We all know by now that we should be eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. But knowing and doing are two different things, aren’t they? Sometimes it is just not easy to get them all in there. We are constantly tempted to fill up on convenience and junk food. If your family is anything like mine, they’d much rather fill up on a bag of chips or a bowl of rice or pasta instead of trying an apple or a plate of steamed broccoli. So we’ll have to get creative. Here are a few ideas to “sneak” some extra vegetables and fruits in your family’s diet.
1. Start the day with a breakfast smoothie.
All you have to do is throw some fruits, low-fat yogurt and ice in a blender. You may also want to add a scoop of protein powder in there for good measure. Just blend for a few seconds and you have the perfect breakfast ready to go. I like to sip mine about an hour before a sweaty yoga session. To make it even more appealing for your kids, use some frozen yogurt in the smoothie. They won’t believe that they’re not having a milk shake for breakfast.
2. Dried fruit makes an excellent snack any time of the day.
Add some small cartons of raisins to your child’s lunch box, pack some yogurt-covered raisins in your husband’s briefcase and keep some trail mix sitting around for snacking. You can also add dried fruit to oatmeal and cereal in the morning. My family loves banana chips in their breakfast cereal.
3. Add some fruits and vegetables to your family’s sandwiches.
You can add some banana, sliced apples or strawberry slices to a peanut butter sandwich. Top a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and anything else they will eat. You can even make a sub shop style vegetable sandwich by combining several different vegetables with some mayonnaise and cheese on bread.
4. Have a salad bar at dinner.
Set out a variety of chopped vegetables, some cheese and croutons as well as several choices of salad dressing along with the lettuce and let everybody create their own perfect salad.
5. Let them drink their fruits and vegetables.
Keep an assortment of fruit and vegetable juices in the fridge and encourage everyone to drink them as a snack. Get creative. You could start “family cocktail hour” by pouring everybody a glass of his or her favorite juice over ice. Add some straws, cocktail umbrellas and sit together to talk about how everybody’s day went.
6. Try this for dessert.
Put a small scoop of ice cream or frozen yogurt in a bowl and top it with lots of fresh or frozen fruit.
7. Offer fruits and vegetables as snacks.
You can cut apples into slices and top them with peanut butter or cheese. Cube cheese and serve with grapes. Cut up some fresh veggies and serve them with ranch dip. And of course there’s ants on a log. Spread some cream cheese or peanut butter on the inside of a stick of celery and sprinkle raisins on it (wow, fruit and vegetable in one snack).
8. Try some new fruits and vegetables.
Pick something exotic to get your family’s curiosity. With a little luck their curiosity will outweigh their initial apprehension to trying something new. You could try artichokes, plantains, papaya, mango, star fruit, or anything else you can find in the produce department of your local store.
9. Make a pot of vegetable soup or a stew that’s heavy on veggies and easy on the meat.
Both of these make some great comfort food when the weather gets cold.
10. Start “My Veggie Day”.
Each family member gets to pick a vegetable one day of the week. They qualify to pick a vegetable as long as they tried each vegetable the week before, otherwise they lose a turn and Mom gets to pick.
Incorporate a few of these ideas and you will have everyone in your family eating more fruits and vegetables in no time.
Bonus tip:
Now that everyone in the family has gotten a taste for it, make sure you always have plenty of fresh fruits and veggies available and ready to snack on.
Remember the benefits of omega 3s to brain health I talked about last week? Here's a delicious way to get those nutrients in your diet in less than 30 minutes. I'm excited to try this for dinner this week.
One thing I’m know I’m really good at is suffering😂but any success I’ve had in life has been because I pushed past pain (try saying that 5x fast😆) and I was relentless in achieving my desired outcome.
After all, I raised a whole human for God’s sake! I don’t mind telling you that she is an amazing and fantastic human with the biggest heart I’ve ever known. I can’t take all the credit tho… I had a little help from the Almighty🙏🏽
It takes courage to put your trust in God! For me, that’s the pushing past the 40% that David is talking about in his book, Can’t Hurt Me. Anyone can push up until it hurts. But it takes a whisper in your soul to make you take action and push past pain to get to where you wanna go. It’s the mind, soul and spirit vs. the brain for me.
