When You're in the Mood For a Different Kind of Salad...

I eat a lot of salad. I know, you're not surprised, right? But I didn't want some ordinary side salad today, or my go-to healthy Chef Salad. I wanted something different, amazing. I wanted something that would hit all my containers on the 21 Day Fix nutrition plan, but also be a little unusual. As you may have noticed, I love trying new foods- and this one is a doozy: it has jicama.

Jicama is a root vegetable, but it is sweet, and tastes a little like an asian pear. There are many benefits to this starchy tuber, the first being that it is very low in calories. It is extremely rich in vitamin C, and super high in fiber. Its a great way to add a little sweet to your salad (great for diabetics due to the fact that it doesn't spike blood sugar) while adding texture as well. Its also has minerals like iron and magnesium, and B-Complex vitamins like folates, which are great for your body's metabolism. Ok, enough about jicama.

So making this salad was pretty easy. First, I started with prepping all my ingredients. After all, it is a chopped salad. Wash and chop. I used: 

• 2 heads Romaine lettuce
•  Orange and red bell peppers (2 each)
• 1/2 red onion
• 1/2 large jicama
• 2 ears corn (see an easy way to cook fresh corn here)
• 29 ounces washed black beans
• One bunch cilantro, fresh
• Other add-in options are tomato and zucchini

Next, the dressing. I mixed in a glass:

• Juice of 2 limes, or approx. 1/4 cup
• 2 T local raw honey
• Himalayan sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
• 4 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• Option: fresh minced garlic if desired

I hope you'll give this great salad a try. To up the protein, you can add a choice of seafood such as shrimp, or grilled chicken. I ate it for "work food" (I love things I can spread over multiple days in a row), and haven't gotten sick of it. In fact, I think I'll make more today!

What Do You Do When You Just Don't Want to Press Play?

Its so hard some days. Some days, rainy, bleak days like today, I just want to curl up on the couch, veg out, and eat something ridiculous, like Ramen.  I know that you may find this hard to believe, but I DON'T WAKE UP EVERY DAY IN BEAST MODE. Most mornings, I wake up nice and comfy in some snuggly yoga pants, a tank top, and a zip up hoodie. I brew a pot of coffee (yes, I drink coffee!), and get ready to start my day.

First, there are children. I know there are only two but some days I think I'm seeing double. They are everywhere! And if, heaven forbid, I manage to get them down for a nap then I might just want to sit and enjoy the silence. Smell the rain. Listen to... well, nothing.  It doesn't happen often, but I dream of it often! Haha! The true reality is that there is screaming, tugging, loud shrieks and giggles, all while I try and complete some other task- much like right now, even as I write this blog. Then there are the million other tasks- all of which I need to accomplish before I go to work and start the second half of my day.

There are two ways I combat this. One is to listen to some personal development on audio while I knock out a few household chores, such as dishes or folding laundry. Another is to just do it.

I know, I know. That sounds lame. But its the truth. If you are going to take accountability for your own actions and be responsible for yourself and where you are in this life, you have to be able to own your own actions. It is not necessarily the easiest thing in the world to complete a workout with children walking all over you, with chores waiting to be done. I'm afraid of stepping on little feet. I'm afraid of taking that time away from myself when I should be paying attention to them, right? WRONG.

What better way to show them, each day, that even if its rainy, even if its ugly, I get it done. Even if I don't feel like it. Even if they crab at me. Even if life gets in the way, things pop up, I will do my best. Because I said I would. And I am the only one who can be responsible for my actions.

Easy, Clean, Quick Corn on the Cob

Good morning gorgeous people! This morning I am working on creating a Mexican Chopped Salad for dinner at work, and for my family to eat at home. I love being able to shorten time in the kitchen- one of my favorite ways to do this is by learning new tips and tricks that make it easier to do small tasks-- like cooking fresh corn on the cob.

So this morning, I tried out something new. I used the microwave to cook the ear of corn, instead of the traditional boiling or roasting on the grill, both of which take a little more time.  I made a short video to show you how that you can watch here.  What a quick, easy way to have clean, silkless corn without having to take time away out on the grill or watching a boiling pot. I hope you find this as helpful as I did, and check back often for more tips and recipes!

What's Holding YOU Back?

This morning, I started actively participating in a free training series through a fellow coach named Mindy Wender, called 21 Days to Thrive. It called for me to write down certain things, to analyze what may be holding me back. Well, this seemed pretty common sense to me at first, not very helpful.  But as I listened, I finally pressed pause on her video and took out the pen & paper.

I mean, what's holding me back? What is keeping me from being as successful as I possibly can be in life, and in everything else I do? I consider myself to actually BE fairly successful already, but of course everyone has those little doubts, those creeping little voices in the back of their head that whisper words like "other people can, not you..."

So I put it on paper. What is holding me back? Doubts and Fears, for starters. Yes, I realize I capitalized those. Because they are living, breathing things.  My biggest hold-up is a fear of failure, or so I thought. But in reality, its a fear of disappointing others. What if someone I am coaching doesn't achieve their goals? What if I can't give them what they need? What if, try as I might, I can't inspire them to achieve what they set out to achieve? This is my greatest fear.

Another is insecurity. Yes, I still struggle with that. I am afraid people will see me and think, "she can't coach! She doesn't have a super-model body." That's right I said it- I don't! I am not trying to be stick thin. I am not even done with my own personal journey. I no longer have a set pounds-lost goal, sure, but I have things I want to achieve. I am striving to be my best and healthiest self. Toned. And I'm not all the way there yet. So what if people make fun of me? Tell me I'm not good enough? Then what will I do? Will my business crumble? Will people stop believing in me, and therefore, themselves?

I also fear being misunderstood. This is kind of a new one for me, and one I didn't realize I had. I wonder if people know how much I really, truly care about helping others? That the idea of helping someone not feel that depressed, less-than way I used to feel, is my number one motivator. Helping them to get off medication, helping them to be more active to play with their children. Helping them to LIVE. BREATHE. LOVE. I hope so.

So my takeaways from this exercise? I refuse to let it control me-- the fear, that is. I refuse to be held back. After all, when Olivia was just a peanut in my tummy, was I scared? Sure! But I didn't let that fear keep me from having her! When I did the Insanity Fit Test and could barely make it through, did I let the fear of the rest of the program keep me from pushing play? No. I did not. So why would I let this fear keep me from leading the best, most successful life I can? From being the most amazing wife, mother, and coach possible? I don't know. But I'm not stopping now. For anything.

Sunday! Yay! Sunday! Its been a long hard week for me this week at work. Difficult. Made it hard to stay on top of my daily goals at home each morning when I felt completely beat up from the night before at work. Last night at 11:30 pm, a hospice patient put on his call light for maybe the 100th time during the shift. In my head, I groaned silently- and I'm ashamed to admit, in my head, I was thinking, "Seriously? What NOW?"

So when I answer his light, he asks me if I have time to sit with him and if I have a pen and paper. Honestly, I didn't have time. I was behind on my charting, busy running from room to room, and still had last rounds to do. But when looked at him, he had tears in his eyes. So I said I would get the paper. I hurried off and then ran back, thinking I would quickly jot down whatever it was he didn't want to forget before morning came. So he said, "I'd like to write a letter of commendation to your commanding officer." Mind. Blown.

So as I reflect this morning on the week that has gone by, I write this with a tear in my eye. We don't always know what's coming. But damned if I didn't get completely and utterly humbled by this frail man, this sick and dying man, this strong and capable soldier. Sometimes, when you think you have it all figured out, when you think you already know whats coming around the corner, you may just get surprised.