Uncomfortable
One of my favorite sayings related to CrossFit and life, in general, is probably “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” Life will never be constant rainbows and sunshine. If you are the type to always complain and live in a perpetual pity-party, we probably aren’t friends, but I feel bad for you. Life is about dealing with the obstacles that you face, not complaining about them. Last time I checked, complaining does absolutely nothing. That is one reason why I chose the word ‘accept’, for my word this year.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good “vent-session” just as much as the next person, but what you do after all of the complaining is what matters. If you decided to do nothing and keep complaining about the same old thing, someone is going to start tuning you out or avoiding you altogether. You are likely the sole reason that you find yourself in the same bad situation.
If you are looking to change your circumstances, then you will have to make sacrifices or go through some tough times or growing pains. You are going to have to push yourself. The person programming the workouts or suggesting what you need to eat cannot push you to make it happen. What effort you choose to put into your workout and what you choose to put into your mouth when no one is looking, will eventually tell on you.
If you don’t put in any effort, you might be surprised to find that nothing will happen. You won’t be getting faster or stronger. If you secretly eat M & Ms for lunch, well my dear those pounds shall not shed from your thighs even if you are pushing yourself in the gym. You have to be diligent in all areas of your life, not just one.
Get comfortable with going beyond your comfort zone if you want to see changes. I get extra nervous/anxious when I am working on a skill and there are other people around. Sure they might not be directly watching me, but they are watching. I can feel them all around me and I freeze. Not to brag, but I totally nailed my bar muscle-up a month ago, but guess what, no one was watching me. No one was coaching me on how to pull myself up and I nailed it. Fast-forward to this week when I am practicing in a room full of people and I freeze. I feel as though people are focusing on me, even if they really aren’t and I get into my own head. I am my biggest obstacle. No one in that room cares whether I get on top of the bar or not but I feel extra pressure and then I can’t perform.
There are areas I need improving on, but can’t seem to push myself out of my bubble to get the work done. I need to get more comfortable with being uncomfortable when it comes to performing in front of people or being coached on certain movements. I get in my head and over analyze every move and then nothing happens.
When it comes to staying in the zone during a workout I am fine, I can dig past the pain of a workout and keep rolling. I know that pain is temporary (I hope) and am able to push through. My self-talk during workouts does not work the same way when I am practicing a lift or movement. I think about it too much and then just fail, miserably. The only way I know to cure this is to do it. The only way to get over working on myself in front of others is to do it. If you want to grow in a certain area of your life, you have to take steps to make it happen and that will ultimately mean facing your fears. There is a reason why you aren’t where you want to be and putting in the work to make it happen rests on your shoulders.
M E N U
Slow Cooker Herbed Chicken and Rice Pilaf
Indian Coconut Curry Cauliflower
Hamburgers + Sweet Potato Fries
BLT Chopped Salad + Corn, Avocado, Feta
Slow Cooker Herbed Chicken and Rice Pilaf
I usually cook this at least once a month. It is one of the simplest dishes and turns out great every time. Throw everything into the crockpot, set it on low for 6 hours, and you are done. You are supposed to sear the chicken before putting it into the crockpot, but I skip this step all the time and it always turns out just fine. Josh refers to this as a “modern chicken and rice” like what his Granny used to make. It is 100% a compliment.
I don’t shred my chicken into the dish. I take it out in whole pieces and add it to each bowl in the amounts that I want. This makes tracking my food a lot easier. After taking out the chicken I weigh the entire pot of rice and vegetables, mix it well, and create my servings. Then I top my bowl of rice and vegetables with chicken.
The last time I made this, without chicken factored in, per serving I had 220 calories, 8 grams of protein, 44.3 grams of carbohydrates, and 1.3 grams of fat. If you want to lower the number of calories, I would recommend lowering the rice and broth accordingly. You don’t want the rice to be too soupy if you lower the serving of rice.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups wild rice * 1 cup 3 cups low sodium chicken broth * 2 cups juice of 1 lemon 2 teaspoons dried parsley 1 carrot, cut into 1 inch pieces * 11-12 ounces baby carrots 1 cup wild mushrooms, torn * 284 grams 2 pounds bone-in chicken breast and or thighs 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage kosher salt and pepper 4 shallots, halved 1 sprig fresh rosemary
Indian Coconut Curry Cauliflower
I have only made this one time and honestly, I don’t really remember it, but based on my caption from Instagram, I liked it a lot. I make so many new recipes, that if I didn’t write notes down about them, I would not remember any details about them.
