News and Reviews
- Today is the first day of the “Stuck In a Rut!” Challenge hosted by Julie over on the If You Have an Egg Facebook Group. Hop in any time, it’s not a competition with anyone but yourself!
- We have tiny cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, custard squash, green peppers, jalapenos and some giant but still green tomatoes…be prepared for veggie-palooza over the rest of the summer and let me know if there are any summer veggie recipes you’d like me to try!
- Last but not least, we need some help.The budget cuts continue, this time Casey has had to pick up a part time job with her church and has been working extra hours to get both that and the YouTubes and Chats done for us. She’s a little behind so we appreciate your patience and continued support! If you find a food or gadget you’d like me to try out for everyone please use the address at the end of this chat to send a sample, a coupon or even a tiny gift card to purchase it. I’ll be checking into some ways to help support our efforts financially and will let you know what I come up with. For now, keep sending those Stars during live chats, keep watching those YouTube videos, and I sooo appreciate you using my affiliate links to purchase from Amazon! <3
Last week was Chat #368 “How to Build Overcome a Setback”
Alyssa has been trying to pull a tooth for two weeks now. We’ve tried everything, she’s gotten suspicious anytime someone gets near her mouth. Rather than say forget it, give up, never gonna happen we just kept encouraging her to try.
A few days later Alyssa and her sister were wrestling and Beau basically roundhouse kicked Alyssa in the mouth, shooting the loose tooth across the room and overcoming the temporary set back. Now we know our setbacks won’t be resolved as easily (or as painfully LOL) but it doesn’t have to be that hard either!
Pro tips for resolving a setback:
Short Term or Long Term?
The first thing you need to decide is do you think this set back is short term or long term.
In Alyssa’s wiggly tooth scenario it was definitely a short term setback for her. Keeping her from eating her favorite apples, and temporarily changing her normal 6 year old diet
If you don’t see an obvious end in site like we could with Alyssa, you may have a longer term setback to deal with.
Recognizing that can make a big difference in how you face the setback!
Count The Ways
It’s my favorite time of the chat….list time! Now make a list of things you’ve done in the past that helped you overcome a setback, any setback. Things like:
- Tracking
- Increasing Steps
- Attend a Workshop
- Meal prep
- Consider a Non Scale Victory
Ready. Set. Action!
Now, take your list and circle up to three (and only three) that could apply to this short term or long term solution. It may be a different list depending on which one you are experiencing so choose carefully.
Your homework was #ReadySetAction. Hopefully you were making your list while we were chatting tonight and it will be easy to choose 3 actions that have worked before AND WILL WORK AGAIN to overcome this setback!
- Vickie burst into action and remembered her “why” of being healthy for family and friends. She knows eating healthier also helps with inflammation and relieving her arthritis symptoms!
- Marlene took what could have easily become a long term setback and made short work of it. She had left WW a few weeks ago because she had lost interest. Rather than let this go on and on she sprang into action and
- Rejoined WW (online only) – she knows the program works if she works the program.
- Went grocery shopping for low point/0 point foods for this week’s meal prep/planning.
- Put our Sunday meeting on her calendar because she knows it helps motivate her!
- Mary Ann made an important promise to her now deceased husband that she would take care of herself and she’s doing it, now that’s some important action!
Bravo, you did it!
This Week’s Topic: “The Secret to Keeping Up (or Breaking Up!) a Habit”
Why is it that if you want to stop doing something it’s all you can think about?
But what if you use that pesky background noise and use it for good?
Pro tips for keeping (or breaking up!) a habit:
It’s All In Your Mind
The first thing you have to realize when either keeping up a wanted habit or getting rid of one, is that it’s all in your mind. Seriously.
A habit (good or bad) is simply a behavior that is so a part of you and has become such a part of your routine that you don’t even have to think about them. It is so second nature that the action you take just happens when it’s triggered because it’s firmly planted in your mind.
Something like switching off lights before you go to bed. You don’t have to write yourself a note or set a reminder on your phone to go around and do it. As a matter of fact it’s likely such an ingrained habit you don’t even realize you are doing it anymore!
