Ingredients:

• 1 cup cubed firm tofu
• 1 cup cubed eggplant
• 1 cup cremini mushrooms
• 1 cup baby tomato
• ½ cup onion slices
• 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
• Seasoning of choice

Directions:

1) Soak skewers to prepare for loading.

2) Place vegetables onto the skewers rotating in the following order: mushroom, onion, eggplant, tomato.

3) Coat with oil and seasoning.

4) Bake or grill at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

This recipe is by Chef Jenny Ross and part of the meal plan this month in our RISE Coaching program.

How do you practice self-care? What are some of the things you do to take care of yourself? Perhaps it’s a nice long bath at the end of the day, cooking healthy meals, or going for a walk. These are all good; but maybe that’s not what self care is all about. Real self care doesn’t mean we need to find ways to escape stress and do things that relax us. It also means doing the hard work of facing our problems, instead of avoiding them and finding ways to distract us. Here are some ideas from Psychology Today on what real self-care means.

“Self-care means doing what makes you anxious now, like setting boundaries with tough people, saying no when you don’t want to do something, getting through a tough workout, or telling someone something they don’t want to hear. It means compassionately accepting yourself for who you are instead of burning yourself out trying to be everything to everyone all the time. It’s living your life in a way that...

Ingredients

GUACAMOLE INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 avocado pitted and peeled
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic fresh and minced or dried powder
• 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 or less

There’s a reason why we need to reduce clutter in our lives. According to Psychology Today, all this clutter, physical and mental, can interrupt your flow—both your ability to move and your ability to think. In a 2016 study at the University of New Mexico by Catherine Roster and colleagues they examined how clutter compromises an individual’s perception of home, and ultimately feelings of satisfaction with life. The underlying premise of the study was that because many people identify so closely with their home environments, the extent to which it’s cluttered can interfere with the pleasure they experience when being in that environment.

The authors of the New Mexico study concluded that “Clutter is often an insidious and seemingly harmless outgrowth of people’s natural desire to appropriate their personal spaces with possessions… when [clutter] becomes excessive, it can threaten to physically and psychologically entrap a person in...

Clutter is defined as a collection of things lying about in an untidy mass. Aside from the obvious physical effect, clutter can also negatively affect mental health. One study found that women who reported more clutter in their homes had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol throughout the day compared to women who had less clutter.

Clutter affects your focus, makes you procrastinate, and strains relationships. It can trigger unhealthy eating behaviors as shown by a study where people ate more cookies and snacks when the environment in which they’re offered a choice of foods is chaotic which leads to stress. Clutter can also lead to an overall decreased satisfaction in life.

Cleaning up clutter can be overwhelming which is why it’s also important to understand the emotions you experience when reducing clutter. Here are some tips from Verywell Mind on how to remove clutter from your life and improve your mental health:

Dedicate the Time
No doubt, decluttering your...

If you’ve had too much merrymaking during the holidays and would like to unload some of the after effects of lots of feasting, here are some ways to do that safely. Holistic nutritionist JJ Virgin recommends you do this when you’re feeling ready to give your goals that extra push and accelerate fat loss. It’ll also help give you that reboot you need at the beginning of the year.

1. Double Up on Loaded Smoothies
Eating by the plate, sans the plate? With a loaded smoothie, you get the magic trifecta in a fast, portable meal replacement. I want you to break your overnight fast with a loaded smoothie by 9 or 10 a.m. But to really increase your fat-burning results, have a second loaded smoothie in place of lunch or dinner. If you really want to go that extra mile, eliminate fruit in loaded smoothies (except for lemon and lime). This minimizes fructose intake to really accelerate fat loss.

2. Swap (or Minimize) Starchy Carbs With Non-Starchy Veggies
Eating by the plate...

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces coconut or grass-fed dairy yogurt, full fat and unsweetened
• 2 scoops collagen powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• cup raw pecans, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon flax seeds
• 2 tablespoons raw pumpkin seeds
• 2 tablespoons goji berries
• 2 tablespoons cacao nibs
• ¼ cup coconut flakes, lightly toasted

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the coconut yogurt, collagen, and cinnamon.

3. Spread the coconut yogurt out evenly on the parchment paper, making it about ¼ to ½-inch thick.

4. Top with the remaining ingredients and gently press using your hands or a spatula to set everything in the yogurt.

5. Freeze for 25 minutes or until firm. When ready to serve, remove from the freezer and peel the parchment paper from yogurt. Break or cut into small pieces. Store in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

For more of Dr. Hyman's recipes click here.

In our coaching programs, one of the things we recommend is to do a week in review where you write down your wins for the week, the areas where you did well, areas where you need to see more growth, and what you need to focus on the next week. Well what about a year in review? We are still a week into the new year so it would be good to take time to answer these questions from https://www.theartofsimple.net/ and write them down in your journal. As you write down your answers, feel free to expand your thoughts, turn them into prayers and write them down with a spirit of gratitude.

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?

4. What was an unexpected obstacle?

5. Pick three words to describe this past year.

6. Pick three words your partner or close friend would use to describe your year.

7. Pick three words your partner or close friend would use to describe...

Happy New Year! Just like you, we too are excited about facing a brand new year! January is also the time when people start thinking about new year resolutions. But how important is it really to come up with new goals or promises when, as we know, sometimes promises get broken. Dr. Caroline Leaf tells us that it’s okay to not keep a resolution. She says it’s actually quite difficult to build a new mental habit, which is the foundation of any lifestyle change, and it requires time and good mind management. Here are some of Dr. Leaf’s wisdom nuggets regarding new year resolutions:

• As you start your new year’s journey, you may find that your resolution needs to be changed, because your needs have changed, or you find that your resolution was too big. This is why it is always important to be open-minded to changing your direction. If something doesn’t work for you, analyze why and try something different. Have what I call a “possibilities...