Freedom from Scale Drama

It’s been one year and a half since I stepped on a scale. She’s an old friend. We haven’t had the best relationship over the years. More like a dysfunctional one.

She doesn’t give me my worth or value. She doesn’t even tell me how healthy I am. But I used to let her, over and over again.

When her number is up, my mood is down. When her number is down, my mood is up. We can’t ever seem to agree on anything. Yet the codependency has existed for decades.

Some would say I fear her and what does that say about me? But I’m learning to see past her gaslighting and abuse, her finger-pointing and blaming.

I refuse to let an inanimate object steal my joy or give me fleeting confidence. I refuse to let a number tell me a story about my health – because health is about so much more than a number, or a diagnosis, or anything you can measure.

In my new online course, ReFOCUS 21, starting February 1, we are renewing our minds with truth and adjusting the way we look at health, habits, body image and chronic dieting!

It’s not too late to join us for 21 days of a new view of who you are – beyond what a number tells you. Each day’s content will be delivered straight to your inbox. Click the link here learn more and sign up!.

Feast 2 Fast: A Groundbreaking Nutrition Program Teaching YOU Metabolic Flexibility

Get ready! I have a BRAND NEW nutritional program starting August 17 called Feast 2 Fast. It was developed by Chelsea Blackbird (aka “The Christian Nutritionist”). You may remember Chelsea from a past podcast episode called “Busting Common Health and Diet Myths.”

This program helps people reach metabolic flexibility while also gaining freedom and flexibility in food choices. It truly is a place where “real food meets real life.”

You know me. You know I don’t promote diet plans. But I do promote supporting health – body, mind, and spirit. This group tackles all three! Registration for this 4 week program starts on August 3. You can learn more and sign up by clicking here.

If you love food, hate diets, and want to learn how to support your health goals in a balanced way, this program is for you. This program aims to develop metabolic flexibility and overall health while also supporting mental health and your relationship with food through daily encouragement.

The program includes:

An online participant portal to access all content
Over 100 recipes that are easy and delicious
A supportive community on Facebook
Access to ME an my support and encouragement whenever you need it
Short instructional videos on optimizing nutrition for OPTIMAL health
Daily spiritual encouragement and reminders to nourish your soul

The cost of the program is $179, and I assure you, it is WELL worth it. This program checks all the boxes I look for when I want to really get to the root of food and mood!

Targeted nutritional support can be a catalyst for whole body health. Through this program, you will learn how to become empowered with your nutritional choices and how to individualize your nutrition for your lifestyle and your health goals.

Oh – and did I mention the side effects of better sleep, clear skin, decreased cravings, and super-charging your body into fat-burning mode?

I can’t wait to get started with you on this journey! We are going to learn so much together. Sign up here.

Chipotle Honey Greens Bowl

A few weeks ago, my husband and I took a little “staycation” at a fancy boutique hotel in town. While we were lounging by the pool, living the good life, we enjoyed the most amazing greens bowl. It was a perfect light summer treat. We’re typically not “I’ll have a salad” people, especially not on vacation, but this one was a refreshing complement to a warm summer day in the sun. I decided as soon as I got home, I would come up with a “copycat” recipe.

I don’t know about you, but I have a difficult time with raw kale and broccoli. They’re just not my favorite. Well let me tell you, with this recipe, you just may reconcile your relationship with them. Because the broccoli is chopped thinly and the kale is massaged in order to wilt and break down the bitterness, these two go perfectly together. Then you have the sweet and spicy mix of the dressing and it really is a solid summer lunch staple – or it’s a great side for a grilled chicken or steak dinner!

*Please note – the dressing is a lot, more than you’ll need for the salad ingredients. That way you can double or triple your salad amount for a crowd, or use throughout the week as a dressing or meat marinade.

Ingredients:

Continue reading “Chipotle Honey Greens Bowl” →

Chocolate Hummus

Nothing says Valentine’s Day like chocolate covered strawberries, am I right? Confession – I don’t love strawberries, and the only way I like to eat them is with chocolate. I am not opposed to melting chocolate chips with butter or coconut oil and making a dip that way, but this year I was challenged to come up with a fun recipe for kids on Valentine’s Day – and I am quite pleased with the results… as were my kids who couldn’t keep their little fingers away.

Continue reading “Chocolate Hummus” →

Green Lentil Curry

I’ve been in a pantry cleaning mood lately. I didn’t say organizing. You can ask my husband – organization is NOT my skill set. But I’m trying to make use of ingredients we have hanging out in the back of the pantry. You know those things you need for a recipe, you use a tiny bit of, then you forget about them? Those things.

So when I found green lentils that, for the life of me I can’t remember what we used them for, I decided to go searching for a way to cook them.

I found the original recipe here, and apart from the green curry paste, I had all the ingredients I needed on hand – total win. I added a few different things to the recipe, took away some others, and the result is a flavorful, hearty dish that is thicker than soup but just as warming. Continue reading “Green Lentil Curry” →

New Year, Same Me: And That’s Okay

The biggest transformation that happened for me this last year had nothing to do with my body and had EVERYTHING to do with how I see my body.

ac3fd73e-cbf6-4478-82f9-9b26b0f6586d — January 2019 compared to January 2020 – same me, but transformed perspective!