Likewise, something like grabbing a snack before bed might be just as ingrained. You may not even realize you’re wandering the halls with that handful of pretzels or peanuts because that habit is also on auto pilot.
Breaking Up Is Easy To Do
Well it’s easy-er if you find a few ways to either modify the behavior or even throw a few obstacles in the way of doing it
As an example let’s say you have a habit of late night snacking before you start your lights off ingrained routine. Try this:
- Your brain is trained that switching off the lights = one last snack before you start. Try switching off all but the last one you need well ahead of bedtime
- Make a “kitchen closed” sign for yourself with a magnet in the middle. On one side add a saying or picture you love, on the other side literally write “kitchen is closed, find something else to do!” and flip it when you’ve cleaned up after your last planned meal
- Brush your teeth! I am living proof that there are few things that taste even remotely ok with minty fresh breath LOL
Protect and Preserve
When I was trying to decide if we should protect or preserve those good habits that are healthy AND helpful, I didn’t know which one was more appropriate for this situation. So I looked it up!
Is protect and preserve the same thing? Turns out they are not and they are 🙂
Preserve: To maintain and protect something, often a cultural or natural heritage site, in its original state, so as to prevent it from being destroyed or altered.
Protect: To safeguard or shield something from harm or damage, often with the aim of preserving its value or function
So if we have a good habit we want to keep up (cultivate, maintain, defend, safeguard) then we must figure out how to do just that! I for example want to protect or safeguard my Tuesday night in person meetings. In order to do that I support this habit by:
- Blocking off my schedule
- Making sure friends, family and even customers know I am not available on Tuesday nights
- Fill up my gas tank and put $11 in my wallet on Monday
- Leave my office by 4:30pm on Tuesdays to avoid any traffic delays
This Week’s Homework: #ProtectAndPreserve
Your homework for this week is #ProtectAndPreserve. Hopefully you thought of a habit or two that you either need to cultivate, maintain, defend, safeguard. Say that habit out loud and then list 3-4 things you will do to Protect AND Preserve that habit! Now DO YOUR HOMEWORK because I promise there is someone who needs the idea you have already rattling around in your head. Whatever it is let us know, I promise your decision to participate this week will help you AND someone else! 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 #ReadySetAction 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: Practice Run Recipe – Sauteed Radish Greens!
I have to tell you all an embarrassing… yet funny story before we begin.
Things don’t always go as planned. Tonight went EXTRA not as planned.
I am having to improvise because of these extreme cutbacks at John’s work. I got really creative and cut our grocery bill in half. But don’t get too excited! I used to throw everything and anything I saw that I thought we needed into our cart. I can’t do that anymore, but I’ve still been finding some things for us to do over here that are lots of fun!
One of the things that I’ve been doing to keep my budget low is getting food out of the garden that Casey and I have growing in the backyard at her house. Buuuut… I haven’t always been the best at labeling everything in our garden. I got some signs and markers for my birthday, but apparently there were still some things that I didn’t mark before I forgot what they were.
I thought for DAYS that I had turnips in my garden. I really wish Nana was still here… because she would have informed me that I actually had radishes. I was planning to make turnip greens, but instead I was the proud owner of watermelon radishes! But we are still going to make something yummy with these!
I’ll be posting a full recipe in the next few days, but here are the highlights to get you started on your Sauteed Radish Greens.
- Wash the radishes and the leaves
- Cut the “fruit” of the radishes and roasted them with a little garlic
- Cut gently on either side of the stem to just get the leaves and destem the radishes
- Remember: greens are like spinach! You start with a huge mountain… and it condenses down to a small amount.
- Use a tiny bit of olive oil, garlic, and truvia to sweeten them up
I tried these are they are SO YUMMY! You can in fact make greens out of radishes too! Turnips are great, but now I know that I can use my radishes too.
I highly recommend you try them!
Would you try Sauteed Radish Greens? Let me know in the comments below!
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