Kara

A Call to Stop Playing Small

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Marianne Williamson said “Your playing small does not serve the world”.

I would take that a step further and say that when we choose to intentionally play small, it does not serve the world, but it also doesn’t serve God or the mission He has given us. (Please note: this is entirely different than humility.)

I’ve been struggling through a bit of a weird season. I feel trapped between feeling this call to do something great (yet terrifying) and feeling like it’s easier and more comfortable to just stay put where I am.

I have learned through that sometimes when we put ourselves out there, we open up to all sorts of negative feedback. Sometimes this comes in the form of comments friends make when they are “just kidding”. Other times it may be that someone you know and love intentionally chooses not to support you or acknowledge what you’re trying to do. And still other times it may be that someone actually questions that you are supposed to be doing what you’re doing, or argues with what you are saying. Each of these can be painful if we view it through the wrong lens.

Can I tell you something, friends? If God has given you a passion and a calling to do something (or to share something), then the feedback that 99% of the world gives you shouldn’t matter. (I do believe in asking for counsel from those that you can fully trust and that will pray with you through decisions).

We are to prayerfully proclaim the message God has given us to share. Whether that be to the people that live in our home, those we work with, or to people around the world. You have been given a mission and a message. Yes, YOU.

A wise friend was talking with me a couple weeks ago about this same topic. She directly asked me “Have you been called to do this?”. When I answered “yes” she said, “then whatever issues that brings up for others you cannot be responsible for. Let the Holy Spirit bring about the fruit or change that needs to happen in their hearts. You can’t be responsible for how they respond, but you are accountable for speaking what you’ve been led to share”.

To be honest with you, sometimes I am afraid to declare out loud what God has whispered to me in the quiet. Sometimes it feels uncomfortable, too likely to make someone else respond defensively or judgmental. Many times, I’m uncomfortable speaking these truths out loud because I know the ugliness in my own heart- I KNOW the depths of my own mess and don’t ever want to pretend that I have it all together.

But friends, if we each stay silent with the message that we’ve been given to share, we miss out on much of the encouragement and hope that could be speaking to someone that desperately needs it.

Marianne Williams went on to say “We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us. And when we let our own light since, we unconsciously give other permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Matthew 5:14-16 makes this same point. Part of that passage says “Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand- SHINE! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God” (MSG)

And that’s what I hope to do.

I want to shine whatever light God has given me and encourage you to do the same.

I want to keep “open house” and generously pour out my life for others so that they may be prompted to do the same.

I am not a brilliant scholar, I’m not incredibly gifted in many areas, but by the grace of God, I WILL use every bit of what I’ve been given. This is my newly issued battle cry- I refuse to shrink into the shadows to avoid criticism.

The price is just too high.

This world needs light. This world needs hope.

This world needs YOU to prayerfully declare whatever message you’ve been given. And I’m praying that’s just what you are called and willing to do today.

Green “Hulk” Soup Recipe (trust me, it’s better than it sounds!)

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One of the recipes that Beyond Fit posted on their website was called “The Lean, Mean (Fat Burning Machine) Green Soup. Normally, I would not have given this recipe a second glace, but my good friend decided to try it. She made a batch for herself and told me it was delicious. She even brought me a bowl of it. Honestly, I didn’t love the way that it looked and wasn’t too sure about even trying it.

I took it with me to work the next day for lunch because I was out of my normal soup, and decided to try it. I remember microwaving it and thinking, “I am NOT going to like this”. I took a bite and wasn’t sold, to be honest. But then I took another bite, and another and before I knew it, it was GONE. I have now been making this soup every couple of weeks in a double batch and storing it in my freezer for easy lunch packing to go along with my protein and salad.

The original recipe is linked above if you’d rather go with it. If not, here’s my version:

1- 2 TB of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Around 6 cups (or a box and a half) of a low sodium chicken broth
3-4 cups broccoli, chopped into smaller pieces
4 cups cauliflower, chopped into smaller pieces
4 cloves garlic (I used minced garlic in the far)
1 or 2 onions (depending on size), chopped
half of a bag of frozen spinach
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Get all your ingredients chopped and ready to go.

 

 

1. Heat up a big pot over medium high heat and add your Extra Virgin Olive Oil and your garlic to it. Once that’s hot, add in your onions and let them cook down a bit.

 

2. Add in your Chicken Broth and let it get going to a nice boil.

3. Drop in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil for about 10 minutes or so.

4. Take off heat and allow to cool a little. Take one fourth (or however much you can comfortably fit into your food processor or blender) and put it into your device. Blend until smooth.