Your brain is there to protect you. But your mind, soul and spirit will take you where you want to go❣️🧠🧐🙏🏽🤗
Shout out to Aaliyah when she told us to dust ourselves off and try again❣️ RIP
You know I’ve been having a lot of conversations about health and wellness and taking care of your mind, body and soul. Some of us seem to think that it’s got to be all or nothing.
NEWSFLASH 📰
‘ALL IN’ doesn’t mean all or nothing.
It means betting on you for positive change!
All or nothing is the biggest misconception about the journey to getting healthier that I have ever heard. Like anything in life that you’re learning for the first time, there’s a process involved.
Maybe you have to write it down several times so you remember new information.
Maybe you have to hear it multiple times for you to understand the value of it.
Nevertheless, it is a process that is meant to be embraced, a process for good change to happen in any area of your life. Whether it’s a new job, new motherhood, a new relationship…whatever it is…you have to learn it and practice it to be good at it.
Would you throw your kid away the first time you made a mistake?
Would you quit your job after the first day because you didn’t learn everything in one day?
Would you stop seeing someone after the first date because they ate their salad with the wrong fork?
No you wouldn’t!
So why would you give up on YOU because the first day, the first week or the first month of learning what it is to take care of yourself for the first time doesn’t go as planned?
It’s a process.
Embrace it!
Give yourself some time.
Give yourself some grace!
You won’t learn everything in one day just like you won’t lose 100 pounds in one day… it’s a process… one day at a time, one lesson at a time, one pound at a time, one meal at a time.
REAL TALK
Whenever you’re trying to do something good, the enemy will rear its ugly head and try to throw a monkey wrench in your plans.
If you know what I’m talking about, holla at ya girl!
You gotta be better than the enemy and stronger than the enemy and have a little bit more faith in your Creator to get up when you’re knocked down and try again.
This week is an opportunity to try again.
Since the Lord blessed you to wake up this morning, what are you going to do with the new opportunities to TRY AGAIN this week?
This delightful young lady wrote in an article in Cosmopolitan magazine about not being represented in the “wellness” niche. I know how she feels on so many fronts and I am sure I am not alone. Nevertheless, she, like me, was not afraid to try new things (many new things) to discover what works for her and what makes her feel good in pursuit of her own wellness goals. She discovered that listening to her body was the most effective way to achieve her weight loss and wellness goals. At the end of the day, that's what being healthy is all about, isn't it?
Here is what she had to say about her discoveries along her journey into her new wellness lifestyle:
“After a week of experimenting with surprisingly attainable recipes, the superfood-phobe in me realised it is possible to give your body and mind proper attention without necessarily resorting to fancy foods I can’t pronounce. It might sound obvious, but actual[ly] living, [it] has done confidence-boosting wonders for someone who felt a little excluded from the wellness zeitgeist”.
I agree that some of the wellness or “fitness” images that we see on our timeline has been, in the best of terms, somewhat deceiving. I believe it's because a lot of so-called diets and workouts are designed to be a “one-size-fits-all” type of solution to achieving wellness. However, we know that’s not true.
I’ve always believed that you should run experiments on yourself (be your own guinea pig) in your quest to achieve wellness. Try new things and give them time to work (30 days is a good benchmark) to see if the system you've chosen is sustainable to your lifestyle. That means listening to your own body and truly studying what works for you. This is the secret sauce to wellness, fitness and weight loss.
Have you ever needed to have a gut wrenching, crying out to God SOB?
Today was one of those days for me. I had just fallen AGAIN and I got up quick enough to get the rest of the groceries back in the house and then....I let it all hang out. I didn’t even know I needed to get that soul breaking cry out but before I knew it, it was happening! It was one of those cries where you can't even make the sounds you just...your soul is crying out to your Creator. Crying out for your body to function like it should. Crying out so you can do and execute like you know you should but you can't make your mind and skill work for you. You’re stuck! Crying out for the faith to overcome the fear that builds inside you daily and rears its ugly head when your heart wants to execute like your life depends on it. Crying, sobbing, begging for God to take over because YOU CAN’T anymore...not without HIM.
