My Menu this week

Source: curiouscountrycook.blogspot.com via Kathy on Pinterest

Food prep to me is the most important thing I do in my health and fitness journey.  Without the preparation I tend to over eat, grab unhealthy foods and even at times not eat enough.  With all the training I am doing it is HIGHLY important that I get good clean, healthy foods in each meal.  My meals fuel my runs and other workouts that I do each day.  Without fuel my body ends up empty, which causes me to crash hard.

Items on the list this week

Breakfast-Protein Pancakes 
1/2 cup of oatmeal, 6 oz of Greek Yogurt, 1/3 cup of egg whites.
I put the oatmeal in my bullet to make it look like flour.  After, the oatmeal is ready, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.  Very simple and takes less than 10 minutes to make.  You can make one big pancake or a few small ones.  Cook on medium.  Top it with some fruit and sugar free syrup.

Zucchini Bites
Picture up above show these yummy bites.  I honestly didn't think I would like them, but I LOVED them.  I tripled the recipe and ended up with only 20 bites.

Quinoa Protein Bars
Quinoa is my new favorite food item.  It is high in protein and taste wonderfully.  I wanted and quick and easy snack for work.  I don't have a food processor, so I put the almonds and dates in the bullet, it worked probably better than the food processor.  I also tripled this recipe so I can freeze some of the bars for next week. 

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Mash
My favorite things to eat is Sweet Potatoes.  So I had to give this a try.  Smelled like Thanksgiving in my kitchen.  I haven't tried this yet but know from the smell that this will be a hit.

Melt in your Mouth Chicken
I love Chicken but never eat it.  So I wanted to throw in something completely different this week.  I wasn't sure if I would like the greek yogurt on the chicken but this was delicious.  I would highly recommend this meal.  I doubled this meal and put half of it in the freezer for next week.

Buffalo Roasted Cauliflower
I love spicy foods and love it more when you can make a veggie taste wonderful.  I haven't tried this yet but cooked it up.  Smelled great and HOT!

BBQ Crockpot Turkey
Diet Dr. Pepper, 1 cup of BBQ and a small turkey breast (looked like a small whole turkey).  Throw everything in crockpot on medium.  Cook for 5-6 hours.  I always shred the meat with one hour left in cooking time.  I normally make this with chicken but I am sure it will taste great with Turkey.

Other items on my menu this week

Shakeology-I will have this at lunch every day.  I always throw in a handful of spinach, 1 tbsp of Peanut butter and one banana.  GOOD STUFF!!!
Almonds
Apples
Pears
Peaches
Carrots
Slaw-pre-mixed at the store.  I add in 1 cup of red vinegar,  1/2 olive oil and 1/2 cup of sugar (splenda).


I challenge you to food prep.  It is the key to success in any diet/lifestyle change. 

Think Happy Be Happy....My Happiness Project

Source: dalidecals.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

Wouldn't it be nice to walk in your bathroom every morning and see this awesome reminder? Think Happy, Be Happy.  I love it so much that I plan on making something similar.  Happiness is the key to life.  I am always in search of things that will make me happier, as well as tossing things out of my life that just bring me down.  Happiness.. I just can't get enough of it.

So what have I been doing since I started my project?

1. I completely cleaned out my room.  50 empty hangers, more space in my dressers and less shoes to deal with.  Did this project make me happier? I wouldn't say it gave me a certain kind of joy but it certainly made me feel less stressed about lack of space that I been dealing with.  I love walking into my room now, so yes it does make me happier that there is more order and organization in my room.

2.  Putting away clothes after I fold them.  This is something I HATE doing! I don't mind folding my clothes but I can't stand putting the clothes where they belong.  Normally, I will fold the clean clothes and put them on top of my front loaders.  The clothes will sit there up to 5 days and sometimes up to a week.  I will even go get dressed in the laundry room just because I refuse to take the 5 minutes to put the clothes away.  So this is a HUGE part of my happiness project for this month.  I am now trying to put the clothes away as soon as I fold them.  Okay...so this week I didn't do it but I only let them sit there for a day, instead of a week! I believe that is PROGRESS!