If you want to lose weight this year, great. If you want to take a different approach to health by balancing things from the inside out, that’s something I will continue to share about in 2020.

Just remember – someone else’s before and after doesn’t tell the full story. What looks like “discipline” may actually be disordered eating. What looks like gaining weight or hitting a plateau may actually be a year of grief and stress. We can’t measure success or failure from a picture.

What’s always missing in these before and after pictures is the DURING.

Continue reading “New Year, Same Me: And That’s Okay” →

Re-Focus 2020: See Yourself More Clearly

Is it time for a change?

I’m not talking about weight loss, or a new goal or resolution. I’m not talking about a diet. I’m talking about getting a new view of YOU in the new year.

You probably have heard me say it – I’m a big fan of treating the root. And as much as I love partnering with people to make healthy habits, I also believe that focusing on laying a solid foundation FIRST is key to success.

That’s why I have partnered with Christian author and body image expert Heather Creekmore to bring you a 10 day wellness group to get your mind and heart ready for the new year.

Whether your goal is to lose weight, be more mindful of what you eat, or just feel healthier physically, spiritually and emotionally – this 10 day community can help kick start your goals.

Each day I will offer strategies to personalize your nutrition and become more mindful of your eating habits. I will bring you my favorite tools for learning how to listen to your body and find what’s right for YOU!

Heather will bring strategies to help you lay a solid, spiritual foundation for improving your body image and quitting comparison. She will encourage you with ways to improve your spiritual health so that your physical goals are easier to meet.

The 10 day group will take place through a private Facebook group January 6-16. We will post daily during the 10 days, and we will be available throughout to offer you support and answer all your questions.

In addition to daily tips, challenges, and special video lessons, we’ll be giving away two gifts to thank you for participating. I will provide my “Fast Track Family Recipes” booklet and Heather is gifting you “Mountain Top Experience: A Personal Body Image Retreat.”

The price to participate in this group is only $20! Sign up here or contact me in the contact tab if you are interested!

I hope you have a happy and healthy new year!

Healthy Holiday Sides with Carrots and Sweet Potatoes

Carrot souffle and sweet potato bake that are grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free? Yes, please!

Now, before you head to the recipes, I have to say one quick thing. I know it’s a pain when you are looking for a recipe and the blogger spends all this time with the description and build up and pictures and you’re like, “Just get to the dang ingredients, Karen!”

But after I say this I’ll be done – and you can go on your merry way to try out these recipes.

I get annoyed with the phrase “healthy” in regards to food choices during the holidays. Holidays are celebratory, and if you’re stressing out about whether something is “healthy” or not, and you’re panicked about every ingredient in your meal, you’re less likely to be able to digest the nutrients from that meal.

Stressing about food is the opposite of health, in my opinion.

That being said, it seems to me that every year I get busier with celebrations. We have countless parties, and all of them feature lots of food and lots of alcohol. Because monitoring my mental health is always priority for me, and I will do whatever I can to fight seasonal depression, eating loads of sugar and drinking sugary alcoholic beverages can be taxing on my mental stability.

Consuming lots of sweet treats and drinking alcohol frequently during the month of December will throw off my sleep, make me less well-rested the following day, and then cause my cravings to skyrocket – perpetuating the cycle. So while I don’t want to stress about my food, I do want to be MINDFUL about what I’m choosing and how those choices will make me feel afterward. (For more on eating for mental health and my thoughts on that, check out the Sparking Wholeness podcast episode 10.)

Which leads me to the recipes.

Continue reading “Healthy Holiday Sides with Carrots and Sweet Potatoes” →

Eating for Mental Wealth

Nourishment comes in many forms beyond food.

Being aware of triggers that negatively impact my mental and physical well-being (because they’re connected) is key.

Your relationship with food affects your mental health as well. If you’re stressed about what you’re eating – or what you can’t eat – that sets off a fight or flight response in the body that is not health-promoting.

There is comfort in food. There is joy found in a good meal with friends, in a special holiday gathering. So the last thing I would say is you have to turn down dessert at every special event because it’s going to cause some mental health relapse. It probably won’t. If you have a leaky gut and food sensitivities, it might cause problems. I don’t know your body and your situation. It will take trial and error and individualized support.

I do want you to be aware of some of the most important things I’ve found that hinder and benefit my mental health, based on my own experience and all the latest research on how food IS mood.

Check out my most recent podcast episode, Eating for Mental Wealth, for more information on how I view nourishment! Click on the tree logo on the right to access the show page or listen on iTunes here.

Quick and Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

Last week my husband and I decided to get creative, save money, and utilize different items from our freezer and pantry that were taking up space.

Well, maybe it was my idea to get creative. He just liked the money-saving part.

Anyway, I found some organic boneless chicken thighs in our freezer, along with some pantry items that could be useful, and threw together a white bean chicken chili that was so good I knew I needed to post here for my own reference, if anything!

What surprised me about this chili is how creamy it ended up being. I didn’t add any cheese or sour cream, but something about the combo of the white beans and bone broth made it thicker than a usual tomato-based and dark bean chili.

*Note: While beans may be aggravating for some people if consumed too frequently, they are still a great source of folate, minerals, and fiber – and white beans in particular are great at slowing the glucose response in the body. All these benefits are crucial for mental WEALTH. Continue reading “Quick and Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Chili” →