Sometimes in our lives the shift that you desperately want to happen doesn’t because your pride or toxic positivity (yeah, I said that!) doesn’t allow you the cleansing cry you need to achieve clarity. Be real when you get on your knees. He knows your heart anyway. That will make you bawl, for real!
Let’s be very clear. Your pride will have you thinking that crying is punking out and a distraction from what you need to be doing. But if you’re stuck and not making any progress toward your goals, it is likely that your fear is taking over and you don’t truly believe that what you have to offer the world really makes a difference. Toxic positivity is telling you that the little you are doing is baby steps in the right direction and you might be listening to other people telling you the same thing. But you and I both know its not nearly enough to make significant progress on your goals. When this happens, you might need a cleansing cry...one that I like to call a soul cry.
My soul cry today gave me clarity and frankly, the willingness to surrender my goals and dreams to God. I know He is going to let me know exactly where I am coming up short and where I need to lean in. I know that I have to choose faith, put my trust in Him and trust the process.
I have a renewed passion now. I know that I have to do the work to do the work. What does that mean? I have to create a plan and reverse engineer how to get there. This is something that needs to be done every day. With the help of my Creator, I know that I have the strength, courage and discipline to get the job done.
What area of your life do you need to have a soul cry about?
I used to be so overwhelmed with self-doubt that
often I wondered if I could do anything right. Whether it was struggling with
my weight, my relationships, at work or business, I never felt good enough and
so I often struggled with meeting my goals.
I became so frustrated I said to myself,
“something’s gotta give”. I started to pray. I started looking for ways that I
could overcome these problem areas in my life. I started researching these
different areas and see if there was any insight into how I could turn these
things around.
Eventually what I found was that I needed to conduct
a self audit.It looked a little
something like this:
🤔Was I doing the work necessary to get results in these different areas
of my life where I was having the most difficulty?
🤔Was I following a meal plan and exercising to reach my health goals?
🤔Was I trying to find common ground with people I work with so that we
can have a more collaborative relationship rather than a combative relationship?
🤔Was I talking about and promoting my ideas for new business ventures
in a way that made people want to invest in new products or services?
When I realized that I was coming up short, it was
time to start soul searching. It was time to start crafting a plan for every
area of my life where I wanted to see significant improvement. It was time to
start crafting a plan for success.
I began to take control of my life. I began putting
things in action. Then I started to get the results I wanted. I recognized that
I had the power to manifest my dreams into reality. I took ownership and things
started to turn around.
This process is simple but never easy. It is a
renewed commitment you have to make every day to move the needle forward in
your life. If I could do it I know that you can. You have that power. Never
surrender it to someone or something else. 🤗
Many good, God-fearing people have been asking questions like, “How can I help”, Where can I donate? What can I do? I’m only one person!”
Well, I have
answers! You can help your child learn RIGHT from WRONG just like you teach them
manners. You can DONATE time to your child’s upbringing and be in control of
what they are exposed to including but not limited to what they watch on TV,
what they are seeing on the internet and the company they keep. Guide h/her thinking
to not judge people by the color of their skin but the content of their
character. You have to be a living breathing example of what you claim you want
to help, donate and do in the world and pass that down to your kids. This is how
you can help. This is how you can donate. This what you do!
We won’t end
centuries of nurtured and cultivated racism overnight and we shouldn’t expect
widespread forgiveness overnight.
Depression is such a broad phenomenon. It covers so many things. Some people think it is just clinical depression that you should be looking out for when thinking about depression generally, but in fact clinical depression varies and is exhibited in all kinds of forms. Anxiety, loss of appetite, lack of desire to do something that you once loved, even lack of a sexual drive are all signs of depression. I'm not an expert or clinical psychologist but I've lived a little life and I’ve learned throughout my many different stages of life how you can fall in depression over things and you can really have a hard time coping with situations. Situational depression is one thing but if you’re not paying attention, it could also lead to a lifestyle of depression where you're in a funk for two and three years and it's the reason why I'm bringing this up today.