Instead of cauliflower, I am going to use chicken. There is an identical recipe with chickpeas instead of cauliflower if you are looking for vegetarian but with more protein. The only thing I plan to change this time is adding in more ginger. I love the way ginger tastes in curry dishes. We might get tired of spaghetti squash by the time this cut for Josh is over, but it is the best substitute for pasta. I love carba-nada, but it has more calories than he needs/wants right now. If he needs the carbs we can easily substitute rice and use the squash later.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets *chicken breast 2 1/3 cups canned full fat coconut milk *lite coconut milk 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated 2 inches fresh ginger, grated kosher salt and black pepper 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1/2 yellow onion, chopped 1 tablespoon garam masala 2 teaspoons yellow curry powder 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper ,more or less to taste 1 can (6 ounce) tomato paste 2 tablespoons coconut oil *omit oil 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped steamed rice and naan, for serving *rice, spaghetti squash, or carba-nada
Hamburgers + Sweet Potato Fries
Hamburgers will never go out of style and can be healthy if you don’t smother them in cheese, bacon, and mayonnaise. When I track my hamburger I weigh out my meat after it has cooked. This is controversial in the world of tracking food, but I think that it makes sense. The fat is going to cook out of the meat, so I don’t actually end up eating all of the fat that was originally in the raw meat.
I am going to add some sweet potato fries with the hamburgers for the kids. Hamburgers have your fats, protein, and carbs (if you eat a bun). The only thing I do is eat a second hamburger patty without a bun to get in more protein. Macro-wise there is no reason to add a side dish. I know everyone loves fries with their hamburger but you are doing some major calorie intake if you do that.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients Hamburgers: 80/20 meat Brioche buns Heirloom tomatoes Lettuce Onion Yellow mustard Ketchup Pickles Fries: 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled 2 tablespoons olive oil *spray olive oil 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper fine sea salt, to taste
BLT Chopped Salad + Corn, Avocado, Feta
I do love this as a salad, but it is much better as a bowl. Last week Josh lowered his amount of rice and I upped the serving of vegetables to make up for the lack of rice. It was a win because he hit his calories just right and was super full from having the extra vegetables.
This dish is a little aggravating to track because every single item has to be weighed out individually so you have it all correct. It would be nice to just mix it all together and weigh out servings, but that would not be as accurate.
What I do love the most about this salad is there is no dressing, only lime juice. I am not a generic salad lover, they just don’t speak to me. This is my kind of salad, with no dressing. Perfection. I hope you give this one a try!
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: 2 cups butter lettuce, chopped *lettuce or rice for a bowl option 2 cups fresh arugula, chopped *1/2 cup cooked rice per bowl 1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered *10 tomatoes per salad 4 slices thick-cut bacon, fried and crumbled *0.5 - 0.8 ounces cooked bacon per salad 1 cup sweet corn *pan seared sweet corn 60 grams per salad 1 avocado, chopped *0.5-0.7 ounces per salad 4 ounces feta, crumbled *12 grams non-fat feta per salad 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil *omit oil 1 lime, juiced *1/2 lime per salad 1/4 tablespoons salt 1/4 tablespoons pepper *cooked chicken breast
Healthy Turkey Chili
I love this chili because it is not just your basic meat and beans. The bell peppers, celery, and onion really add to it. It is thick and full of flavor. I am going to lower the number of beans to one can of each, so Josh does not go over on his carbs and can still have his usual snacks.
Keep in mind when you look at my changes that I am making enough for my kids to eat (hopefully, kids can be so picky) and for Josh and me to have for supper and lunch. Typically this can easily get around 7 large servings. Each serving is 391 calories, 35.6 grams of protein, 25.2 grams of carbohydrates, and 16.5 grams of fat.
Ingredients:
1 lb. extra lean ground turkey
*2-3 pounds 80/20 or ground venison
1 bell pepper -red, green, yellow or orange (I used red and yellow – half each)
*6-7 ounces of green bell pepper
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
28 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
*4 cans fire roasted tomatoes
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
*2 cans black beans
1 can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Garnish (optional)
shredded, low fat cheddar cheese
*Omit
fresh parsley
