Motivation Comes in All Shapes and Sizes!

If you are visiting from the Blog Hop, welcome!  I have loved participating in this fun event this month and meeting new blogging friends.  I have learned so much and even though we're only halfway through the month, it has been a wonderful experience!

Do you ever lack motivation?  You just don't really want to go workout for whatever the reason?  Maybe you're just a little too tired.  Maybe you've had a long day and it's just one more thing to do before you get to relax.  Maybe it's too cold, and you just want to stay inside where it's warm.  Or maybe, just maybe you just don't feel like it.

Well, this was me last Saturday.  I DID NOT FEEL LIKE WORKING OUT.  I had no other excuse.  I had gotten a good night's sleep the night before.  My day was pretty tame for a Saturday.  I wasn't overly busy, so I certainly had time to fit it in.  Nope ~ there was no excuse (not that there are too many good ones!)  I just didn't feel like it.  BUT unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the way you look at it) I made a small mistake.  My daughter loves to go up to the studio I work at and get on the treadmill or mess around with the weights and other equipment.  I had promised her that we would do that on Saturday.  I didn't say maybe or we'll see.  I used the words, "I promise".  So you can believe that when lunch time came and went, she was all over me about going to workout.

I had just taken her to Fleet Feet to be fitted for new tennis shoes and she was chomping at the bit ready to try them out.  Being the great mom that I am (NOT!) I tried every excuse in the book.  I told her I was tired and wanted to take a nap.  Of course she said, "Great, we'll go after!"  I told her I needed to get some work done.  She reminded me that I had already finished my work.  I quickly new nothing was going to get me out of it, especially when she said, "But you promised!"

I have been very careful of not ever promising to anything that I didn't come through on.  So, I took a deep breath and said okay.  After thinking it over for a minute or two, I began to smile.  I looked at her and said, "Thanks for being my motivation!  You're getting me to workout even when I'm not really feeling it.  I'm so glad I have you as my daughter!"  Of course, she beamed and I knew at that moment what an impact we both had on each other.  I was there to show her the right way to be healthy and develop healthy habits, and she was there to motivate me and give me that added push to do the right thing too.

 We ended up heading to the studio, and we both got a pretty decent workout.  Once it was over, I was very glad that I went (I usually am) and I felt so much better.

Emily was happy because she was able to try out her new running shoes on the treadmill and "burned more calories than ever before".  I love that she is wanting to do things that I do like running and working out.  It makes me very happy.

So you see, motivation does come in all shapes and sizes, and mine comes in a 5 foot 2, 11-year-old fabulous daughter named Emily.

Meal Prep ~ It Does a Body Good!

About a year ago, I began to have what I call Meal Prep Sundays.  I didn't do it so much for me as I did it in an effort to spend time with my daughter and hopefully get her trying new healthy foods.  What started out as a fun Sunday thing to do with my girl, quickly turned into a weekly ritual we both look forward to.

We start off by making a "menu" of sorts of all the things we want to make.  This usually includes some sort of protein (chicken, venison, pork tenderloin or fish), various veggies (both raw and cooked) and usually a "good" carb or two like sweet potatoes or quinoa.  We usually chop veggies for snacks (carrots, peppers, celery), along with makings for salads too.  Emily writes out our menu and puts our initials by which item we are responsible for.  It's a lot of fun.  We have our music turned up and dance while having fun preparing a healthy week of food.

Just a few of our easy recipes that we put together often.  Please note, we kind of fly by the seat of our pants and don't use recipes.  That being said, we might not have exact measurements.  We mix, taste and add whatever we think is needed.

Roasted Cauliflower

Preheat oven 350 degrees
Need:  Cauliflower, 2-3 lemons quartered, 3-4 whole pods of garlic

Get coconut oil hot in the pan and throw in broken pieces of cauliflower and sear it while adding a little salt.  Once its settled, add the whole pods of garlic.  When there is a little color on the cauliflower, squeeze the lemons and throw them in the pan.  Put in the oven for about 10-15 min.

Sauteed Green beans

Need:  Green beans, shallots, minced garlic (we use a ton of garlic so use whatever you like)

Coat hot pan with coconut oil.  Saute shallots and add garlic after it's caramelized.  Once you begin to smell the garlic, add green beans.  Cook for 7-10 min or so until they are the texture you wish.  (we like ours a little al dente)

Moo Moo Chicken (named by my daughter who's nickname is Moo)

Need:  Cut up pieces of chicken tenderloins, liquid aminos (1/4 c), honey (several spoonfuls) and brown sugar to taste, salt, garlic powder.

Mix the liquid aminos with honey using a whisk.  Once the honey is emulsified with the liquid aminos, add salt, garlic powder and a little brown sugar.  We usually taste it to see if it's sweet enough.  While Emily mixes this, I am usually sauteing the chicken pieces.  Once they are fairly cooked through, we add the "Moo Moo sauce".  I usually put a lid on it and let it cook for about 5-7 minutes.  It's fabulously tasty either hot or cold and even on salads.

We cook lots of things, but these three we cook more than anything else.  It's a lot of fun and keeps everyone eating healthy for the week.  It's much easier to stay on task when you have food already prepared.  That way there is no temptation for eating out or grabbing junk food.  I'm hoping this is creating not just a healthy habit for me, but also one for my daughter as she grows up.

Hope you enjoy the recipes!  We sure do!

~Donna