In our empowerment zone group, we use fitness as a foundation to improve other areas of our lives. We support each other not just in our fitness journey but also in our daily struggles with work and family and kids and friends and all that other kind of stuff. We have a mother and daughter team that's in the group and we found ourselves talking about a breakthrough that they made in their relationship with regard to the depression that the daughter was suffering at the same time that the mom was suffering from depression but they were dealing with it in different ways. The daughter revealed was that she had come to the mom on several occasions as a teenager to discuss feelings she was having and these dark places that she found herself in. The mom was always so preoccupied with something else.
During that perilous time in both the mom and the daughter’s life, the mom was just doing everything in her power and working around the clock just to ensure that her daughter is safe, getting three squares, has clothes on her back but with very little support. Even though the mom was married to her daughter’s father, the dad was not really doing all that he could he to support the family so the burden was on the mom. To hear the mom explain it, he had a weird job that some weeks he'd work he'd work ten hours a week other weeks he'd work 80 hours and it made it difficult for them financially never knowing what their what their situation would look like.
The mom shared with us that she was working two-three jobs at any given while going to school to try and just keep everything together because at the end of the day, she wants to take care of the daughter.
Unfortunately, while her mom is there sometimes and not there a lot, the daughter tried to confront this and tried to explain her depression to her mom. Since the daughter couldn't get her mom's attention, the daughter found other ways to cope.
The good news is that when the mom and the daughter finally had the conversation years later, the mom finally got clarity. She understood that as much as she wanted to provide for her daughter and make sure everything stayed afloat and even though she was going through her own thing, if she had a chance to do it all over again, she would most definitely be paying attention to her daughter. She started listening to her and they both were talking through the issues that the daughter was feeling and get her into therapy.
I share this because I think it is an amazing story. First of all, these groups are really great when we have the opportunity to help each other in a profound way. We can talk about these issues in private we don't share them with anybody and we end up empowering people to live happy, fulfilling lives. I'm bringing this your attention because depression is a real thing. Depression is something that you really have to address as parents, especially when you profess that everything that you are doing is for your kids. This is what I heard often during our conversations in the group. “Everything that I did and every day I got up was guided by how can I make this easier for her? I just don't want her to suffer like I suffered. I don't want her to go through what I'm going through.” What the mom in our group learned is, at the end of the day when your child is in front of you and needs to talk to you need to pay attention. I’m a parent too so clearly, I empathized with her. I know our kids don’t come with manuals. I do think there is a lesson to be learned here for parents of teenagers that are going through a lot of different things. Teenagers by virtue of the fact that they're teenagers are just going through a lot as they discover who they are. Their hormones are all over the place and sometimes they don't have somewhere to channel all this energy. They're just trying to learn about all that’s going on with them. So as parents, we sometimes have to drop everything. We might have a presentation for the CEO that's due tomorrow morning. At the end of the day, whatever you are doing, you're doing that for your kid. I just feel like when your kid tells you that they're depressed, when their kid when your kid tells you that they're feeling sad, when your kid tells you that something is bothering them, don't say ‘not now’. Do yourself a favor. You don't have to listen to me. Listen to your kids. I think it'll be good for you to understand them. So when they are in crisis, you will be the first to know. It’s critical!
At the end of the day, we want to provide our kids with the best life possible but let me tell you one of the things that your kids treasure the most as they're growing up and when they become an adult. They're going to remember the time they spent with you. They're going to remember that time you said ‘not now’ and it's going to impact them in a very negative way and it's going to contribute to years of depression and wondering why they're not enough and why they were never enough. I lived it as a kid growing up. God bless my parents. I didn’t come with a manual either. I think that they did the best that they could. However, during my adult life, I was dealing with a lot of issues of abandonment as a result of hearing ‘not now’ one too many dang times. So, I could so relate to this young lady who was sharing her story. The mother and daughter are in a better place. Thank God for His mercy that they went through what they went through together and separately and still ended up being the best of friends. Now that's a blessing and God's grace in an abundant way. I'm so happy for them and I'm so happy that they're doing this group together because it's going to help them continue to heal in ways that maybe they haven't explored yet. The daughter feels validated now and the mom is learning to forgive herself. It's a beautiful thing to watch. I'm blessed to be able to witness that and just kind of guide that process. It really is them they're doing this together and it's a beautiful thing so I'm glad that I could be part of it.
