We fail….AND….We’re awesome!!

We get up everyday, get ready and attack our to-do lists and goals like a hungry tiger.  We know it’s important to lead healthy lives and be productive, good citizens in our community.  The deal is, sometimes it doesn’t always go down that way.  There are days when we have legitimate excuses like, **I have a stomach bug and I can’t go more than 5 feet from the bathroom**.  Another good excuse is, **My kid is sick and needs me to snuggle them back to health**.  I know there are other excuses some may deem to be legit.  In the end, for whatever reason, sometimes we FAIL!!  Whether that failure comes with a legit excuse or the other kind *that we don’t ever like to admit too*, we ALL FAIL sometimes.  How you deal with this failure is the difference in the people who are a success and the ones that let it define them, what they do, and the decisions they make after said failure.

Molly’s last perm and hair fail!

There are many schools of thought on this.  I won’t be talking about them all on this post *nor do I even probably know them all*.  

• Always strive for success and if you fail, you suck and need to be better or you’ll suck forever.  Yeah, so, I’m guessing that most of you will agree, this isn’t a very positive direction to go.  What this will undoubtedly lead to is a snowball of constant failures, getting larger and larger each time, ending in a deep and possibly dangerous depression.
• So I failed!  What of it?  I know I’ll do it again so, whatever….”where’s that tub of ice cream?”  I’m of the mindset that this method is equally bad on the other side of the spectrum from the first.  To be so uncaring of your failures or missteps, is the same as not caring about yourself at all.  Guess where that leads…..Yep, more and more failures….oh yeah and right back to that deep and possibly dangerous depression again.
• Yeah, I failed.  It happens sometimes.  This is what I’ve learned…This is what I feel….This is my plan of action.  This could be a productive path to take and here’s why;

Knowing that EVERYONE fails sometimes means that you need to recognize that failure is as common as breathing and a chance for awesomeness ahead.  When you’ve had a failure, own it.  Know that it’s common and that it does nothing more than give you a learning opportunity.  Analyze why you’ve failed.  Did you set yourself up for sabotage?  Did you leave bad triggers and landmines all over your path set up for that day?  Did you get enough sleep and fuel your body properly for whatever your task was?  If not, than the failure can’t be much of a surprise can it?  Here’s the learning part….take the reason you’ve failed and never set yourself up to have it happen like that again.  Yes, you may fail at the same task again but, it’ll probably be for a new reason, and you can adjust so, you don’t fail again for that reason.  Before you know it….I doubt you’ll fail at that task ever again.

Toe turn fail!!

Toe turn success

We will all fail, at many different things, all the time throughout our lives.  *please repeat that last sentence filled with commas so you pause and let it soak in*  Failing is great…..IF……you take that failure, learn from it, grow from it and end up thriving from it.  Learn to love yourself and know that you deserve to not let failures define you as a failure.  Don’t let negative talk give a failure power to bring you down that dark abyss of nastiness.

Here’s how I’m hoping you’ll move forward to make failures work in your favor and set yourself up for success (regardless of what your tasks are, these tips are universal);

1. Get enough sleep every night (8ish hours for adults).  Try very hard to not screw up your schedule on the weekends.  It’s fun to stay up late and live more carefree when you don’t have an alarm the next morning.  However, the weekend is only 2 nights, and recovering lost sleep (or wonky sleep) on Sunday night isn’t going to cut it and now you’ve started a brand new week on a crap note.
2. Before you hit the rack for your totally awesome and healing sleep, make your next day’s Plan of Action.  You may have a working calendar on your phone or the old school paper kind.  Maybe you just write out a list on a fun notepad or journal *swooning at the thought of shopping for notepads and journals because, the office supply section just does that to me* 😉 Regardless of how you do, look at your schedule, decide what things need to be done and prioritize them accordingly.  Imagine how much more successful you’ll be when that hungry tiger is all ready for the day and has a working task list all ready to go in front of them?  Totally unstoppable right!?! 
   

