Exactly How Full is your Glass

Picture a big glass goblet filled to the halfway mark with water. How do you see it—half-full or half-empty?

Consistently finding the glass half-empty—and the world as a difficult place— is a hallmark of negativity.

Research has found that a negative outlook can contribute to everything from depression to heart disease to lowered immune system function. It can affect sleep, weight maintenance, the quality of your relationships, your social life, and even your ability to hold a job.

Now imagine what it would feel like to approach life from a place of positivity, fun, connection, health, and possibility. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

6 Simple Tips to Make a Positive Switch

To help wipe out negativity, try one or more of the following action steps:
* Go complaint-free. Try going an hour without complaining and see the positive things in your life. Next, try a day, a week, and so on.
* Keep a gratitude journal. Each evening, list 10 or more things that you are grateful for.
* Give compliments freely. Notice the good in others. Praise every person you interact with.
* Find beauty everywhere in your world. Notice its gorgeousness.
* Share your good news. Studies show that sharing happy events brings even more happiness.
* Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want.

Maintaining a positive outlook takes practice, and the more you do it, the easier it gets. The payoff—a happier, healthier life—is absolutely worth the effort.

Time to Journal

There’s a time every morning when we are half awake, half asleep and not quite fully conscious. At those moments, we have access to our unconscious mind and our inner workings. But like dew on the morning grass, it will soon be gone without a trace. Listening to these tender morning wisps allows us to reach into our inner world, the deeper part of ourselves that helps guide us on our path of transformation.

Early morning pages are a stream of consciousness written in a journal first thing in the morning. Keep your journal by your bed and reach for it while you are still half asleep.

Begin by writing down any memories you may have of your dreams. At first there may be nothing, or simply minor recollections, but as you do this over and over you will build the muscle. You’ll send a powerful message to your brain: I am prepared to accept my unconscious thoughts and feelings, and I accept that more and more will be revealed. You will develop a deep, direct relationship with your inner self.

Next, write 10 things you are grateful for from yesterday. Usually our minds focus on everything that’s not going well, skipping over the fact that we live in a peaceful, democratic country. Your mind easily forgets that you have great friends, a place to live, plenty of food to eat, access to education, a job and freedom. Take time for thanksgiving and appreciating what went well yesterday.

Next comes the stream of consciousness writing. Write for at least a page, maybe two. Write whatever crosses your mind. Nothing is too petty, too bad or too silly to write down. Nobody will be reading this, so write it all. No censoring. You will be amazed at what comes out of your sweet, innocent mind. Write quickly or write slowly. Find a pace that works for you.

All the angry, ugly stuff that you write in the morning would otherwise stand in the way of you being your best you. By doing early morning pages, you get all those repressed thoughts out of your system so you can live your life and realize that you are not your mind and you are not your thoughts. You are a spiritual being in a material world, moving forward toward the life you deserve, which is the life you truly came here to live.

Watch your breath. Watch your mind. It’s like a meditation. Be still and just let it all pass from your mind onto the paper.

Inspired by The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron.

How do you spend your Sunday?

Happy Sunday Everyone!!

How do you spend your Sunday?

Typically for me Sunday is the day I spend organizing myself for the coming week.  Here is a list of what I usually do:

1. Usually I will do a cardio session on Sundays, most times if its nice out I will head out for a run. 
2. Grocery Shop - I try and get John and/or Bobby to come with me (Quality time right?? LOL)
3. Cook a few different Starches (baked sweet potatoes, brown rice, Quinoa), Also cook up some   proteins (baked chicken, Turkey meatballs, burgers or ground sausage, boiled eggs, buffalo burgers), I'll make a soup or 2, I also chop all my vegetables and put them in mason jars in the fridge so that they are always ready and I don't have to take the time to think about what to grab.
4. Make sure my calendar is up to date with all of my conference calls, meetings and to dos for my business's. Also schedule in my workouts so that I cannot miss them!  I know things sometimes come up but knowing that if I have a calendar to work from allows me to see the pockets in my day that I might have open!
5. Spend the rest of the day with John and also the kids if they are around.   

What do you do on Sundays??

Potato Leak Soup!

Potato Leak Soup!

What you will need:

1 TB EVOO

2 Medium Leaks, chopped 

2 garlic cloves chopped

5 Yukon Potatoes

Parsley

Sea Salt, Pepper

4 Cups low sodium organic Chicken Stock

In a large pot add olive oil, leaks and garlic to soften, then add chicken stock and potatoes, parsley, salt and pepper.  Bring to boil, then reduce to med. heat until potatoes are cook. Pour into your blender and blend until smooth!  If you like a little chunkier soup then blend a little less :) 

Sirloin Steak with Horseradish Sour Cream - Clean Eating - Clean Eating

Sirloin Steak with Horseradish Sour Cream - Clean Eating - Clean Eating

Who has time to cook?

When I worked in my corporate sales job I was so tired when I got home from work I always looked for a quick way to put dinner on the table.    The crockpot became my best friend!   I knew today was going to be a busy day with calls, meetings, etc so I threw this together!

Add to crockpot,   any chopped vegetables you have in the house!  I had kale, brussel sprouts, celery, carrots, peppers, onions and garlic.  Add 1/2 cup vegetable stock.  Place whole organic chicken on top. Sprinkle the chicken with sea salt, peppercorn and poultry seasoning.   Set crockpot to low and cook while you are gone.  Mine cooked from 8 am until 5 pm.

