There are times when I find cutting and prepping vegetables very calming.  I was having one of those days.... I popped on an audio book and went to town peeling and prepping the big bag of carrots I had that needed to get used.  For those who do meal prep (which I highly recommend) get audible and listen while you work! :)

This requires a mandolin slicer, but you can buy pre-sliced carrots and then this recipe would be ready to bake super quick!

Roasted Carrots ..Or Carrot Chips
Ingredients:
2 lbs or carrots
3 tbsp. Coconut oil melted
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place parchment paper or a silpat on 2 baking sheets.

Peel and Slice carrots (I love the heirloom carrots with the purple, yellow and orange).  If you are roasting your carrots you can slice them a little thicker (my mandolin has 3 thicknesses and I did middle).  If you are going for the chips do it on the thinnest setting.

Melt the coconut oil. ...

This Is My Knee…….

Recently a runner I follow inspired me.  She showed a comparison of 2 pictures taken during a race.  One captured some skin moving and shifting while the other didn’t.  I thought, GOSH I have about a million of those…and I wanted to share to maybe free and inspire someone else!  For those who have looked at your knees during mountain climbers and thought, “whoa, what is going on there”? Mine do that too!

THIS IS MY KNEE ABOVE!  During this particular race there were at least 3-4 other pictures taken that my knee does not look like it is flapping in the wind.   But I get stuck focusing on THIS ONE PICTURE.  This one millisecond captured that no eye can see in real time.  This picture of my knee has made my stomach flip upside down and get paralyzed on thinking about what my body looks like.  It made me feel unsteady and insecure.  I literally have countless...

Are you living in a RAT PARK?

I have mentioned to many of you the book THE FOUR DAY WINby Martha Beck.  In this book there have been many tools that were/are EXTREMLY helpful in gaining understanding and control of my food behaviors.  One of which she explains as creating your own RAT PARK?!?!

There was a study conducted..on you guessed it…RATS!  Apparently they have a nervous system similar to ours.  I really don’t like to have anything similar to a rat but oh well. They also found that rats do not like cages, they like to be free and have room to roam about.  Ok so I guess I can relate to a rat, especially in WINTER when at times I feel trapped inside.

In this study they took two groups of caged rats.  One group of rats was placed in a standard old boring cage.  The other group was placed in a RAT PARK.  This rat park cage was built like an all inclusive resort with excursions for...

Meet Naomi!

Mason Jar Eggs (makes 4 jars)

This is a perfect on-the-go high protein make ahead breakfast for those busy mornings.  The varieties are endless on what you can add. 

Ingredients
8 large eggs (you can do 4 eggs and 4 egg whites but I prefer the whole)
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1 cup fresh baby spinach
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

9 Reasons it’s Better to be Overweight

If there are so many reasons we should be skinny why is any of us overweight?  Have you ever done a pros and cons table when making a decision? You list all the positives for making the decision on one side and list all the negative results on the other.  At first some people may think there are no benefits to being overweight, but I’ve been training people long enough to know that isn’t true.  Sometimes we are even unaware of a powerful reason we keep sabotaging our weight loss efforts.  Some of these reasons I have seen range from minor annoyances to crippling traumas. 

This is not an exhaustive list.  If you find yourself overweight see if any of these are subconscious motivators for you and sit down with your pros and cons chart and brainstorm some of your own personal pros to being overweight.  If one of these is a powerful motivator you will need to address that...

Do you even LIKE food??

I guess I DON’T like food:/

Recently I was reading a book and it made me question whether or not I really like food?!  I realized that the way I was eating did not line up with my deep love and appreciation for FOOD!

I have a real struggle with INHALING my food in all of 30 seconds.  It is insane the amount of calories I can put down and hardly even TASTE it!  Often after meals I would have severe abdominal distress because I ate like a wild animal!  This is not the way someone who LOVES food acts.  They enjoy and savor each bite, pause between bites and actually think and feel what they are experiencing with each taste.  Someone who loves food acts like they are a food critic and could write a lovely article about what they just ate.  

There are several reasons why I eat/ate fast.  The fact of the matter is now none of those reasons are even true in my life anymore. It is...

Chicken Curry Soup (serves 6)

In a large stock pot Saute over medium heat:

2 teaspoons of coconut oil
1 small yellow onion minced
3 cloves of garlic minced

Saute until Tender and then add:

1 lb of chicken cubed
2 cups of carrots sliced
2 cups of red peppers sliced
8 oz of button mushrooms (if you don't like mushrooms then just increase the amount of carrots and peppers)

Once the chicken is no longer pink Add:

1 14oz CAN of full fat coconut milk
1 cup of chicken stock (I have been buying bone broth for the added nutrients)
2 tablespoons of Thai Red Curry Paste (ethnic isle)

Incorporate all together and then Add:

4 cups (or more) of fresh baby spinach
1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger (more or less to taste, you can also get fresh ginger in a "tube" in most produce sections)
Juice of one lime


I really LOVE soup this time of year and this was a keeper.  Jeremy isn't a huge Curry fan be he really liked it too!

ENJOY!

this serves six so each 363 grams of soup holds:
253 calories, 15g carbs, 29g...