7 Simplifications and Solutions for a Better Life Right Now

Feeling bogged down, bloated, tired, weighed down by life's little stressors, overcommitted, and scattered in your thinking? I've been there so many times! It feels like I need a major overhaul when I get in this mode, yet figuring out what the overhaul would entail as well as attempting anything "major" is overwhelming.

I've learned that sometimes just a few adjustments can make a WORLD of difference. Here is a list of 7 life simplifications and solutions that work wonders for me.

1. Stop making complicated food.

Simple meals of mixed steamed vegetables with a scoop of plain quinoa and some avocado slices are delicious, filling, and make me feel like a million bucks.

2. Any schedule is FINE as long as I have one.

I'm the queen of schedule making. I can spend hours trying to figure out when the best time to do which task each day would be, rather than just working on the tasks themselves. I have entire notebooks full of different daily schedules I've made and abandoned looking for the Perfect Schedule. Stop all that, choose a schedule, write in your tasks, and just work.

3. One cup of coffee max per day.

I know this is a tough one. I KNOW. But switching out your coffee IV for water, herbal teas, mate, oolong, etc. is such a health boost it's unbelievable. The first 3 days or so of cutting back on coffee are the worst, and after that, you discover a mood and energy boost you didn't know you had. I promise.

4. Stop the unhealthy snacks.

Have a small salad with 1/2 cup boiled edamame. To make this quick and easy, bulk prepare a huge salad once a week (without dressing of course) and store it in the fridge. Then toss a small bowl of it with olive oil, lemon, and a little salt and garlic powder for a delicious, filling snack.

5. Drink water + green drink for the gut bomb.

Gut bomb - that heavy, bloated feeling - can usually be attributed to dehydration at least in part. Get your water intake up, and add a green drink to your daily regimen. I like powdered barley grass, which I shake up with a few ounces of water. It tastes like you ate fresh lawn clippings, but it will soothe indigestion and gut bomb like nobody's business.

6. Let it go.

Whatever the issue is that's bugging the crap out of you right now, do whatever you can to alleviate or fix it, and beyond that, let it go. That means you allow it to coexist with you for now without fighting it anymore in your heart and mind, at least for today. Pray for creative solutions and they will come. But they are easier to "see" when you aren't actively obsessing about the issue at hand.

7. Do weight training.

Weight training tones you and increases your metabolism like no other workout I know of. I do Les Mills Bodypump twice a week, mixed with dance workouts and yoga on other days. If I skip a week of weight training, I notice an almost immediate loss of tone, more bloat, and depressed mood, even though I'm doing my other types of workouts. I don't lift heavy weights at all--my dumbells are five pounds, and other than that, it's body weight stuff like pushups, squats, and lunges.

Here's wishing you a great weekend and an improved life!

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9 Light, Bright Low-Calorie Meal Ideas

Crisp raw veggies with oil and lemon make me happy. :)

Looking for some low-calorie meals for a snack, a light lunch, or a "small plate" dinner? There are multiple reasons having a ready list of light meal options is a good idea. Maybe you're trying to trim some weight, or improve your digestion, or just feel lighter and brighter. These dishes will fit the bill! Go light on the salt and oil, and your waistline (and your gut) will thank you.

1. Chopped veggie salad with 1 tablespoon sunflower or pumpkin seeds, 5 pecans, and 4 walnuts, topped with a quick drizzle of oil and fresh squeezed lemon. Sprinkle with sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder (optional, and keep it light if you do add these seasonings!) and serve with 1/2 cup boiled or steamed edamame.

Calories: 250

2. 1 cup chia pudding topped with 2 tablespoons mixed roasted nuts, seeds, chocolate chips, and/or unsweetened coconut.

Calories: 150 - 200, depending upon what type of milk you use :)

3. Spinach and Shredded Brussels Sprouts Salad (2 cups baby spinach and 1 cup shredded brussels tossed with a drizzle of olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon, lots of garlic powder and a little sea salt. Top with 8 black olive halves (4 olives) and 10 pecan halves, rough chopped.)

Calories: 295

4. Hemp protein shake (4 tablespoons plain hemp protein, 3 ice cubes, 8-10 oz water, 1/4 t. powdered stevia or sweetener of choice, + optional add-ins like green powder, cinnamon, powdered maca, etc.)