At the end of the day, if you're a mom or a dad with teenage kids or young kids and they come to you anytime and talk about feeling sad or feeling a certain kind of way just stop what you're doing for a second, look them in the eyes and say ‘baby girl, (baby boy) tell me what's going on’. That is going to mean the absolute world to them. Just remember as busy as we are as parents remember who you're doing it for. It's not an easy job raising kids and having to work outside the home, building a business and finishing your education. Trust me, been there, done that. Remember, what your kids want the most is your time to hear them tell their silly story, to hear them tell you what's wrong, okay?
So if this article was helpful, please share it. Please talk about it. Please let me know if you know a busy parent that's dealing with depression and relationship issues with their kids. Share this article with them and hopefully it'll help. Hopefully it'll give them some perspective. Hopefully this article gave you some perspective because I know I learned a lot of lessons raising my own baby girl and listening to this dynamic between this mom and daughter in my group and being a kid raised with a disconnect from my parents. So I know how incredibly valuable this can be to those who think there is no hope for their relationships with their kids. Please share and comment below let me know what you think. I'll talk to you soon.
I have noticed that whenever I have to do or learn something new or trying to make a positive change in my life, I will stare at it for a long time before I start get started. I will procrastinate and get in my own head and spend a lot of time wondering if I will be successful at this new thing. Will I learn what I need to learn in order to implement it effectively in my own life? Will I get it right? What if I fail? Blah, blaah, blah…Intellectually, I know better, but I still have moments where I serious doubt myself.
In my business, one of the things that you have to do, is engage in personal development. This basically means that if I have areas of my life where I know I need improvement, I need to invest in tools, resources and time to improve in those areas so I can be more effective to the people I am trying to serve. One of the primary areas of my life that needed improvement was my health. The truth is, when I finally plugged into the resources that I knew would help me reach my goals, I had to stop asking questions that only served to fill me with more doubt and DO ME! Whatever that is, I just needed to be true to myself. During my journey, I had to realize that living a healthy lifestyle is not perfect. I am going to backslide. I am going to have that piece of cake at a birthday party or enjoy ribs at a barbeque. And you know what? That’s okay! I still managed to realize a lot of success and definitely more than everyone else sitting on the couch!
The improvement in my overall health took place, first, in my mindset! I started asking better questions like, “What is it that I want to accomplish? “Lowering my blood pressure?” “How about my cholesterol?” “Could I be borderline diabetic?” “What needs to change in my diet that could help in all of these areas?” Maybe I just want to lose weight to improve my respiratory function so I can play with my kid.” These were definitely better questions I could ask myself that could help me live a healthy lifestyle. I realized that whatever my “WHY” was I needed to do it because I recognize the value of living a healthy lifestyle. I needed to do it because I know it will help me have a better quality of life…more energy, less constipation (haaaaaH) more stamina (aaaaaoooooowwwww!) I had the power within me to make the changes I need to make because I want to change for the better more than I want to stay the same. It’s definitely not about being perfect all the time! It’s about taking action every day to see the change I want to make in my life. It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks or says about what I am doing. I know I am doing a good thing for me. I am not competing with anyone outside of myself! I am only competing with the person I was yesterday. I AM DOING ME! DO YOU! As long as you are not intentionally hurting anyone else, do what makes you healthy and happy!
