Dropping Insanity…Fixing My Diet!

in·san·i·ty: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  Albert Einstein

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Can you believe January is rapidly coming to an end?!?!?! It’s amazing to me how quickly time flies these days…it seems like just yesterday I was turning 30, and now…well, I’m closer to 40 than 30 and I’m not sure how I feel about that!

I’ve been really excited about this year…I brought in 2017 with the expectation that things were going to really congeal (that’s an Aunt Marie word right there) in my life! And as life would have it…a mere three weeks into 2017, my first jump came crashing down! The new job offer that I was super excited about was rescinded the day before I was scheduled to report for work! It certainly was not the news I was looking for, and frankly, I was pissed about what happened to me. But, then I decided that anger wasn’t going to get me anywhere, so I returned to my old job, pulled up my sleeves, and got back to work! I decided that repeating the cycle of anger and frustration and being mad with God was pointless and insane, the job fell through for whatever reason and I have to believe that there’s something positive to be found in this situation. It’s really freeing to look at the situation this way!

In general, I’m trying to view life in a more positive light this year. Rather than focus on my challenges and the mistakes I’ve made, I’m trying to think about the positive changes I can incorporate into my weekly routine. I’ve recently been inspired to plan my weekly meals by a friend and old co-worker who just so happens to be a registered dietician. She made the JUMP a couple of years ago to leave her job and pursue her passion of nutrition. She’s now making a difference in the lives of patients and people like me who follow her blog from a distance. Last week, she posted about budget friendly meal planning for families of four. From this post, I was motivated to do some meal planning of my own (time to drop the insanity of getting home and not having a clue about what’s for dinner!)…I went through the whole process of looking at the weekly circulars for my local grocery stores and came up with a meal plan for the week. I’m pretty impressed with myself!

What’s this week’s meal plan look like?

Breakfast: Cereal (Shredded Wheat or Oatmeal), Fruit, and a Protein. I have to pick up fruit and milk, but I have everything else in the house already.

Lunch: I’ll start the week with chicken salad (made with greek yogurt rather than mayo) and end it with turkey burgers. I’m also going to have some veggies and salad with my lunch daily.

Dinner: I’m trying to utilize the chicken and ground turkey fully, so for dinner, I’ll have chicken stir fry for a few days, and finish out the week with thai turkey lettuce wraps. Hopefully this approach will keep me from wasting food. Meal planning for one can end like this far too often!

I’m not sure what my weekend meals will look like just yet, but I’m gonna try to find something quick and easy to fix…maybe some baked fish and veggies, that’s simple enough!

The most exciting part of this meal plan for me is that these meals won’t cost me tons of money and I’ll have a variety of flavors in my meals. With the passing of each year, I’d like to think I become a bit wiser…I at least try to do one thing better than I’ve done in previous years. Hopefully, meal planning will become one of many things I do better this year!

I’m still jumping and still believing great things are ahead of me!

Until next time…DW

Just Jump!

It’s finally 2017…I’m excited! I’m skipping resolutions this year, and have decided to embrace a theme for the year. Yearly themes have been described as, “a word or a phrase that you choose to define what the next year of your life is going to be…an idea that should speak to you, and that should guide you to make more of the choices you think will lead you where you want to go in life and in your career. It will be your constant guide that informs your choices as you go about your life this year”.

My theme for the year is Jump.

There’s been lots of talk about jumping lately. Steve Harvey talked about this thought in a monologue following the taping of a Family Feud episode, and just a few weeks ago, he released a book entitled, Jump: Take the Leap of Faith to Achieve Your Life of Abundance! I’ve not picked up the book, but its premise really resonated with me. In his monologue, Steve said, “Eventually, you are going to have to jump. You cannot just exist in this life. You have got to try to live. If you are waking up thinking that there has got to be more to life than it is, man, believe that it is. Believe in your heart of hearts that it is, but to get to that life, you are going to have to jump.” That statement is my life story…I’ve always been driven to play life safely…comfort and security have been a t the top of my list, but this year, I’m challenging myself to chase the God of the impossible. I mean…I say with God all things are possible, but have I ever chased the God of the impossible. Have I ever assessed all of the impossible things in my life and placed them before God for the sole purpose of asking Him to do what His word says He will do? I’ve not…but in this year of jumping, I’m going to do just that! I’m going to write down every single impossibility in my life that enters my mind and ask God to do exceedingly, abundantly more than I could ever think or imagine! There’s no more time in my life to look at my dreams and say, “Impossible”. There’s no more time to look at my visions and say, “Impossible”. No, this is the year that I’ve got to have child-like faith, and truly believe that the sky is the limit in my life! It’s the year I must believe that all things ARE possible! I’m jumping and I hope others will jump too!

And, since there’s no need to delay the jump…my first jump will be in just a few weeks…I’m leaving a job that is comfortable and jumping into new territory. I’m not sure how God is going to bring it all together in the end, but I’m fully convinced that my new job is a part of a larger plan for me! So, here’s to a year where all things are possible for those who are willing to jump!