Calories: 110 + any additional from your add-ins (usually negligible calorie counts)

5. Four flax crackers with a handful of cherry tomatoes, some zucchini sticks, sliced cucumber, and sliced red bell pepper (about 2 cups total veggies.) Serve on a small plate with 6 black olives and an espresso. Mmm.

Calories: 200

6. Half a cup cooked quinoa seasoned with garlic powder + 3-4 cups steamed veggies (such as broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.) Squeeze lemon juice over the vegetables and serve with 5 walnut halves and 6 olives.

Calories: 300

7. Raw shredded carrots and beets (2-3 cups or so) with lemon juice squeezed over the top.

Calories: Like, hardly anything. :) And it's delicious. Okay, probably around 50-80 calories.

8. Chickpea flour wrap with 2 avocado slices and chopped vegetable filling (veggies can be raw or cooked.)

Calories: 250

9. Nori wrap with mashed avocado or tahini dressing, stuffed with fresh sprouts and a tofu stick (a piece of tofu about the size of a 4-inch-long celery stick.)

Calories: 100

9 Reasons The Day After My Breakup Was a Good Day

In November last year I went to Costa Rica to see a guy I'd been dating for three months long distance. Everything had seemed so perfect--I'd met him at an all-inclusive resort while vacationing there a few years back, and we'd reconnected in the summer of 2017, and were having a blast texting, voice messaging, and talking on the phone. Armando started swearing his undying love to me by the end of September, and I booked a trip for my Thanksgiving break to go see him.

Okay, so you know from the title of this post what happened. When I arrived, he was completely the opposite of how he was when I met him. He acted super awkward, seemed distracted and shy, and to be honest, very bored with me. When we went to lunch, he was listless and unsmiling, had zero input into any conversations I tried to start, and mostly played on his phone at the table. That afternoon his only "plans" for us (after having suggested umpteen jillion wonderful sightseeing trips and activities to me while I was booking my flight and hotel a few weeks earlier) was to go back to my hotel room and watch a movie on TV.

I was pretty sure he'd met someone else between the time I booked my trip and before I arrived. In any case, there had been a major loss of interest on his side, and a major feeling of stupidity and vanity on mine.

I felt disappointed and sad, but most of all, embarrassed. I knew I had walked into this of my own accord and that I hadn't used my better judgment. I told him the relationship just wasn't going to work out, and he agreed and left.

I had one more day in the little beach town I was staying in, and going to bed that night, I dreaded it. I was alone, had no specific plans or things to do, and honestly didn't want to spend one more dime on sightseeing or entertainment, paying for my humiliating dating debacle.

So I coached myself before I went to sleep: Ok, Kerra, all your friends are waiting to see pics and hear how it's going in Costa Rica with Armando. Tomorrow, your only job is to make it look like you're having a good time here on social media so they don't worry.

So that is what I did. I got up the next morning, dressed in comfy clothes, a cap, and a small backpack, and went in search of photo ops. The beach was literally right across the street from my hotel, something I hadn't noticed the day before for some reason. The only money I spent that day was on lunch, and came back to my hotel that night loaded up with cool images of the sand, the palms, the colorful shops, cabanas, tropical flowers, my delicious lunch, me smiling and looking as though my heart was completely fine.

By the time I settled down for bed that night, my heart was fine, and I had to admit that I had truly, miraculously, enjoyed myself. So I wrote down this list on the back of my travel itinerary printout:

Why Today Was a Good Day

1. I gave myself an attainable goal, one that got me up and moving.
2. I didn't try to "perfect" my appearance, or my day, or my life.
3. I accepted myself with my flaws. I was humble.
4. I was open and loving to the people I came across.
5. I lived in the moment and embraced life as it came. I was in a state of surrender.
6. There was balance between what I planned to do (my goals for the day) and just enjoying the moment.
7. I trusted God. I had no other friend or fallback.
8. I did artistic, creative activities...searching for beauty and photographing it, making short videos, writing good social media posts.
9. I ate good, healthy food--the vegetable paella-type dish for lunch and a huge bowl of raw veggies and nuts for dinner.

By the time I boarded my flight home the next morning, though I still had some remaining vestiges of feeling like a fool, overall I was basically at peace and in a state of self-compassion.

