A Kitchen Adventure - Meal Prep Monday, Fixate, and 6 Recipes

Its Meal Prep Monday. I know what you are thinking, This girl is in the kitchen WAY more than anyone who hates to cook is in the kitchen. I'm surprised too. But there are 2 very good reasons for this! First, I need to prep my week to make sure that I stay on track. Second, I just got the cookbook I have been waiting for!!! Fixate is the new cookbook by Autumn Calabrese and it is full of healthy meals, 101 of them to be exact. Of course I'm going to test some out this week.

While there are a lot of recipes in this book that I want to try for breakfast, I'm leaving them for my weekends when I have more time. Things like chicken and waffles (yup, that will happen), chocolate crepes, and omelets. As normal, I prepped some oats for Monday - Friday (cuz I love them and they make me happy and fill me up).

Snacks will include my usual Shakeology (and yes, I have some new recipes to try with that too), and fruit.

The main events? Open faced meatball sub and mac n cheese with broccoli and chicken. Oh yes, this book has HEALTHY MAC N CHEESE! (I did green beans since broccoli and I are not friends.)

What stunned me was there are recipes for cake, cookies (raspberry-filled cookie bites that will happen too), and skinny cocktails. Everything in moderation and you have a healthy balanced diet. For me, who kept making the same foods, it is a game changer. Especially since they are easy and require little work. Want a few samples? Click HERE. Pineapple chicken skewers are on my to do list along with zucchini chips and ice cream (Yes ice cream).

As you can imagine it works well with 21 Day Fix. It also works great all by itself. If you want to get your hands on this cookbook, let me know and I will help you. Just send me a message.

Binge Eating and Personal Development - The Hunger Fix - A Journey Through A Book

Something you may or may not know about me: I am a binge eater and a food addict. There it is in all it's ugly glory. I have always been embarrassed about this. I never talked about it. I never shared it. I would eat a small amount in comparison others because I was so worried about my size and them seeing me eat. When you are the biggest one of all of your friends, you notice, and they did too (I'm sure of it). Again, it was never really talked about. I would eat at home. I would hide food in my room, junk food of all kinds. I hid my food and my guilt. It was not until the last few months that I finally started to address it. For me, it is embarrassing, but if I am going to get better, I have to address it. How? I started to really look into it and read up on it. I needed to get under the problem. Address it head on. By working on my personal development, I grow as a person and learn more. That, my friends, is where I started. This brings me to The Hunger Fix by Dr. Pam Peeke. I first heard about this book when I was listening to a podcast by Chalene Johnson.

Food addicts exist, and worse, it is a scary drug. DRUG? It's food. Yes, that is what makes it scary. Food addicts get a hit of their drug every day. You HAVE to have food to live. While other drug addicts can go to rehab and get away from it, food addicts cannot. They use false fixes to help them feel better. It affects the dopamine in the brain (something I had no idea about). This book talked about taking that false fix and making it a healthy fix and using other ways to get that "fix" and get the happy centers of the brain to work.

This book had me do activities. Video journals, written journals, foods I like verses food I would eat on a binge on my worst days and the calories that go with them. This book really opened my eyes to what I was doing to my body. It also had personal stories from people who suffered and are in continued recovery. The book also explained it is easy to fall back to old habits and the importance of being vigilant. It walked me through different stages and steps to take. It also gave different recipes that were healthy and balanced.

There are some important tips in the book that I have been doing and have learned in the last few months of doing Beachbody. I want to share them with you because I've been there and am working on bettering myself.

• Surround yourself with positive supportive people
• Get rid of the junk in your house
• Get rid of your trigger foods
• Get moving
• Balanced food + intentional exercise = weight loss 
• Be present in what you do. This takes away mindless eating
• Quality, Quantity (portion control), and Frequency (eat every 3 hours) are important

It's not easy. I will NEVER say it is. There are programs out there to help you. I found the one that helps me and I work with others to help them as well. The journey of recovery comes with lots of rewards. I coach because I can relate. This book helped me to work on myself as well as ignite a passion to help others. If you are struggling, reach out to me. I'm happy to help and support you in your recovery. Read the book.

Book Rating: Read it! Contains information on how the brain works and how to apply that to recovery.