Light and Easy Recipes and Meal Ideas
A Loaf of Determination
Instead of a food recipe I decided to post something a little different this week. I had a terrible week on the Points front. Barbecues and family events on summer weekends with drinks and dessert triggered a black hole deficit in my tracker. It’s hard to stay focused when you just want to kick back and enjoy yourself without minding your Points. Tracking gets boring and so does the daily grind.
After a 5 day streak in the deep red, I was feeling awful. I woke up one morning and didn’t even want to get out of bed. I still felt the bulge of snacks sitting in my stomach from the night before.
So I did a little soul searching… wondering how I’d ever make it to goal and find my groove again. Here is the recipe and directions I came up with:
Ingredients
- 2 cups Listening
- 2 cups Expose & Respond
- 1/2 cup Remember
- 1/4 cup Strategy
- 1/4 cup Gear/Equipment
- 4 tbsp Planning
- Generous dusting of Resolve
Directions
Preheat the oven.
While just waking up, make the decision to Fake it Till You Make It. For example, even if you don’t feel like getting out of bed, get in the shower, do your hair and makeup and force yourself to look the best you can. You might not feel it at first, but pretty soon you’ll start to warm up.
Prepare the work surface.
First wash off any “Dread of Difficulty”. “But it’s soooo hard”, is like a germ that works it’s way into the entire batch of dough and prevents the dough from ever rising.
Add the 2 cups of Listening.
Next, you have to really really listen carefully to those inaudible voices and beliefs that whisper:
“You’ll never make it”
“It’s going to take forever”
“You can’t recover this time”
“How many times are you going to gain and lose the same 5 pounds”?
“You’re gross”
Mix in the 2 cups of Expose and Respond.
Bring these type of thoughts to the front of your mind and crush them using your Response knife
“I am going to make it”
“Even if it takes forever”
“I will get up again with more strength than before”
“I am getting to goal”
“I’m not gross, I’m human”
Slowly incorporate the following memories
You’re why. Fix your eyes and attention on the goal, instead of the crisis.
Add 1/4 cup Strategy
Gently crush the other inaudible voices that talk you into satisfying the immediate gratification of crappy food that appears without warning. Those voices greatly effect the bake time - unless they are completely kneaded out.
For example:
“Just one bite”
“Just start over tomorrow”
“It’s not a big deal”
“I’ll just get more fit Points in”
The best method to keep these suggestions from even entering the dough, is to set up a time schedule for when you can eat and how many Points each meal can contain. For example:
Breakfast 9:00 am (4 points)
Lunch 1:00 pm (7 points)
Snack 3:00 pm (3 points)
Dinner 6:30 pm (9 points)
Snack 9:00 pm (1 points)
You can gently add some flexibility back in, but not for the first 5 days while trying to regain momentum. The dough needs structure before it develops flavor.
Add 1/4 cup Gear/Equipment:
Plan meals and buy ingredients to make them yourself. Look for interesting and exciting new things to try. Make something that you’ve never had before. Browse the web for inspiring meals. You are more likely to stay on track if you spend the money on groceries and put in the work of making the meal. You will not want to waste the money or time it took to make it.
Dust the entire loaf with a generous amount of resolve.
Put your whole heart into it. Believe you can do it. Because you CAN do this!!!!
Photo credit: NicoleLeigh-Photography. Nicole does family portraits, maternity shoots and special events. If you live in the Long Island, NY area, be sure to check her out. That's my niece in the photo. :-)
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