Life certainly does not have to be perfect in order to be good. And we all make mistakes, and hopefully learn from them. By those mistakes, we grow stronger and wiser every day. :)

My Basic, Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe

So delicious, even with less-than-awesome ingredients

Yesterday I was craving vegetable soup, as I often do because I make it soooo well, but I didn't want to buy any groceries because I'm moving out of state in five days. So I threw together the below concoction, and it was unbelievably delicious. So go make some soup! Cooking it and eating it are two of my very favorite Soul-Healing Activities.

The Veggie Soup I Made Yesterday Using What I Had On Hand

1 TBS olive oil

1 minced garlic clove

1 TBS of chopped celery I picked off the salad I bulk-prepped a few days ago

4-6 cups water

1 cube "Rapunzel" veggie bouillon

1 TBS Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base

1/2 tsp onion powder

6 cups big carrot chunks

2 cups small rutabaga chunks

1 TBS dried parsley

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup freezer burned green peas

1 can (drained) green beans

1/4 tsp Himalayan sea salt

Saute the garlic and celery bits for about 30 seconds to one minute, until the garlic is browned. Add water and veggie bouillon(s) and bring to a boil while you peel and chop the carrot and rutabaga. Add these vegetables to the pot, stir, and boil gently until very soft, 25-35 minutes. As they boil you can go ahead and add the dried spices (parsley, thyme, and onion powder) and start enjoying that aroma.

When the carrot and rutabaga are perfectly soft and delicious, add the frozen peas and boil them until they look green and nice and not so white with freezer burn.

Last, add the green beans and let them warm up in the soup for five minutes or less so they don't get even more mushy than they already are, then add salt to taste. I put 1/4 tsp yesterday and that was perfect for me.

Note: normally I would never try to make soup without chopped onion and celery to saute in with the garlic, and I would saute those for a good 5-10 minutes to get some caramelization on them before adding the water and bouillon base. So I compensated for the lack of onion and celery by picking off what little bits of celery I could from the salad, doing two types of veg bouillon and adding the onion powder. I was pleased it turned out so great. I might do it this way more often because it was really easy and a lot less chopping.

The Healthiest Sunday

This is my Sunday morning spot.

If you had a rough week, overindulged in food and drink Friday and/or Saturday, and underindulged in exercise and water, what you need before Monday morning is a healthy Sunday.

You need this blog post. :)

Morning

6:00am - Wake up, put on comfy loungewear you can do yoga in

6:10am - Drink a 12oz glass of filtered water

6:15am - Do a 15-minute yoga routine (you can find these on YouTube,) rubbing essential oils on the soles of your feet and inhaling them (my morning yoga faves, in the order I rub and inhale them: 1) Wyndmere Self Confidence, 2) Gurunanda Peppermint, 3) Young Living Aroma Siez, 4) Young Living En-R-Gee, and 5) Young Living Dragon Time)

6:40 - Take vitamins with another 12oz glass of water + green drink while brewing a cup of Mate Mint tea (one tea bag of each; sub green tea for mate if desired. I like 1/8 tsp stevia powder in mine.) Unload dishwasher/straighten up the kitchen while the tea steeps.

7:00 - Sit in a peaceful, happy, comfortable spot to sip tea and write in prayer journal. Answer these questions:

• What am I grateful for this week?
• What has been a challenge or struggle?
• What small adjustments can I make to have a great week starting tomorrow?
• What do I and my loved ones need this week? (write out your petitions/pray)

8:00 - Drink a protein + nutrition shake (I love Raw Fit Weightloss in French Vanilla with unsweetened Silk Almond Coconut milk)

8:30 - Grab another glass of water to take with you and work on a creative project, but not in a hurry. Just enjoy the moment and let it be a slow, easy morning of creativity and productivity. If you get sleepy, don't have any more caffeine. Cuddle up under a warm afghan and take a nap. Your body needs it.

Afternoon

12:00 - Make a pot of vegetable soup. Cooking vegetable soup is nourishing to the soul. Again, no rush; enjoy the process of chopping the vegetables, stirring them into your boiling broth, and inhaling the wonderful aromas as they cook down to caramelly softness. Eat the soup without distractions, savoring each bite. Save the leftovers for Monday lunch.

1:30 - Drink another glass of water, then do something active around the house for an hour - clean, organize, or complete a project that doesn't involve sitting.

2:30 - Nap again if you're sleepy, or just make another cup of herbal tea and read for awhile. I recommend staying off social media as much as you can until later tonight to give your eyes, mind, and body a break from it. Do something relaxing and low-key instead.