By now, another new year’s resolution to be healthy once and for all is all but forgotten and you have already given up. You’re thinking you’ve tried everything to be healthy and finally get to your goal weight and nothing is working. Why not just drink on the weekends, eat what’s not so great for me and enjoy life, right? But you are miserable and deep in your gut, you know there has got to be a better way. No matter what you are thinking about your progress so far, I'm here to tell you, it is not too late. Resolve to start now, TODAY, and learn how to do it different this time!
I have learned over the last several years that lack of peer support and the right tools are the missing links to why people don't succeed in leading a healthy lifestyle. The truth is, no one can do it alone. When I started my journey, I was 50 lbs overweight, aging and dealing with all of the issues associated with all of that. I needed help. So, I joined a group of people who were working out with me, supported me and held me accountable to my goals. It wasn’t easy but in a little over a year, I lost 35lbs, had more energy and felt better than I had in years. It was the soul of the accountability group that helped me achieve my health and wellness goals and now I want to pay it forward by helping you do the same.
Why spend $100s of dollars on personal trainers, nutritionists and gym memberships you don’t use? Do something that is more fun, gets results, you can do in the privacy of your own home (or take it with you) and WORKS!
I am about to start a 30 day Fierce and Fabulous Fit Camp soon that will be designed specifically for beginners and those who want to recharge their fitness journey. In this group, you will be provided with all the resources you need to begin your new healthy lifestyle without spending a fortune!
*Streaming workout programs designed for the beginner to the athlete led by a certified personal trainer
*A 30 day supply of superfood nutrition to help you power through your workouts
*A meal plan that guides you through healthy eating with meals that are delicious and simple to make
*Peer support led by yours truly in an online environment filled with people just like you who will begin this journey with you so you never have feel alone
This could be an amazing beginning to a fantastic lifestyle that you will never regret starting... like right now! LEARN MORE and get a free full presentation of what you can expect when you join a fit camp! Time is of the essence because we start tomorrow! So make the decision to START TODAY!
Don’t you love a good success story? How do people turn their life around by focusing on their health? The discovery is nothing short of amazing when you find out that focusing on fitness improves other areas in your life. Well here is Briana’s story. Briana lost 53 lbs. using full, comprehensive programs that she did at home!
“I used to overeat every day and binge on junk food after a long day at work. I also hardly ever exercised. I had gained weight steadily over the past few years because of these bad habits. I was ashamed with how I looked in the mirror and clothes never fit me the way I wanted. I had lost self-love for myself and all confidence with the way I looked.
I was inspired to change my life and begin my transformation journey because I’ve always said I will look my best at 25 years old. So when I hit 24 I knew I needed to do something to get my body back in shape and lose the weight I had gained over the past few years. People around me that ate healthy and looked fit inspired me. I wanted to look like them and feel good again. I knew that if I made the effort to eat healthy and exercise that I could do it in a year.
I was inspired to change my life and begin my transformation journey
My greatest challenge I faced was staying committed to any type of program. But because of the motivation, support, and accountability that I received from my Coach, and people within the accountability groups online, I was able to stay on track.
Over the last year, I did a few different at-home programs which all incorporated a mixture of weight lifting/strength training and cardio - to reach my goal. I really liked this because you get the advantages of both types of exercise.
I have lost 53 pounds and upwards of 45 inches off my body. I am now strong enough to do push-ups, many bodyweight moves, and my heart is strong enough to endure intense cardio. But I am most proud that I am healthier, stronger, and happier than I have ever been in my entire life.”
Has this story inspired you to change your life? There are many ways to get started on your own transformation journey and I can help you along the way. I know the thought of doing something new is scary but what do you have to lose by starting today except never living out your true potential? You have to ask yourself, are you okay with that?
Sometimes I read a book 📚 to learn something new and sometimes it validates something I already know and practice. So when I read The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, it drove the point home that every choice I make today will define the choices I can make in the future. It also taught me that is never too late to begin making better choices to re-define my future. Reading this book allowed me to take an honest assessment of what I am not so thrilled about in my life and make a decision to make changes that will literally change my outlook and quality of life. Personal development is something I practice daily to not only improve my and my family's life but to share with everyone. When I learn something this good, I just can't keep it to myself!
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