5. Once blended, I pour it into individual containers to be frozen for work.

Please don’t let the way it looks scare you. I promise, it’s GOOD.

6. Continue with the remaining soup until all has been processed with your blender/food processor. This batch for me made about 9 little bowls full (each of these containers is 1 cup and I don’t fill all the way to the top in case it expands when it freezes).

The more you eat this soup, the more you will love it.
Beyond Fit suggests toppings such as Parmesan Cheese, Basil or greek yogurt. I eat mine without toppings and still love it. My kids even liked it and nicknamed it “THE HULK” soup since it’s green and will give them strong muscles like the Hulk.

You can’t really mess this recipe up. Feel free to experiment with additional spices or ingredients. This is a GREAT way to get more greens in your diet without another salad.

Enjoy!

Cabbage Steaks

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Looking for an easy side dish?

I first saw the recipe for Roasted Cabbage Wedges at http://www.marthastewart.com/315062/roasted-cabbage-wedges and knew they would be easy to make.

The original recipe called for carraway or fennel seeds (I’m a SIMPLE cook, so you’ll find I don’t have a lot of ingredients like that), plus it didn’t include any garlic or additional seasonings other than Salt and Pepper. I made a few tweaks and we really liked it. Easy and fits our way of eating. WIN!

Ingredients needed:
One medium sized cabbage
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or oil of your choice)
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Minced Onion (or any other seasonings/items you like)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Take a TB or so of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and spread it onto a 9 x 13 pan.
3. Take a medium sized head of cabbage and slice it into rounds about 1 inch thick. Most of mine were closer to .75″ or so.
4. Lay your cabbage ‘steaks’ onto your greased 9 x 13 pan


5. Pour some Extra Virgin Olive Oil over the cabbage and rub it in good. Don’t put too much, but make sure it’s got a nice thin layer over the top.
6. Shake on your seasonings as heavy or as light as you would like.

7. Bake at 400 degrees for around 35 minutes.



As you can tell, my smaller steaks got a bit burnt. Believe it or not, the one that was the most burnt was my husband’s favorite one. I would think that the more uniform you get your cabbage steaks sliced, the more evenly they will cook.

ENJOY!!!

Hormonal Carb Numbers + Fun Weekend Meal Idea

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Happy Friday, friends!

One of the things I have posted about before and follow closely in my own life is using something called a Hormonal Carbohydrate number. I learned this tool from Metabolic Effect and it has been so helpful!

Take the TOTAL # OF CARBOHYDRATES then subtract the grams of FIBER and subtract the grams of PROTEIN. The number that is remaining is your hormonal carb number.

THE LOWER THIS NUMBER IS, the better. Ideally, keep it to less than 10, but NEGATIVE NUMBERS ARE BEST.

I use this tool anytime I’m looking at packaged foods and trying to determine which will have the best impact on my metabolic function.

FAT LOSS FRIENDLY PIZZAS

-Wrap/pita of your choice * Choose one with a low hormonal carb number. My favorite is Joseph’s Flax Pitas, but this time I used a FlatOut Soft Whole Wheat wrap. It had a hormonal carb # of 3 so I could get it GUILT FREE.
-A Low sugar spaghetti sauce
-Veggies of Choice
-Meats of Choice
-Cheese

1- Lay out your wrap/pita and determine if you want to bake it a few minutes before topping so that you can have a crisper crust. If I am using the Flat Out Wraps then I put them in the oven at around 400 to get them a bit crisper. Totally up to your personal preference.

2- Put a little spaghetti sauce on each wrap/pita

3- Get toppings ready for assembling pizzas. This time I cooked some zucchini and onions together, then added grilled chicken breast, tomatoes, and spinach.

 

 

We let the kids help us assemble their pizzas, which they LOVE.

For the kids we do mozzarella cheese, sauce and pepperoni.

4- Top pizzas and put onto baking sheets.


We bake them at around 400-425 degrees for around 10 minutes. This will be dependent on the type of “crust” you use and the toppings you use, as well as how brown you want them to be.
They come out looking and smelling delicious!

We serve this with a side salad. It’s filling, fun for the family and keeps us on track with our goals.

Hope y’all enjoy! HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Prepping for a healthy day at work

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I’ve gotten several messages with questions about what I eat during the day at work to stay on track and not be hungry. Hear me say this…WHAT WORKS FOR ME MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU.

If you’ve read my Recommendations page (https://www.wellnesswitness.com/recommendations) you will know that I follow a Metabolic Effect style of eating. This means that I have figured out which foods serve to fire up my metabolism, and I’ve found the ones to avoid that slow it down. I eat every 3 hours, even if I don’t ‘feel’ hungry, and I pay close attention to my body cues such as my energy levels, my hunger levels, and any cravings that I’m experiencing. I’ll talk more about this in future posts.