3:00 - Glass of water #5

3:30 - Healthy snack if you're hungry. My choice today: Chickpea wrap with cashew cheese spread, greens, and chopped raw vegetables (red bell pepper, celery, green onion, radish, and shredded carrot. This is actually from a salad that I bulk-prepare every week and keep in the fridge in a big bowl, so today I don't have to chop any of that.)

4:00 - More relaxation/free time

4:30 - Glass of water #6

Evening

5:00 - Make a healthy dinner. My choice tonight: Salad with Lemon-Oil dressing, and Cumin-Roasted Beets, Carrots, and Radish with Tahini-Dill dressing, then some sweet snack--might try making a cookie of some sort out of quinoa flour I need to use.

6:30 - Go brush your teeth so you won't keep eating (if you're watching your weight like I am) and then come back to clean the kitchen. (For me being in the kitchen = temptation to nibble, so I have to go brush my teeth immediately after dinner.)

7:00 - Glass of water #7

7:15 - Evening "5-minute" workout (Tai Chi with a YouTube video, Zumba with a YouTube video, floor exercises like leg lifts and crunches, or just put on some fun music like Gangnam Style or Cake By the Ocean and do some living room dancing.) Commit to five minutes, then go longer if you feel like it.

8:00 - Glass of water #8 with evening vitamins and supplements, then hot shower or bath in Epsom Salts

8:30 - Slather on some nice moisturizers and lotions, make a cup of Natural Calm tea, and cozy up on the couch to play on Social Media, text a friend or romantic interest, read, or watch some YouTube.

9:30 - Get off the phone/laptop/other device so your mind and body can wind down for bed. Plan your week in a planner or just make your own grid, read, then hit the hay.

10:15 - Lights out.

My daily planner, available now on Amazon!

Why Can't I Be More Like My Aunt Shelly?

I like to go visit my Aunt Shelly, out in the countryside, several times a year. I sleep in her extra bedroom, cook on her expensive gas stove in her large, beautiful farmhouse-style kitchen, sit with her either at her island-bar in her kitchen or on the plush sofas in her den talking and sipping tea, and make road trips to town to go shopping.

We like to sleep in, steam vegetables and eat them with diced avocado, talk about hair and makeup, try each other's new supplements, and play on Pinterest together finding new inspirations in hair, clothes, makeup, and decor. Shelly is extremely gifted at home remodeling, design, and decorating, better than some who've been formally trained, so we always spend some time talking about home stuff, window shopping the many places in her area that sell farmhouse-style decor, and sometimes making small, thoughtful purchases. She and I both try to be very frugal with our money, and it's nice to shop with someone who isn't badgering me to spend, spend, spend. We take pleasure in just looking.

In many ways, I am already very much like my Aunt. People think we look alike and have similar mannerisms, which is a huge compliment because she's beautiful. We have very similar interests, hangups, obsessions, goals, and personalities. But this week when I got back home, I noticed with some frustration how different life is for me when I'm in my own routine as opposed to my times at Shelly's house. I always have way more energy when I'm there. I tend to drop a little weight and feel lighter in my clothes. Life seems freer, healthier, easier, and more enjoyable.

So what gives? I asked myself as I was doing some journaling yesterday morning. I eat very healthy here at home, I play on Pinterest, I relax and drink tea.

Then I asked myself, what do I do differently when I'm staying with Shelly?

Answer: I fall into Shelly's vibe.

Okay, so what is her vibe? What does she do differently in her daily life?

To be fair to myself, Shelly is retired and doesn't have a full time job. But still, aren't there some lessons I could learn from my aunt, some habits and ways of being that I could incorporate into my life here in the city? I decided to examine her life objectively, like a researcher or scientist, and make a list.

What Shelly Does

- Shelly rests when she's tired or doesn't feel good. And she doesn't feel guilty about it. What a concept.

- Shelly eats to live rather than lives to eat, and doesn't spend a ton of time in the kitchen cooking. She refuses to peel anything (steams sweet potatoes in their skins in her electric rice cooker/steamer) and hardly touches the stove.

- Shelly buys and eats whole foods, simple, low maintenance stuff. Steamable vegetables (and I've learned from her that almost all veggies are good steamed,) avocados, lemons, greens, bags of raw walnuts and pecans. (She isn't vegan so she does eat lean meats and goat cheese.)