3.  Eat my food at the table.  When you eat alone it is so easy to fall into bad habits.  My bad habit would be eating in the living room, while watching TV.  I have read for years that this isn't healthy, people tend to over eat while watching TV.  My main reason for wanting to change this behavior is because of my wonderful dog Louie.  He is a super tall dog! When I eat on the couch, he is plate level.  NOT good!!
I noticed since eating at the table... I take my time, I am not messing on the computer and I don't have dog drool all over me. I actually love eating at the table.  I enjoy setting the table and taking the time to clean up after.  I honestly felt that this would make me feel lonely...but that isn't the case at all!

4.  Cleaning the dishes and keeping things out of the sink. Another bad habit that I have been doing for years.  I use to make dinner and throw the pans into the sink.  Sometimes I would wash them but normally I would let them sit till the next day.  Not only is that gross but I hated how dirty it made my kitchen look.  Now, I clean up the pans right away.  Once they are dry, I put them away.  If you know my kitchen...you know there is NO room for dishes and pans sitting around on the counter tops.  This for sure makes me happier! (Now I have to get my roommate on the same page!!)

5.  Going to Church.  This is probably my favorite new habit.  I have been away from the church for sometime and really needed to strengthen my spiritual self.  I am now attending a new church, signed up for a small bible study and pray every single day.  Not only does this make me feel whole but I know this makes my Dad smile. 

Five small things is all but these five things are something that I have complete control over.  It takes one minute to clean the dishes, 5 minutes to put the clothes away,10 minutes to eat at the table and one hour a week to go to church.  It is the little things in life that drive me mad and I do it to myself.  :)

I will HOPE to continue to do these new habits and add more in the next few weeks.  What's up next?

1.  Writing letters.  Who doesn't love getting a letter from a friend, family member or co-worker? I know I love opening up letters from my friends or my Mom.  Making other people happy, will make me happy.  Goal is one letter a week.
2.  Attend Bible Studies.
3. Still need to clean out the Garage and the Kitchen.
4.  Find a Gym that wants to hire me to teach classes.
5.  Paint Again :) 

The Happiness Project

Source: weheartit.com via Sabrina on Pinterest

Have you ever sat around and wished you could be happier? Have you ever said to yourself I wish I could paint, hike more, fish, remember to send out birthday cards, send thank you notes to friends, visit museums, breath and enjoy every day like it was your last? I always wish to do things but I never take that first step towards trying something new and out of the ordinary.  Sure I get it; I run races like it is no tomorrow but I don't do the other things in my life that I am passionate about.

So I decided to take this happiness project head on.  I am a very happy person but i am not an extraordinary happy person.  I don't want to be like anyone else, I want to be different, happier.  I have a house, a car, a career, an education, a loving dog, great family and awesome friends.  What else in the world do I need to make me happy? It is all about the list I always make but never do.  It is about the dream to take up photography, cake decorating, physical training and so many other things.  This project is just about me, being totally the person I want to be, a person I have longed to be for a very long time. 

So where did this idea come from?  My dear friend Alicia Wagner recently talked about a book called The Happiness Project.  Alicia is probably the most driven friend I have in my life.  She puts her goals first and always follows though with them.  She is what I would call extraordinary! So when she tells me I should pick up a book up, I listened!

The book so far is GREAT! I am on Chapter Two but I already started putting together my own happiness project.  For me the first month will be all about organization.  Cleaning out the things in my house that I don't use, need or want anymore.  Organizing my work life, personal life and goals.  I also am going to make to do list and actually follow them.  Organization always makes me happy and a clutter free zone also brings me great joy!

So the project starts tomorrow! First thing to tackle will be my bedroom.  Time to get rid of clothes and clean out everything under the bed.  Time to throw out the million and one shoes I never wear.  I can't wait to see what happens to this room of mine.  I also can't wait to take my bag full of clothes, books and who knows what else to Goodwill.  Next will be the kitchen, basement and lastly my garage.  

I decided to follow the books Commandments, so here they are!
1. Be Kathy
2. Let it go
3. Act the way I want to feel
4. Do it NOW
5. Be polite and fair
6. Enjoy the process
7. Spend Out
8. Identify the problem
9.  Lighten up
10. Do what ought to be done
11. No calculation
12. There is only love

Super excited to see if I can change my happy life, into an extraordinary happy life :)
I suggest you read the book and join me on the ride!

Source: quotesfactory.com via Doni on Pinterest