Secrets to Nutrition Success!

So I'm a nurse..  And as a nurse I work in a hospital...  Hospitals have cafeterias.  Cafeterias that offer employees discounts..  Cafeterias that have onion rings that rival most restaurants' for $1.35.  No.  That is not a typo.

So how the heck is a fried-food-lovin' girl supposed to stay on track when THIS exists!?!?  (Oh they have chicken fingers too. 😳)

Well...  Guys I'm going to keep it real with ya.. 

First I roll out looking like a football team water girl each and every morning...

My shake, my coffee, and at least 2 liters of water. 💦

Then, the big guns come out...  Now wait for this one, it's super complicated......😂

Haha! Yes, for real.  Left overs save the freaking day!  And not just what I had for dinner the night before.  Oh no.  That beauty you see right there came right out of my freezer like a lean cuisine this morning..  Minus the half pound of sodium!  My top trick to staying on track is that when I cook I make extras..  And o freeze it in portions that I can grab and take to work.  I do this with things like that pepper above and other items such as taco meat (made with ground turkey), shredded chicken, or diced chicken breast portioned out by red container and used for salads, wraps and pita pockets on the fly..  It makes staying on track a MILLION times easier!!! 

So anyway.. That stuffed pepper was my lunch today..  🍽

My other trick is to OVERPACK my lunch.  Guys, I work 12 hour shifts.  That is a LONG time and as good as that pepper is, it isn't all I'm going to want to eat.  I need to be saved not only from the cafeteria, but the Tim Hortons doughnuts and bagels that lerk only 2 floors below.  

So what else was in my lunchbox... 

Blueberries

Grapes

Coconut Greek yogurt

Side tip: I throw dry oats into my Greek yogurt to get some good for me carbs in :). I usually also add berries.

Veggies and hummus

And since I was at work both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, the other day my main course was this.  Yup! The Italian wedding soup I made from my new Fixate cookbook..  

I will be honest and say the only thing I replaced between the 2 days was the main course and the grapes.  The first day I ate berries and grapes and my main event.. And today I got in yogurt, grapes and my stuffed pepper.  

Leftovers. 🙌

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a random day in my life

So today started out nice and peaceful.  I relaxed on my front porch, drank my coffee, did a little meditative coloring and listened to Wayne Dyer on Audible.  Was nice until it started to get a little hot out. 

I had hair appointments scheduled for my kids so I hurried up and grabbed my shake..  (Not I got a bit of peanut butter on my counter..  Ah well, I'll get to that later).  I grabbed my shake and was hurried out the door by my tween terrors..  I mean my kids. ;) 

When we got to the hair salon the girls poured over hair books while they waited for our favorite hairdresser.  Then tragedy struck!!  My youngest daughter had her heart set on this hair color.. 

 (photo credit to zoom.com)

Unfortunately when I made the appointment they didn't tell me I had to let them know the colors so they could get them prior to our appointment...  So cue the tears.. 😩🙄

However after learning the upkeep such a style would take we decided to put that off for the winter..  Where it would be damaged by the sun or pool water..  So a little bit blonder she decided to go instead.  The dream color above will happen later in the fall. 

While we waited for either their turn or for color to set we amused ourselves.. 

And we planned what to have for dinner.. 

Of course because my kids are tweenagers they can be moody...  No after pic. :/. Eh, I'll add one soon..

As their appointment was done I had to rush to a doc appointment..  Apparently I have poison ivy..  Or something similar.  So the doc gave me a steroid and we were on our way.. 

Then it was on to the grocery store for the last of the ingredients for dinner..  Then the drug store..  And finally home!! 

Not sure whose Doritos those are!?!?  Probably the hubs.

Then the girls helped cook dinner.  We made the Italian wedding soup from my new Fixate cookbook...  Omg.  Amaze balls!!!  For real.

And yes the girls loved this.  The hubs was not a fan...  I mean there is something GREEN in there 😳😳😋
  

It was nearing 7pm now and I decided to add a video to my September challenge group Facebook invite to explain to everyone what it's all about...  