I meal prep on Sunday afternoons. While the hubby and my son nap, my daughter and I get to work in the kitchen and prep the foods we will need for healthy lunches and snacks during the week. At first this was overwhelming, but now it’s something I love and look forward to. When I don’t do this, my week is usually much harder.

This is what I eat on a typical day at work:

I eat breakfast at home or while driving to work around 8 a.m.

At 10 a.m., I have the almonds and an apple with a full glass of water. I sip on coffee throughout the morning, as well.

Around 12:30 I eat the salad (topped with that small serving of sunflower seeds and walnuts), the grilled chicken and veggies and sometimes that small bowl of green soup. I’ll have recipes for all of these coming soon. I also have a small orange with lunch most days during the winter, and one of those on-the-go protein bites (recipe at https://www.wellnesswitness.com/2014/01/on-go-protein-bites.htmlhttps://www.wellnesswitness.com/2014/01/on-go-protein-bites.html

Around 2:30 I have a protein bar (this is obviously NOT a whole food, but makes me feel like I’m eating a candy bar and it is delicious. It also has a great Hormonal Carb number which I will talk more about in the future.

If it’s a day where I’m working out in the afternoon, I will sometimes grab a piece of low-sugar fruit to hold me over until Supper.

Again, this is what works for me, but may not be the right balance for everyone. I sometimes vary the type of soup or the type of grilled meat. I always aim for high protein, a low sugar fruit and as many vegetables as I can get into my system.

Any of you prep your meals at home for work that are wonderful? Let’s share some ideas here or over on the facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WellnessWitness

Dear Daughter,

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Dear Daughter,

Yesterday, you looked at me with your five-year-old head tilted to the side and said that you would not be eating lunch. You matter-of-factly stated that you “want to be thin” and that you think you are “Fat”. Oh my sweet girl, hearing those words from your innocent little mouth took the breath right from me.

To think that even at five years old you are already struggling with the concept of being too much of this or too much of that…it breaks my heart. I need you to know something. I need you to believe with every fiber of your being the words that I am writing to you now, so that in years to come when the world tells you differently, you will not fall for their lies.

Dear one, you are beautiful.

You were formed and fashioned by the same hands that crafted the galaxies into existence. Every detail of your body, your hair, your nails, your talents, abilities, and personality were specifically given to you, to fulfill a purpose that no one else can. You will be told by the media, by your classmates, by your ‘friends’ that you must fit a certain mold to be beautiful. THIS IS NOT TRUE, sweetheart. You are amazing just as you are. Whether that means you are a size 22 one day or a size 2- it is absolutely no indicator of your worth and your beauty.

The way your eyes sparkle when you’re excited, how you fold your hands while you’re watching tv, or how you crinkle your nose when you are trying something new…it’s perfect. No amount of beauty, perfect physique, or incredible talent will help cover up an ugly heart- and my dear, your heart is beautiful. I want you to focus on that.

Instead of looking at magazines that tell you to concentrate on having six pack abs, the newest hairstyles, or a thigh gap, focus on finding ways to make the world around you more beautiful. Continue doing things like you already do- sharing friendship with those  that need it, holding hands with your brother when he’s afraid, singing songs and twirling through the kitchen full of joy. Dear girl, nothing else will matter more than having your heart rest in knowing that the God of the Universe loves you, and because of that, we can share that same love with all around us. No matter what anyone else tells you, know that you were formed and fashioned to do big things. And I know that you will. One day you will change this world- you have already changed mine.

Your Daddy and I love you- we’ve loved you from the moment we knew you would be joining our family. We’ve prayed for you to have a happy heart and a sweet spirit every single day since you were born, and that is exactly what God has given you. There is no room, no time, no place in your life for the lies that you will be told. I want you to know that taking care of our physical health is important, solely because it was a gift to us from God and we need to honor that. NOT BECAUSE you want to be a certain size or shape.

Just as you are valuable, remember that those around you are too. Some may look different than you, act different than you, or even make choices that are very different from you. Always remember that they too were formed and fashioned by God for a specific purpose and our role is to love them right where they are.

There will most likely be times in your life that you question the position you have been given- why you are made the way that you are,  why you are placed in the role that you are, or why bad things have to happen. Know, sweet girl, that nothing happens by accident. No thing can come to us that God can’t o use to develop us into what He wants for us to be. And you, my girl, are going to be amazing. You have been since you were born.

You are loved. You are enough. Just as you are.

Love,

Mommy