Positive Thinking!

Salad Dressing

One of my fantastic clients who has done amazing on the Ideal Protein Protocol, gave me this recipe her daughter created for her.

Mindy's healthy salad dressing

1/2 cup Braggs apple cider vinegar
1 package stevia
1/4 tsp cracked pepper
1/4 t dill weed
1/4 t to 1/2 t basil
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
1/2 t parsley flakes
1/2 t real salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 cup olive or grape seed oil
Can add 1/4 t paprika

Whisk together
Keep in fridge in closed container.

PATIENCE

So Good For You - Peppers

Bell peppers are members of the Nightshade family of vegetables along with potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants. Like chili peppers, bell peppers originated in South America where seeds of a wild variety are believed to date back to 5,000 B.C. The various colored Bell Peppers all come from the same plant, but differ in their level of maturity:

Green Bell Peppers

Green bell peppers are harvested before they are fully ripe, one reason they are less expensive than other varieties. Green bell peppers will continue to first turn yellow and then red if they are left on the plant to mature. They have a slightly bitter flavor and will never have the sweet taste of their red, yellow and orange counterparts.

ORANGE AND YELLOW PEPPERS

More mature than green bell peppers, yellow and orange peppers have a fruity taste but are not as commonly found in local markets as green and red bell peppers.

RED PEPPERS
These are more mature than green, orange or yellow bell peppers. They are rich in carotenoid phytonutrients and contain almost eleven times more beta-carotene than green bell peppers as well as one and a half times more vitamin C. Red Bell Peppers have a sweet, almost fruity taste. Pimento and paprika are both prepared from red bell peppers.

There are also other varieties that have a more tapered shape and do not have the lobes characteristic of the green, orange yellow and red varieties.

COMPARISON BETWEEN 

GREEN, RED AND YELLOW BELL PEPPERS

Nutrient	Green	Red	Yellow
Vitamin A	12% DV	105% DV	3.6% DV
Vitamin C	137% DV	292% DV	282% DV
Beta Carotene	340 mcg	841 mcg	110 mcg

* Most other vitamins and minerals are comparable for the two varieties. All quantities and % daily values (DV) are based on one cup (92g) of raw bell peppers. A one cup measurement for other varieties is not currently available on the USDA database. No daily values for beta-carotene are currently available.

WILLPOWER

Telling yourself that you do not possess enough self-control to achieve a goal can be a self-fulfilling prophecy that may be holding you back from reaching your potential. Set challenges for yourself and practice your willpower skills like paying attention, mindfulness, and staying on task. The same goes for getting fit, with physical discomfort, we think, my body is telling me to stop because this is too hard, and actually, it's exactly the opposite. The only way to change those [inner] experiences is to go through them with a sense of commitment to your goal. Exercising on that treadmill or staying on that bike in spin class does get easier each time you do it. But it only gets easier when you're willing to tolerate that initial discomfort. With temptations everywhere it's hard to constantly say no and leave it all up to willpower. 

If you're ready to make your healthy lifestyle a priority, you've got to start with a strong foundation. Indulgences are necessary from time to time, but staying committed to a routine will help habits stick for long-term success. It may be a little bit of a struggle at first, but once you get into the groove, you'll wonder how you lived any other way. Feeling guilty about giving into the impulsive part of your personality or criticizing yourself after making a mistake is not going to help you attain your goals. Instead, celebrating your amazing strengths, like all that you are capable of handling, will help get you feel successful. The ability to say no to something is the hardest form of self-control. Turning your focus toward the positive by saying yes to what you most want to achieve gives you the power to keep moving towards your goal even when you are exhausted.

A great place to start when you're strengthening your willpower muscles is to first, set clear and meaningful goals and create a plan to achieve those goals. Start with the smaller goals to build your confidence and then move on to the bigger goals. Staying organized is the best way to be successful. Make a definite schedule for your workouts, free time and work time and stick to it every day. It's easy to miss workouts when fun plans pop up or you get busy at work. Having your schedule planned for the week will help you stay motivated and excited to exercise while knowing when you can spend time with friends and get your work done. Planning ahead will help you to make healthy choices naturally.  

How Not To Cook Broccoli

F.Y.I.

Microwaving broccoli can destroy beneficial flavonoid chemicals,as well as some of the vegetable's nutrients, in particular vitamin C and folate.

Flavonoids left after:
Steaming       100%
Boiling             34%
Microwaving     3%

JUST DO IT!!

An excerpt from The Power of Discipline by Brian Tracy

Why are some people more successful than others? Why do some people make more money, live happier lives and accomplish much more in the same number of years than the great majority? I started out in life with few advantages. I did not graduate from high school. I worked at menial jobs. I had limited education, limited skills and a limited future. And then I began asking, "Why are some people more successful than others?" This question changed my life. Over the years, I have read thousands of books and articles on the subjects of success and achievement. It seems that the reasons for these accomplishments have been discussed and written about for more than two thousand years, in every conceivable way. One quality that most philosophers, teachers and experts agree on is the importance of self-discipline. As Al Tomsik summarized it years ago, "Success is tons of discipline." Some years ago, I attended a conference in Washington. It was the lunch break and I was eating at a nearby food fair. The area was crowded and I sat down at the last open table by myself, even though it was a table for four. A few minutes later, an older gentleman and a younger woman who was his assistant came along carrying trays of food, obviously looking for a place to sit. With plenty of room at my table, I immediately arose and invited the older gentleman to join me. He was hesitant, but I insisted. Finally, thanking me as he sat down, we began to chat over lunch. It turned out that his name was Kop Kopmeyer. As it happened, I immediately knew who he was. He was a legend in the field of success and achievement. Kop Kopmeyer had written four large books, each of which contained 250 success principles that he had derived from more than fifty years of research and study. I had read all four books from cover to cover, more than once. After we had chatted for awhile, I asked him the question that many people in this situation would ask, "Of all the one thousand success principles that you have discovered, which do you think is the most important?" He smiled at me with a twinkle in his eye, as if he had been asked this question many times, and replied, without hesitating, "The most important success principle of all was stated by Thomas Huxley many years ago. He said, 'Do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.'" He went on to say, "There are 999 other success principles that I have found in my reading and experience, but without self-discipline, none of them work." Self-discipline is the key to personal greatness. It is the magic quality that opens all doors for you, and makes everything else possible. With self-discipline, the average person can rise as far and as fast as his talents and intelligence can take him. But without self-discipline, a person with every blessing of background, education and opportunity will seldom rise above mediocrity. "DO WHAT YOU SHOULD DO, WHEN YOU SHOULD DO IT, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!!!!"