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keeping low-carb simple

There have been many times in the last week that I have had to say to myself, "Keep it simple." My kids are finishing up the first semester at school and everyone's just the tiniest bit grumpy. Complicated is not an option right now.

It's officially the holiday season, which means you're planning for big dinners, parties, gift-giving, housecleaning, decorating, and essentially creating a whole lotta magic in your house, especially for the little ones. Some of you even have elves creating mayhem in your house on a nightly basis!  I love to see your pictures of them on Facebook, but I'm a tiny bit glad I never had one show up in my house. ;)

With all this background noise in your head, it's hard to concentrate on the here and now, and sometimes you just need to take a break and remember that you don't have to do it all.  Nor should you. 

I love to cook and try new recipes.  However, I've found lately that it's very frustrating when I spend an hour or so making a fabulous new dish, only to find that my kids already grabbed burgers with their friends and are on their way to a school function, my husband had a chicken pot pie at 3:00, and nobody is really hungry at 5:30 when I present them with my delicious hot dinner.

After running into this situation several times in the last couple of weeks, I decided that my new mantra is, you guessed it, Keep it Simple.  That means that the menu for the next week is as follows:  burgers, chicken drumsticks, tuna salad, egg salad, a spinach/feta quiche, and probably baked wings at some point.  If I'm feeling fancy I might cook up some taco meat of some sort and have a taco bar one night.

None of these things take a lot of prep work.  Most of them don't even require a recipe.  And yes, I will add some roasted veggies, raw veggies, and probably some leafy greens of some type.  The people in my family that want bread with their burgers, tuna, or egg salad, are welcome to add bread.  Those of us who want to eat low-carb can easily do that.  And the funny thing is--they seem to prefer things this way.  I wish they would sing to the rooftops how much they love my casseroles and soups, but they don't.  And more often than not, I end up feeling just the tiniest bit resentful as I eat all the leftover casseroles myself.

I will take some time this weekend to boil some eggs in the Instant Pot, transfer the meat for the week from the freezer to the fridge,  and cut up some veg, but that's about it.  The biggest task is looking at the calendar for the week and figuring out which days the kids will be home for dinner and which days I have enough time to roast the meat and veggies. If you have more time to prep, check out my post on meal prep 101.

When I keep things simple, I find that I have a whole lot more mental energy for holiday planning and the myriad of kid activities going on right now.  It also gives me the space in my schedule for exercise and the occasional nap--two things I find essential in keeping me healthy these days!

I put together a meal planner and checklist, along with some simple recipes that you can check out here.

Have a great week, and remember to create a little space for yourself by keeping things simple.

Cheers, friends!

If you'd like to talk to me more about creating a wellness and nutrition plan that works for you, I've got you!  I'm a certified Nutrition Coach who will create a simple, customized meal plan for you and coach you through how to implement it into your busy life.  We also talk about all the pitfalls that make it hard, and help you make it the anchor that keeps you healthy, energized, and sane through the whirlwind of your everyday life.

I'd love to talk to you about the program, so please book a free consultation with me by clicking the Calendly button. I look forward to talking to you!



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