Hello world!!!!  Sara over here.  Before we jump in today, I just want to thank everyone for all the love and for welcoming us back with open arms.  #hugsaremyfavorite #physicaltouchismylovelanguage

I may never stop crying!!!  Jenny and I were genuinely overwhelmed by your support and encouragement.  It’s intimidating to come back…after a year and a half hiatus…fat again…actually fatter…after you waxed poetic on how enlightened you were!!!

But you all made it so easy, so thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Now that I feel back and accepted and accepting of myself, I have learned a really valuable lesson….many valuable lessons actually, but lets start here: If I want to get healthy, I have to cook for myself.  Sounds so simple doesn’t it?!  But you guys, I had been out of my kitchen for so long!!!  If you’ll remember, I had it beautifully remodeled as I simultaneously QUICK COOKING and started eating out for literally every single meal! Which gets very old very quickly.  And you won’t even believe what else happens when you never visit your kitchen…you gain so much weight…like not a little bit, like ALL OF THE WEIGHT.  Why guys?!  Why is it so hard sometimes.  It makes me furious!!!

Why does it feel impossible to see the light or to simply see past the chicken nuggets and fries in your hand.  I personally find bad for you food incredibly comforting in down times and times of need.  It can become for me like a peer pressuring friend.  I seem to never be able to be satisfied, or better yet full. Hmmm, sounds like my addictive personality right!? Probably because the shitty food isn’t really what I need at all huh? And I can certainly hear reason in the back of my head screaming to be heard…Sara, don’t do this.  This isn’t what you want or need!!!!  But that only makes me go in to avoidance mode. #seeya

 

And when it gets to that place of avoidance and disappointment…and let’s be real; shame (more on that in a later post) the last thing I want to do is share my failures with everyone, when that is exactly the thing that I need to do the most.  But we just felt like, how many times can we say we’re getting back on track when we both felt the spiral happening. Honestly, I know so many people who can just do it, see what is wrong and turn it around before losing their way so deep in to the woods.  People are able to do what they need to do because it is the right thing.  “You don’t have to want to do it, you just have to do it” is a way that I desperately wish that I felt.  But I’m a dreamer…I have to want it!  There has to be a connection there for me to stay focused and feel connected to my vision. My mind has to be in the game for me to thrive.

So how do you escape the cycle, reconnect to reality, start back down the path of the life that you really wan and the life that you deserve?  Well, for me, it’s all about getting excited. Y’all know I love Pinterest and when I want to get myself excited about something, I start pinning me life away, which is precisely what I did!

I started to feel excited about what I was going to make.  And it was so nice to not worry about what I was going to be able to eat at work since I never actually schedule a lunch!  It is so stressful to forage for food each day, leaving early to stop and get something on the way in, trying to get onboard with whoever is leaving the building for food, UberEats, Postmates, and on and on.  Anyway, on my Pinterest binge for inspiration, I also found a lot of pins like “How I survived Whole 30” “Tips and Tricks” “Life hacks” etc and I found them to be so incredibly helpful.  It is so easy to feel alone in this struggle called health.  But reading that other people with perfect kitchens have tough days too somehow feels better.  It made me feel like, at my worst,  I’m not the only fuck up who publicly loses and gains weight as if it were their full time job and at my best, you are not alone and you are capable of anything.  So, if you are struggling to get excited about cooking, I’m going to share some things that I just love and that have made this process of eating healthier a lot easier !

Breakfast:

My new obsession #scorpio is this new to me coffee!  I have always loved a soy latte from Starbucks, but as I’m learning soy doesn’t love me the way I love it! My childhood bestie, Katie gets a cafe misto with almond milk, more coffee than milk.  So I tried it, but with decaf and loved it!  Then a friend turned me on to collagen peptides and MCT oil!  I added it into my Stabucks cup and fell in love.

Now this is when I know I’m getting back in to the swing of things…I thought to myself, “Self, you can make this better!” And I did…and it was everything!!!!

I take a Donut Shop Decaf K Cup and dump (after it has brewed) the coffee into the blender with 1 scoop collagen peptides, 2 tbsp MCT oil, 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk, 1 tsp raw honey and 1 tsp cinnamon and blend it all together…so filling, so satisfying.  *If you like really hot coffee, I would suggest warming up the coconut milk!

My next breakfast obsession is sweet potato waffles!  You can make a big batch, freeze them and then warm them up in the toaster the next day!  This has become a breakfast staple!

They are super easy to make and go well with everything and they are so pretty that it is our most requested recipe on Instagram.  This was from a blog called So Let’s Hang Out but for whatever reason, I can’t access it anymore, so here is the recipe:

1 boiled sweet potato, skin removed

3 eggs

1 cup cashews, roasted, unsalted

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (from a can works best for consistency)

3 tbsp coconut oil or ghee (I prefer Coconut oil-better taste overall)

1 tbsp raw honey (try and get local if you can)

1 tsp baking soda (aluminum free)

1/4 tsp sea salt

Coconut oil spray for greasing the waffle iron

Toss all the ingredients in to a food processor and blend until you get a batter consistency!  Then grease your waffle iron and pour in the batter, enough to cover to griddle, but not so much that you are going to overflow when you close the iron.  They take anywhere from 3-5 minutes to cook.  Make sure to flip half way through. You want them to look golden brown.  I use the backside of two forks to shimmy them out, then I let them cool and divide the waffle in to two, put in baggies and freeze.  I typically get 4.5 waffles out of the batch which nets me 10 freeze-able servings!

I usually will cook some eggs, maybe bacon or chicken sausage  and add some avocados, tomatoes, and/or pears or even leftovers for the night before to round off the meal.

Another morning favorite is a smoothie…which for me ends up being a lot more like juice since I don’t love ice!

My favorite concoction is 2 handfuls of spinach, enough unsweetened coconut milk to cover the spinach in the blender, a handful of blueberries, 1 tbsp almond butter and a squeeze of a lime!  I know it sounds crazy but it is so good!

Lunch and Dinner:  I hate getting bored with something so I try to make two things at once so that I’m not eating the same thing for 2 meals! I like to do a meat and veggie and then a soup or some combination like that.  Here is a photo montage of my favs!

You can find most of these recipes on out Pinterest account.  You can find us under the handle Sara and Jenny BeardSmith hahahahaha and you can search under our pins! If you have any questions, just leave them in the comments…these were all too lengthy to put the entire recipe on here and I am still sadly technologically stumped to know how to put in a link to the recipes!

My two favorite things that I’ve made are the creamy chicken and leek soup and the egg roll in a bowl!!!  So good! Honorable mentions go to Whole 30 Sloppy Joe’s and Beef and Broccoli!

I could’t be happier to be back in the kitchen cooking, taking charge of my own nutrition and helping myself find a healthy path again.  I don’t operate well in the darkness and it feels so nice to be bathed in light again and back with our online community and support group.  I also can’t wait for me and Jenny to get a chance to cook together again!!!  I hope you find something that you want to make! I love you all so much!

See you again real soon!