Come home from your busy day and voila your dinner is ready!   I served a bowl of butternut squash soup to make it a complete meal!   The soup I had prepared yesterday :)  

Now what to do with the left overs!    I deboned the chicken and shredded the leftover chicken, stirred it back into the left over veggies and chicken stock.  I have leftover brown rice so will add it to the crockpot!  Now we have dinner or lunch for the next day!!! 

Life is busy!  Trying to figure out dinner doesn't have to be!

                                     Enjoy!!  Love LeeAnne

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup!  (Really easy to make)

You will need 

64 oz low sodium chicken broth

1 medium Butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks

1 onion, cut into chunks

3 Garlic cloves, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp all spice 

sea salt and pepper

You will need a Large pot, add chicken broth and all the other ingredients, bring to a boil then simmer under vegetables are tender 30-40 minutes.  Then pour into a blender and blend until smooth!

Enjoy!!

Getting Ready for Reach the Beach NH 2013

Happy Thursday afternoon everyone!

Well tomorrow I will be officially running in NH's 15th Reach the Beach where my team of 11 and I will be running from Cannon Mountain to Hampton Beach!  Yes you heard that correctly!  205.1 Miles over 2 days!  

I was asked to be part of the team by my friends George and Kendra.  Mind you when they asked me 8 weeks ago I hadn't really run any type of long distances in over 4 years!  My normal workout was hitting the weights hard and doing HIIT sessions as my cardio.   So this was definitely going to be a challenge!   

Well 8 weeks later I am prepared!   I will be covering 3 legs throughout the 2 days totaling 14.2 miles so not so bad :)   There will be 2 vans with 6 people to a van.  It going to be a little stinky in there after a while!  So I am making sure I have Fabreeze and ziplock bags for the smelly clothes LOL 

Also not sure how the sleeping happens all I know is George says to bring your sleeping bag.  Um Hello have we met?  My type of a sleeping bag when traveling is usually a 4+ star hotel :/  but I guess I can suck it up and figure it all out LOL   I also packed everything I could think of because you never know what the weather is going to bring!  Lets hope all this rain we have today is gone by tomorrow!  

I will keep you posted with pictures and videos as the weekend progresses!   One thing I have learned in life is to give things a try before you say NO way!  How else can you grow if you don't right??

Well as always I hope you all are having an amazing day!

Love LeeAnne 

Reach the Beach! 5 more days!

Getting ready to get my last Long run in before the race next weekend!! Only 5 more days until Reach the beach! 

"Everything has its origin in the mind, and that which you seek outwardly, you already possess. No one can think a thought in the future. Your thought of a thing constitutes its origin." Genevieve Behrend (1881-1960)

Coming Clean

Well here I sit on August 30th, 2013.   This past year has been a world wind and I have grown a ton as a person!

The only thing that had been bothering me had been the weight gain I have had over the last year.   I just couldn't understand it.  I ate clean, I worked out 5-6 days a week.  I thought my workouts must have been amazing because I was always exhausted when I was done.  I had my treats (which were a couple of glasses wine a couple nights a week)  Nothing really out of the ordinary to account for this gain.   Then all of a sudden in the middle of the night I would wake up with my hands asleep and pains running down my arm.    It started to happen more and more, until finally I said "OK something isn't right!"

I truly believe in living a holistic organic life as much as possible in this world,  so I have a Natural Path Dr. instead of an MD.    She ran some blood work, for the most part my blood work was perfect!  Some of it better than perfect!   The only issue with with my kidney it was slightly off but not too much to be concerned with.  So what the heck was it, we decided to have me checked for food allergies.  Low and behold we found out that I am allergic to some healthy foods!   Casein, Flax seed, SPINACH, tea, coffee, White grapes (SO HAPPY NOT THE RED ONES LOL), Salmon, Grapefruit, Chickpeas, Halibut, and slight wheat gluten.  

I am happy to say that in 1 week of taking all of that out of my routine, I have lost 5 pounds, and better yet!   My hands aren't numb anymore!!   The pain in my arms isn't there any more!   I can actually breath when I run or workout I am not as winded as I used to be and don't need a nap after!

Sometimes you can't explain what is going on inside of your body.  It can really play a game with you if you are not careful.  Food Allergies are real!  Especially in a day and age where most of our food is processed.

Eating clean is so important,  eating organic is even BETTER!   Listen to your body ALWAYS!   It will tell you if something is not right!!

Jessica's Summer Personal Health mission!

SO SO proud of my baby girl Jessica! She came home with a mission to get her health back. With workouts, clean eating and the Isagenix protocol she released 20 pounds! Oh and talk about health! LOOK how healthy her hair is now!!! WAY TO GO BABY!!!!!!

She will be going back to college this week with a whole new look on how to maintain health while living at school! ‪#‎thankyouisagenix‬

http://jessicahayden.isagenix.com/us/en/landing_eplus.html# 

There is something more!!

Every morning I drink my coffee out of my Winnie the Pooh mug. Why??   Well for 1, my daughter gave it to me years ago   and 2, Winnie really was a smart bear. 

http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1225592