News and Reviews September 2022:
- Sorry I went radio silent for a few days last week. We had the girls on Monday for Labor Day and thank goodness had a sleepover which kept me from coming in to work as early as I normally do. Tuesday morning at 5:30am someone tried to kick down the showroom door with a crowbar, his shoulder, and his feet. Lots of drama for a few days but we are all good with a stronger door and the ability to set a “stay” alarm when I’m here alone!
- Don’t forget! This coming Sunday, September 18th I will be participating in a Souptember “Cook with Me” video series hosted by Joan in our group. I don’t know how many soup recipe participants she is up to now but I’m SOUPer pumped about it! Stay tuned for more info coming soon.
- Exciting news…I’ve used the amazing Souper Cubes product enough times that I am now a Souper Cubes affiliate! If you’ve been waiting to try them but wanted to order directly from them online I would appreciate you using my link so we can earn a small amount to put towards the expenses of running this vlog for you! Take 10% off your first order when you sign up for their e-mail list while you are there! Click here to snag your Souper Cubes
The month’s theme is “Simplify Your Journey” and we will spend the entire month learning how to find ways to keep this simple and our lives sane!
Last week during Chat #287: The Journey to Non Scale Victories I asked you to stop what you are doing and go stand in front of your nearest appliance. It could be a toaster, a blender, even your toilet (I don’t want to know why you are watching live in your bathroom LOL). Now turn to that appliance and in a very loud, firm voice I want you to say, “Am I a good person? How do you think I did on my plan this week?”
Pretty ridiculous to think your blender has an opinion about your self worth and/or how your plan went this week right?
So why do we think the scale has that kind of power over us?
“You have no power over me”
In the 1986 cult classic Labyrinth, David Bowie’s character Jareth has trapped a girl named Sarah in his maze while trying to rescue her brother Toby (who she willingly gave to the goblin king earlier mind you). I won’t go into all the details, but through a series of misguided turns, mind tricks, and general goblin king-edness Sarah finally realizes that the power to end this lies within her, not within the maze. Once she takes back her power, all of his distractions to keep her from her goal fall to the ground and she takes her brother back. Tell the scale “you have no power over me”…it sounds crazy but it is so freeing!
“If you fix what you do, what you weight will take care of itself”
My fearless leader Gwen had her own mentor along her journey. She often told them to stop looking at the scale long before “beyond the scale” was even a thought. Her pep talks included some good ones but a particular favorite was “stop trying to fix what you weigh. When you fix what you do the weight will take care of itself.” Let that sink in a minute….
“Celebrate good things, come on!”
Non Scale Victories…they are all around you, you just have to look for them:
- Going to bed without having to take antacids
- Tying your shoes without gasping for breath
- Saying “no thank you” to second helpings and really meaning “no, but thank you!”
Your homework for last week was #MyNonScaleJourney. This week I want you to find something that reminds you that you had a victory this week that didn’t involve that pesky appliance, the scale….and then type it, snap it, share it however you like, and then tag me for your next cool badge!
Let’s see how you did!
- Mary Ann’s NSV this week was planning ahead during her kitchen remodel since she wouldn’t have access to all her kitchen tools. Since I happen to do kitchen remodels for a living I know what a big victory this was!
- Tina had a big victory that didn’t involve the scale this week…she tracked 5 days in a row and says that hasn’t happened since early 2021!
- Barbara had a big NSV last month…she had friends over to visit at her apartment and the next day she threw out all the leftover munchies, whoa way to go!
Bravo, you did it!
This Week’s Topic: Simplify Your Journey – Tame Your To Do List!
Oh you thought this chat was for you?
It’s for MEEEEE too! I wake up at least once every night (sometimes multiple times) thinking of things that I didn’t get done, who’s going to be standing at my desk first, what phone call is inevitable because I didn’t do X, Y, or even come close to Z.
Sound familiar? So what do we do??
Touch It Once
Do you ever feel like you need a to-do list to find all your to-do lists?
Putting all of my “to-do” items in different spots, in different formats, with different methods is my number one problem. I have a spiral notebook that I carry around, post-it notes, a corkboard, and various and sundry loose notes. Everywhere. Literally.