And then I rested for a few minutes..  Laced up my sneakers and pressed play.  Not gonna lie I love me some Country Heat but I was NOT feeling it today...  Luckily I was good to go once I got started and dang it feels good to work out!! 

 Now I'm all sweaty..  And I'm about to take a shower.. Pack up my lunch for tomorrow and get to bed....  I work in the hospital all weekend and if I don't have things set out ahead of time..  Well, let's just say it isn't a good morning ;) 

What did you do today??? 

Turkey and Brown Rice Stuffed Peppers

So the other day I was in the mood to cook..   So I whipped up these babies..   They also help with what I call.. pseudo meal prep!  I like to build my meal prepping into things that I'm already cooking. Follow along to see you can too!

Disclaimer: i didn't actually take a pic of mine..  but these sloppy looking ones were the closest pic to what they looked like IRL..  Thanx Google.. 

Soooo  what you are all waiting for.. le recipe (*insert french accent*  no idea why)

I used 9, yes NINE, green peppers (we will get to the reason later)

2 pounds of ground turkey

4 cups of brown rice

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can crushed tomatoes

And whatever spices i wanted.. i mostly stuck with a crap ton of italian seasoning, garlic, onion powder, etc..  next time i'd add some 21 spice salute for Trader Joes, some minced onions, and some red chili pepper...  Basically add what you like!!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

So i browned the turkey and cooked the brown rice

If you are adding any veggies to the filling like onions i'd saute them right along with the turkey

Then drain and rinsed the turkey, returned it to the pan, and added the rice, and can of diced tomatoes, and spices.  

Meanwhile, cut the tops off your peppers and remove the seeds,  place them empty side up in a baking dish.  (i made so many i needed 2!)

fill the peppers with the turkey/rice mixture

then open your crushed tomatoes, add some spices and spoon over top of the peppers.

cover all with foil

Bake @ 350 for about an hour until the peppers are tender.

OK now remember how I had a ridiculous number of peppers???  Well there is a method to my madness.  These freeze and reheat amazingly well!!!

After your family has dinner..  take the remaining peppers, I package mine individually in ziploc bags and then put them all in a gallon bag and freeze.. 

When you want to eat them, microwave 3-4 minutes until they are hot!  and ENJOY!!  

Seriously They are my homemade Lean Cuisines! lol

21 Day Fix/Country Eat Meal plan equivalents...  I count each one as a yellow, a red, and a green container.  Of course if you have monster peppers you will need to up what you are counting them as..

Cleaning Out my Closet

So as I continue on this journey of self-improvement, self - love, and empowerment through health and fitness.. I was challenged this week to clean out my closet.  Clean out my drawers.  Take control of my environment, just as I am taking control of my body, my health and my LIFE.

So, since I'm always up for a challenge, I DID IT.  I got rid of the crap.  The 20 year old tee shirt i was hanging onto.. for WHAT?!?!  The shirt I'd kept because there was nothing wrong with it.. nothing WRONG except it made me FEEL crappy..  BYE FELICIA!!!

All that crud is GONE!  There is room for NEW, room for creating abundance of things that make me feel AMAZING!

I encourage every woman.. and man.. and kid.. just every PERSON, to only hold onto things, behaviors, habits, and even JOBS, that help us to live our very best lives..  BRING ON THE ABUNDANCE and the Blessings...  through work, both within ourselves through personal development, through education, through realizing whatever is holding you back from being the best version of YOU.  We only get one life.  That is it.  And as I get older I can tell you the time doesn't go as slow as you'd have thought it would.

ONLY YOU can change your life.  YOU.  But I would love to support you in that change.. whether it's just a closet clean out or you are ready to WORK towards your health and nutrition goals, with the support of me and a literally hundreds/thousands of empowering people through an amazing organization..  Let me know when YOU are ready..

I'll still be here.  Being me.  Getting fit.  Feeling great!

Amy :)