   Thanks to “The Dork Side” for this funny.

   (Also to Kristen Lamb who saw this funny first and posts loads of funny’s for all our enjoyment)

3. Be sure you have the Proper fuel for your body.  A tiger can’t get much accomplished or have many successes on cupcakes.  With proper nutrition for your body **not all bodies need the same nutrition so, experiment with various nutrients until your body looks and FEELS awesome!!  To start, I’d go with no sugar and no processed food and go from there to see what your body tolerates** 
4. This goes into #3 but, it’s so important that it deserves its own number.  DRINK YOUR WATER!!! Hydration is one of the biggest keys to success.  I’ve blogged about it before here .  There are SO MANY REASONS why drinking more water than almost all of us currently do, will help us be successful in all endeavors in our lives.  The biggest reason of course is that it keeps us HEALTHY!!!!.
   
5. Take your day in stride.  Everyday will be different.  Things happen and many times we aren’t in control.  Learn how to relax about it all.  At the end of the day, if something happened and you have a failure to-do on your list.  Recognize if it happened because of something that was in or out of your control?  If it was out of your control then, um hello….totally not your fault!!  Add it to your next days list and move one.  If it was in your control, ok then, what should I have done different?…Alright, that’s what I’ll do tomorrow and we’ll get it done right next time.  

At the end of the day….failures are just blips and they can be learned from and changed.  Don’t let it be anything else.  You are worth it, your family is worth it and society wants you to love yourself enough to take a failure, dust off and keep on, keepin’ on!!!

**I have been SUCCESSFUL at writing this post after having FAILED writing a post for quite some time.  YAY for me!!  Onto learning how I made it happen and doing it more often!!**

What is the biggest failure you’ve had and what did you do with it?  Would you have done something different if it happened again?

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Water…water…water…drink your water…NO it’s NASTY!

We all know that we are supposed to be drinking A LOT of water a day!

Photo by Lynn Kelley, Wana Commons

Actually, the discussion of just how much water you should drink will go differently depending on whom you talk to.  Some will say 64oz, others may say it depends on your height, weight and your goals.  What is for sure, with some exceptions, most of the world is drinking WAY TOO LITTLE water a day.

Here’s my first point……water is WATER!  It’s not but they use water to make the coke OR there’s so much water in that celery it must count for at least a glass.  NO, I’m so sorry but you are NOT ALLOWED to get caught up in that thinking.  Yes, there’s water in many of our fruits and vegetables, but, it’s not a replacement to drinking the water you should every day.  Consider the water within your food and herbal teas a bonus but, you’re still responsible for consuming the real deal every day!!

My next point….I know that many of you don’t like it.  You’d rather drink that coke, that unsweetened tea you feel like you’re doing so awesome by drinking, and not the coke (you are doing better than the coke but, I’m talking about water today) 😉  You need to try variations of the good stuff to find which way is the most palatable to you.  Get a new water bottle.  Try ice cold, room temperature, hot, through a straw, from a glass……You might be surprised at those little changes will go a long way to help you enjoy the water.  These days, there are SO MANY types of water bottles, that whatever your favorite way to drink your water, there will be a container to keep it that way all day long for you.

This is my beef *water fail*; when we go out to eat I want to order water.  It saves loads of money since beverages are all marked up so high and it’s the healthiest choice.  What totally sucks is when the water is NASTY!  This day in age, there is no reason we shouldn’t be able to have filtered water.  It really makes me angry if I’m in an upscale restaurant.  Seriously, I’m paying you $9 for a cup of soup and all I can get is water from the tap!?!!?  Even dive restaurants should be able to get a brita filter for their customers drinking water.

This is the deal….the pure water is essential to your wellbeing.  It’s crucial to flush toxins from your body.  A head of iceberg lettuce isn’t going to cut it.  If you’re ready to attack your water goals and stop being deficient in such an important element for your body, I implore to you follow Ginger Calem’s footsteps at Writer’s Butt and set a goal of 100oz a day.  Will you get that at first or even everyday after working towards it?….No, you will have days you fall short but, having that goal will insure that you get more than you would without a goal at all.  I promise your body will adjust and be grateful for all that h2o awesomeness that it’s been craving.