Some days I pick up and put down the same item multiple times because it’s in so many places. Pick a spot for loose notes, pick a planner/notebook for the items you need to be able to carry around. One notebook Kelly, I’m talking to you!
Be Ruthless
I found a great article on Zapier.com that says to be truly in control of your to-do list you must be ruthless in prioritizing them. I highly recommend you put reading this article on your to-do list (LOL) but the first item I found to be a game changer for me is this. Take an honest look at each item and decide right then if you will:
- DO: Complete the task now. If it can be completed in under 2 minutes put it in the DO stack. Under 2 minutes, now. Not 10 minutes or 10 days from now when you remember to circle back around to it
- DEFER: If the task is important that you handle it but will take longer than 2 minutes put it in the DEFER list stack
- DELEGATE: This is a tough one for me but simply take the to-do item you just wrote down and hand it to someone else. And back away Kelly…don’t over explain it, don’t pick it back up. WALK. AWAY.
- DELETE: If it’s something you really shouldn’t be doing just wad it up and move on.
Raise Your Hand
I have been practicing hard on this one. Every time I pick up a to-do item whether it’s placing an order, answering a customer, or even sticking my lunch in the microwave someone is there or on the phone to fill in that 3 seconds of air space. It feels rude at first, but I have been practicing raising my hand (literally, like I’m asking a question of a teacher) and saying I need to hold on for just a minute and let me finish this first. Then I promise you can ask your question or pass that phone call. Just since I have started doing it I bet I’ve had a 20-30% success rate of “never mind, I just did it” responses when I’m ready to circle back!
This Week’s Homework: #SimplyTameIt
Your homework for this week is #SimplyTameIt. This week I want you to write down one to-do item whether it’s as simple as go grocery shopping or as complex as make and pre-point a menu for the entire week and then tell us if you will DO, DEFER, DELEGATE or DELETE it….and then type it, snap it, share it however you like, and then tag me for your next cool badge!
Don’t forget to do your homework #SimplyTameIt and tag me when you share on social media!
- Tag @ifyouhaveanegg on Instagram
- Tag @ifyouhaveanegg on our Facebook Page
- Tag @Kelly Green Milligan in our Facebook Group
- Tag @ifyouhaveanegg on WW Connect
Extra Credit: #BulkItUp – Meal Prep Edition
If you’ve been with me any length of time (and especially lately) you know that I love to #bulkitup! That’s my way of reminding myself not to simply eat, but to eat with the intention of keeping myself full with nourishing foods and keeping my points budget in check.
Tonight we’re going to talk about how to meal prep with #bulkitup in mind. The skills you learned in our Shop Your Pantry challenge this summer might even come in handy!
We’ll follow the same steps we’ve used in the last few chats to prep our bulked up meal.
Step 1 – Pick a protein. I had some Gardein meatless crumbles left in my freezer so I’m going to use that as my protein for this meal prep. In just ¾ of a cup there is a whopping 17g of protein! You could use chicken, beans, tofu, or any other protein you prefer!
Step 2 – Pick a carb. Although the last few weeks I’ve picked a carb that was 0 points for me, I’m changing the routine with this meal! I’m using real pasta (not even whole wheat) – it’s 4 points for ½ a cup. If you prefer, you can pick a carb that’s 0 points for you and keep your total points for the meal even lower.
Step 3 – Pick 2 zero point foods. Then, pick 2 zero point foods to add into the mix – for my meal, I’m choosing air fryer spaghetti squash, yellow squash, and mushrooms
Step 4 – Pick 2 cups of non-starchy veggies. The last step is to add 2 cups of non-starchy vegetables to your meal. This helps to bulk up your meal even further and can earn points back for you. Since spaghetti squash is considered a non-starchy vegetable it’s serving double duty in my meal. I’m also adding marinara sauce and some end-of-season tomatoes to use up the last of what my garden produced.
With all of the points I added back from my veggies, I completely evened out the cost of my pasta! How will you #bulkitup this week? Share your meal prep in the comments!
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