Pack your plan!

The overall theme for the June meetings is “Increase your awareness”. This week, we are looking into managing disruptions in our routine.

Everything is going well, you have your routine, favorite foods, regular work outs, indulgences here and there, every thing fits like the pieces of a puzzle. Then a visitor moves in the house for a week and the routine goes out the window while you are going around the city enjoying the good life of touristy San Francisco. That’s ok, it’s only a week right?

Two weeks after the visitor has left, you still can’t find your footing though. The routine that worked so well before is nowhere to be found.

Can you identify to this? You are not alone. Disruptions in our routine can throw us on a loop for weeks sometimes months! There are ways to get right back on track and find our footing again.

This week we will explore those strategies for stepping right back in our routine after a vacation, a visit, or any other disruption.

Tool of the week

You want to take a good look at the tools we have in the meeting room, and think which one would be the most helpful for you on your vacation, or while you have visitors around.

Would a 3 Month tracker help you stay on track? Do you think a clicker might be easier and faster since you might not have time to jot everything down?

Maybe it's time to load up Etools on your smart phone so you can stay on track on the go? Or all you need might be safe snacks for the road trip.

We have all sorts of tools for all sorts of situations, it's only a matter of finding the right tool, for the right situation.

In the Kitchen

This is another recipe that is delicious on the spot, but also makes great picnic/lunch fare.

You can get fuffy cutting the beans, or you can put them through a chopper, it won’t be nearly as pretty, but it will be a lot faster.

Shredded Green Beans, with lemon-lime zest and snipped chives
4 servings, 2 P+/serving

Ingredients
3/4 pound green and/or yellow beans, tops and tails trimmed
2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
2 TBSP water
Grated zest of 1 lg lemon
Grated zest of 1 lime
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
Fine salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Slice beans on a diagonal into roughly 1/8 inch pieces. The result should be tiny, angular zeros.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beans and stir until coated with oil, then add the water. Cover and cook 2-3 minutes, until the beans are brightly colored and tender; give the pan a good shake midway through to ensure even cooking.

Remove from the heat and stir in the zests and half of the chives. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve garnished with the remaining chives.

Source: Super Natural Cooking, Heidi Swanson, P. 91

Activity

Want to find a way to add intensity to your walk? There are so many ways!

Find a hill: In San Francisco it shouldn't be too hard right? Find a hill to climb, two if you want even more challenge.

Find stairs to climb: There are plenty of those in town. There's even a book about them!

Walk on the beach: Not by the water where the sand is good and hard, but away from it where the sand is dry and soft. You can burn a lot more calories walking or running in soft sand.

Add weight: There are weighed vest that you can get, also weights for the wrists and ankle. Be careful though, too much weight can be hard on the joints!

Walk faster: Ok, sound simple, but it's true! Try to add distance to your route without adding time.

These simple thing can rev up your walk! Make them more effective and challenging without making huge changes to what you do.

So what will you do differently this week?

Have a good week!

I am wishing you the most enjoyable, relaxing, and warm (we can hope!) summer ever! Don't forget that you need your meeting and your meeting needs you! Stay connected!

I’m only an email away. See you in the meeting room!

Melanie

“The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.”
Mike Murdock