Ok, Analyze your drinking habits….no not the beer, wine and booze (that’s a different post) 😉 and tell me, do you think you’re drinking all you should?  Are you going to make a water goal?

** Thank you for taking time out of your life to hang with me a bit.  “like” and/or “share” my post so you get credit for you extra awesomeness** 🙂

 

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Grain, Dairy & Sugar FREE Chocolate Pancakes……WHAT???

I confess that I am a sugar addict!!  The terrible substance has a grip on me physically and emotionally like no other substance.  After years of denial and acceptance, I’m now fighting back!!  4 weeks ago I started a sugar detox program.  My health coach Sandra Brougher has been guiding me through the program.  I’ve surprised myself with how much determination and willpower I’ve had.  It’s not really the norm for me.  Today I took my kids out for ice cream and I didn’t have even a tiny lick.  3 weeks ago there would’ve been no way I would’ve restrained.

One thing I found out really quickly is when you’re used to having sweet treats like a nibble of chocolate here and a cookie there…..it’s very hard to have raw almonds as the go to.  It’s of course NOT the only go to item but, I’m not great at thinking outside the box.  As I mentioned earlier, I have an emotional attachment to the sweet drug as well so, often times I’m grabbing for that fix in times of trial **Imagine 3 year old crapping his pants for the 4th time that day**  Reaching for an almond just doesn’t deliver the same ***Aaaaahhhhhh….nirvana….moment***

This is why I created these.  I know there must be a bazillion recipes out there for similar lovelies so, if this one doesn’t strike your fancy then, explore for some others.

I ditched the box of bisquick for making pancakes years ago.  I wanted to control the type of flour, baking soda, baking powder etc….  Then I started to get the healthy bug so, my flour changed to whole grain, my eggs became free range, my milk became raw milk etc….etc….Pancakes have always been a lovely munchie for me regardless of topping (although nutella, bananas and/or pure maple syrup make me smile).  When I started this sugar detox, I knew I needed something to turn to so….I took my usual recipe and tweaked it for my needs.

Here’s my recipe, I use the term loosely because, I rarely measure and generally just throw things together ;o)

2 Cups Almond meal

1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk (either original or vanilla)

2 Eggs (preferably pasture eggs but, what-ev)

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Baking Powder (I like the gluten-free brand)

**That’s the base recipe that doesn’t really change….below is how I kick it up a notch**

1 Tsp either Pure Vanilla Extract or Almond Extract (just depends on my mood)

1.5 Tbsp of Raw Cacao Powder (I use the Navitas brand.  It’s organic and doesn’t have any additives)

3-4 Tbsp unsweetened Coconut flakes (add more if you love it….it’s a great stabilizer, texture and good fat to add to your day)

**Now I really kick it up a nutritional notch**

1-2 Tbsp Flax Meal

2 Tsp Chia seeds (I grind mine up to a powder **Hello floss if you don’t!!**

1 scoop of Green Super Foods (I prefer the chocolate flavor myself)

I blend all of the above in my Blendtec (which I’m totally in love with).  Using a blender will definitely help mix all that awesomeness up in a hurry.  If the consistency doesn’t look like your typical batter then add more of the Unsweetened almond milk until it’s what you want.  ***NOTE: these don’t hold together like regular pancakes they are a bit more delicate so, if you go too thin, you’ll have some trouble with flippage etc….***

I prefer a cast iron pan and only use Coconut Oil for this…..butter would certainly be acceptable as well but, I’m really not into the sprays.

I spread this awesomeness on these beauties

I’ve been making about a batch or 2 a week.  I keep them in the fridge and zap 2 or 3 in the microwave for 10 sec for a treat when I feel the need.  With all that extra goodness packed in there I feel good eating them and staying on target for my goals.

I hope you love them as much as I do!!!

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