I know that we all hate the phrase at this point, "new year, new me." It's become so cliche', and let's face it, more often than not, we are the same us in the new year. Well, this year I took a different mantra: New Year. New Everything! I know that you're asking, "uh Caprice, what's the difference?" Through my self-reflection at the end of 2016, I truly found out a lot of interesting things about myself that I need to work on.
I needed to have a FOR REAL paradigm shift for me to grow. I've been feeling pretty stagnant in my life throughout the years. Sure there's been some small changes that have occurred here and there (i.e. new job, new apartment, etc), but no major changes. I found out the last few months that because my paradigm hasn't changed, I haven't changed. A paradigm is the way that you look at the world. I finally got some clarity on some issues that I personally have been dealing with and how those issues have impacted EVERY aspect of my life. I'm going to keep those issues to myself, at this point, but I am going to share with you my goals for 2017 and how today, two weeks into the year, I've already been making progress.
Rather than have "New Year's Resolutions", I prefer to just make goals for myself. Often in the past, the goals that I've planned for the year have been few and somewhat vague. But this year, my goals are totally different, and they may be goals that can help you improve your life as well.
2017 Goals
- Love myself more.
- Forgive myself for things that I've done in the past that I'm not proud of.
- Forgive others for things that they have done to me in the past that have hurt me.
- Let go of the past.
- Trust myself more and trust my instincts.
- Don't give anyone power over my emotions.
- Let go of things that I have no control over.
- Make firm goals and plans to achieving them.
- Be more productive in my free time.
- Drink more water and replace sugary drinks with water.
- Do meal prepping and eat more clean meals, and eat less processed and fast food.
- Reduce carbs in my diet.
- Reduce my liquor intake.
- Stop making excuses.
- Have a more positive outlook, rather than a negative outlook.
- Be more patient with myself and with others.
Now as you see, this list has a lot of personal affirmations, but I truly believe, and God has confirmed it, if I practice doing these things, then everything else will fall into place. My personal relationships with others will improve. My confidence will improve. My mental and physical health will improve. My finances will improve. My career will improve.
Think about it. When we our paradigm is negative, our outlook is negative, and our attitude is negative, the same negative patterns in our lives will continue to occur. We'll repeat the same cycle and have the same outcome. It's been said by many, "you can't continue to do the same behavior and expect a different outcome." It's the truth. And there's no way that I, or you, can improve and be the best people that we can be and be the most effective by not breaking negative cycles that lead to no changes. Our society doesn't benefit from us holding back our talents and gifts, and we don't benefit from this either.
So the food and health aspects of my list I've already started doing since the beginning of the year. I did my first official meal prep on January 4th, and had smoothies for breakfast every day that week and had the meal prep for lunch each day. (Stay tuned for future meal prep and smoothie recipes) Last week, from January 9th through January 13th, I participated in a liquid fast with my church, where we could not eat food from 10pm to 10am. I challenged myself even further by only drinking water during those hours, no juice, no tea, no smoothies, just water. I have not eaten as many carbs, or drunk as much liquor (maybe no more than 2 alcoholic beverages per week and no white wine).
I am proud to say that I weighed myself on January 2nd and weighed myself again yesterday, January 14th and I am already down 6 pounds! And that's just based on my eating habits. I haven't exercised at all, but that is coming in February. I'm only focused on judging the effects of a new diet for January.
My Meal Prep Recipe: Cilantro Chicken with Lime and Rice and Beans
4 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pinch of Lawry's seasoning
Sprinkle of Dried Cilantro Seasoning
1/2 Lemon
1 Cup of Brown Rice
1 Can of Black Beans
1 Lime, cut into quarters
1 Tablespoon of Butter
Boil your rice in a medium pot. Follow the cooking directions on the bag package and occasionally stir. Cook with water and a tablespoon of butter.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
In a medium pot on the stove, warm a whole can of Black Beans on a low heat setting for approximately 20 minutes. Occasionally stir.
Take your chicken breasts and season them gently with all of the dry seasonings. Put them in the oven for 30-45 minutes, or until fully cooked through and tender.
After chicken is fully cooked, take them out of the oven and squeeze the halved lemon all over the chicken breasts.
In your meal prep containers, put equal amounts of rice, beans, and chicken. It comes out to being 1 cup of rice, 1/4 cup of beans, and 1 chicken breast. Put a lime quarter in each container.
In a small disposable plastic container that fits inside the container, add no more than 2 teaspoons of your favorite salsa. I used a nice mild peach salsa.
Refrigerate up to 4 days. Remove the lime when you're ready to reheat the container in the microwave when you're ready to eat. Then squeeze the lime all over the chicken, rice, and beans.
Enjoy!
Stay tuned for future meal prep recipes, smoothie batching recipes, and progress reports. Remember, practice makes perfect with all things! Don't be too hard on yourself.
XOXO
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