- Shelly never leaves her bedroom looking like a 90-year-old homeless person. Her pajamas, lounge wear, etc. all look to be in good condition, clean, and cute on her. She does at least something decent with her hair and never has mascara smudges under her eyes when she emerges to meet me in kitchen for morning tea and talking.

- Shelly takes time to just relax and be in the moment, every day. She creates art, reads, watches home decor shows, plays on Pinterest. And she doesn't feel guilty about it.

- Shelly exercises a little each day and only when she has energy for it.

What I Do

- Push myself constantly, feel guilty for resting or staying in bed too much.

- Cook constantly and almost obsessively, hoard and waste fancy food, eat too much and too often.

- Go around my apartment feeling bloated, haggard, unattractive, face unwashed, hair in a dumb-looking topknot, makeup smudges under my eyes, wearing old pajamas and comfy clothes that don't match and look like I got them from the pile of rejects in the back alley of a thrift store. If there were a man in my life, he'd run screaming the first time he saw me in the morning.

- Feel guilty for doing anything "lazy" or "fun" for very long. Don't fully enjoy my lazy, fun moments when I do allow them. Get burned out and dread my responsibilities and obligations.

- Berate myself for avoiding strenuous exercise, even when I truly don't have the energy for it.

- Make everything way too complicated and difficult.

- Waste time hating on certain aspects of my life rather than focusing on what I DO like and doing THAT.

- Don't recognize and accept my limitations. Don't recognize and capitalize on my strengths.

- Don't work with my natural daily rhythms rather than fighting them constantly, trying to force progress toward my goals.

So, Hmm.

Starting today, when I got up, I put on pajamas that actually look decent on me.

I put my hair up in an attractive clip, similar to a hairdo I saw in a country music video, and pulled out some curls to frame my face.

I cleaned the mascara out from under my eyes with makeup remover.

I took all my supplements at leisure rather than rushing around and piddled around in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher.

I cut up a yam (and peeled it, okay? Some habits die hard) and started it steaming for breakfast.

And then I just sat here in front of my fireplace and started writing this blog post, because I love writing.

The Big Takeaway...

Find a person whose lifestyle you aspire to, and take note. What do they do differently from you? Is there anything you have in common already? And how can you incorporate new habits into the life you're living now, to work toward living the life you truly want to live?

My New Workout Ideas (Because I'm In a Rut)

This is me when I get home from work. Noticeably NOT exercising.

Yes, the winter depression thing is real, my friends. It is for me, anyway. I don't feel like doing anything but huddling up in fleece, drinking hot tea, and staring off into space during the months of December, January, and February.

But in the meantime, this weekend I got desperate (not desperate enough to actually get up and exercise, you understand) and started trying to think of some way to get myself motivated to move more. I've been reading Move Think Smile by Elea Faucheron, and she has a lot of fun-sounding ideas that are all either too physically difficult or require space or equipment I don't have; and I've also been reading French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano, where one of the basic concepts is that French women move more in small ways throughout the day, like taking the stairs. Well, I live three flights up and at high altitude, it takes all the energy I possess after work just to climb them. Once I arrive inside my apartment, it's all I can do to drag myself to the bathtub and then pull on my fleece pajamas.

BUT! I have a plan. My plan involves creativity. My plan involves having fun, hopefully. My plan involves YouTube.

Look, I don't have to be a fashion model and I'm not training for a triathlon. I just want to do some kind of exercise to get my blood pumping, maybe a bit of toning, some better balance and coordination. And, a little more strength and energy would be nice.

Three YouTube Workout Videos That I Plan to Try this Week

It's a little weird that he's standing knee deep in water...wearing pants that are submerged in the water...but the setting, his enthusiasm, and the first 10 seconds of breathing practice sold me. That's all I've watched of it so far because he insists you get up and move, and I must obey. He's making me want it. Ha.

This is what I got when I searched "zumba workout" on YouTube, and these women's obvious enjoyment and "realness" won my heart. I felt I could probably basically follow along as well as maybe even learn to dance better. I'm in.

You had me at 4 minute workout. I found this one by searching "I never feel like working out" on my iPhone this morning while I was lying in bed not wanting to get up. I got a Prevention Magazine article on the topic, with a link (that was broken, by the way) to this video. Not one to give up easily when it comes to finding a 4 minute workout...I searched "Prevention Magazine 4 Minute Workout" in YouTube and found a video that works. Hooray! I'm exhausted...where's the lime water?


More later on how these ideas worked to get me up and moving through the last 2 months of winter doldrums.