release.

What appears to be an hour of cooking could be 90 minutes or more. This may or may not save you actual time from your current methods.

Another factor is storage. Where will your Instant Pot live? I kicked out a faulty bread machine that I will not replace, so mine has a home.

A new gadget always has the opportunity for accessorizing—kind of like the new outfit that requires the shoes, handbag, earrings. There’s always more!

Cleaning the stainless steel inner pot is pretty simple, however the lid has a few small parts that must be cleaned well after each use.

If you are one who enjoys tasting and adding a pinch of this or that, cooking with this will make you crazy. Unlike a crock or traditional pot, you can’t simply lift the lid and add an ingredient. If you do, the pot has to get up to pressure again—more time.

On the plus side, I’ve made some tasty soups, roasts, rice, and of course, my beloved eggs. My friend made a beautiful crustless quiche–next on my list of cooking experiments.

Should you decide to invest, be sure to buy THE Instant Pot and not a knock-off brand. I’ve heard a few horror stories about imposters.

If you’re looking for additional support for your health journey, be sure to join my new Facebook community: The Fit Foodies We’ll address your challenges, successes, and have some fun too, since we all love good food!

To Your Health,
Carol

“I can cook really complicated recipes, but it takes a real talent to do the perfect egg.”—Chrissy Teigen

eggs Fit Foodies Instant Pot Mrs. Dornberg

Become a Fit Foodie

March 14, 2019

Food, Health

“I’m too busy to plan healthy meals, let alone prepare them.”

“I don’t have time to eat vegetables.”

“I love food too much to diet.”

“My life is crazy and it’s easier to eat drive-thru.”

If any of these sound familiar, or you could use some support around eating well, feeling better in your body, and not stressing over it all, I’ve got a surprise for you!

My new Facebook community, “The Fit Foodies” is now live and running to come to your rescue. Here is the link to check it out: The Fit Foodies

The purpose of the group is to have dialogue between members to offer ideas, tips, and simple habits to get you through the busy times in life, which is almost always. I’m the administrator of the group and will be leading the community.

Let’s be real. Most of us eat well when the circumstances are controlled for a week, or two, or four. We get our mindset right. We can be disciplined. We can even starve and be miserable and grumpy. UGH!

This is not a lifestyle that is necessary or sustainable or hardly fun. Food is a wonderful gift and we simply need to practice making it work in our favor for sustaining health and wellbeing.

So, if you love food, love to feel fit, and love to have fun, this is a group for you. You’re probably already busy, so there’s one qualifier you don’t need to think about.

The goal: love yourself at the end of each meal. How cool would that be?

There are a few questions to answer when you request to join the group so that I am clear on the type of content that is most relevant.

Please let me know what you think. The Fit Foodies

This community will evolve as we go along, and I’m excited to see where we go!

Your Fit Foodie,
Carol

“PEOPLE WHO LOVE TO EAT ARE ALWAYS THE BEST PEOPLE.” — JULIA CHILD

fit fit foodie foodie fun

The Power of Food

March 7, 2019

Food, Health, Personal Development, Spiritual

Is there a particular food(s) that has power over you?

For some people, if there is a bag of chips, cookies, chocolate—you get the idea—in the house, they lose all self-control and eat every last bite. The result is typically massive guilt and feeling really bad on many levels.

Or, perhaps a beverage has you hooked. Coffee, energy drinks, wine, etc. have the potential to keep you revved or relaxed, and result in really crummy sleep.

Consider this: when you can’t say “NO” to something, it probably has power over you, rather than you having power over it.

When you give your power over to food or drink, it spills over into other areas of your life as well. There is not much we can control; yet most of us can choose what we eat–and how much we move.

This also applies to the excess time we spend on Facebook or other social media, watching television, and any other habit we have that keeps us from doing something more meaningful. I’m not talking about legitimate down time here; it’s the “Gee, an hour just flew by and I had planned to _________________.”(accomplish something else)

We all have stuff that gets in the way of us living our best. It’s just different stuff.

What’s holding you back? What’s taken your power?

For Christians, this Lenten season (which began on Ash Wednesday, March 6) is the perfect time to examine what it is that has a hold on us. The point is to make us more available to experience a deeper relationship with God by paring away the “stuff” that gets in the way.

Some people choose to give up chocolate, ice cream, alcohol, meat, sugar, even cauliflower—ok, that’s an easy one for me because I don’t eat it anyway.

Here’s an idea: practice letting go of whatever you feel has a real grip over your life. These forty days of Lent leading up to Easter offer intentional time to work on being your best you, by creating a different norm.

It’s about doing something that has a long-lasting positive impact, rather than doing something just to do something. And it doesn’t necessarily have to do with food.

Figure out ONE thing that would significantly impact your life, and go for it.

For me, it’s time to clear out space and let go of distractions that I allow to creep into my day. (The distractions have power over me. ENOUGH!) Creating blocks of time to focus on one thing will be of great benefit. For example: I set a timer and spend 50 minutes working on a project then take a 10-minute break. The break may be Facebook time, walking my dog, intentionally doing nothing.

I’m here if you could use some help around your stuff. I’m only an email away.

Powerfully yours,
Carol

“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.” ― Steve Maraboli

Lent power stuff

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