Got hangry? These 3 easy snacks are what you need to help keep hangry at bay and your brain fueled! My tip is to also keep snacks in your car or bag so you’ll be less tempted to hit the drive thru when hunger strikes!
1. Homemade trail mix: unsweetened coconut, almonds, peanuts, cashews, dried fruit and dark chocolate. You can switch it up and add however much you want of each.
2. Jerky/meat sticks. If you have a dehydrator and the time, you can make it yourself. Me? I like to buy them. My favorites are ones that don’t have added sugar and limited ingredients. Tillamook and Chomps are two brands I trust.
3. Plantain chips. I’m a salty over sugar type person and love the good crunch of chip. Most are fried in canola oil which is a no go. Plantain chips that are fried in coconut oil are a great alternative.
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Focus tip of the week!
If you have trouble with checking your phone while you are trying to do something, set your phone to do a time lapse video of you doing your to do item. By doing this, you can’t check your phone, you won’t be alerted to any notifications if they come in and you’ll be able to see your hard work when you are done!
I saw this tip recently on social media, I gave it a try and couldn’t believe it actually worked!
Try it out and let me know if it worked out for you!
I have not one but TEN brain boosting recipes for you this week.
- seafood
- leafy greens
- nuts and beans
Powerful, nutrient dense foods that your brain loves.
Try one of them this week and let me know how it is!
I am eyeing that mango salad with grilled shrimp with those raw brownies as a dessert👀
Here are my 5 top tips to making meals at home work for you!
1. Batch cooking. Batch cooking is similar to meal prep but instead of putting the cooked meals into individual containers, it all goes into one container. Throughout the week, you get out the portion that you are ready to eat. I love this tip because it allows for flexibility with how much you want to eat and less things to clean!
2. Go grocery shopping only 1-2 days each week. This is a little known secret of mine to help with planning and budget. When you go to the store more often, you are more likely to buy more impulse purchases. Sticking to 1-2 a week may be difficult at first when you forget items but try to sub those items out, make a list next time and it should get easier.
3. Choose a specific day and time to plan your meals for the upcoming week. I like to do this on Thursday for the weekend meals so we eat out less often and Sunday mornings when everyone is still sleeping. I can focus, plan my meals, make my list then it’s off to the store. Making this a habit each week will help you stay on track and not forget to plan!
4. Similar to batch cooking, this one is ‘planned overs’. You plan to have food leftover. You double the recipe so you have leftovers for lunch and/or dinner the next day. You are already doing the work to make it so take advantage and simply double the meal!
5. Prepping food in advance. If you don’t have time to do the all the cooking one day, this tip is for you. I get it- planning your menu, making a list, going shopping, then batch cooking or meal prepping all in one day or even two days takes a lot of time. Especially when we want to spend time with our family and friends. Here’s how this tip works. You prep the food. You dice the onion and store it, you portion your protein out and get it defrosted, you slice whatever needs slicing. When it’s time to cook your meal, you can grab your already prepped food and start cooking.
Who here has tried to use a planner and failed?
No sweat! Despite planners being amazing at keeping people organized, us squirrel brain folk really need a system in place to best utilize these tools to ensure they are effective.
So, here are my suggestions on how to use a planner for organizing your week (and your life!):
1) First, be sure to purchase a planner that suits you. There are so many types of planners out there so it's important to research and figure out which works best. Do you need a day-per-page planner? A planner that has a week across two pages? Just a monthly planner? Are you a paper and pen person or do you do better with electronic versions and apps? Only YOU will know what works best (and yes, sometimes trial and error is necessary)
2) Next, be sure to have a place in your planner-of-choice to "brain dump". It is ESSENTIAL that we get all of our thoughts and ideas out so don't be afraid to do it using your planner.
3) Make your planner your sole source of information about your weekly schedule. Doctor's appointments, kids' events, work meetings, bill due dates, plans with friends, date nights - it ALL goes in!
4) Use your planner to create daily "to do" lists. But remember, don't brain dump a to-do list. Keep your daily to-do list relatively short so that you don't feel overwhelmed! Once you have your items listed out, prioritize them from most important to least important so that you have a plan of attack.
5) Set alarms throughout the day to actually CHECK your planner! It won't be helpful to you if you don't use it! Consider checking your planner in the AM to be able to plan your day, mid-day to make sure you're staying on top of your priority items, and again in the evening to get an idea of what the next day will bring (and what items you need to move to the next day - because it's okay if you don't get everything done!)
DO YOU STRUGGLE TO STAY FOCUSED? HYPER FOCUS? DISORGANIZED? HAVE ADHD? THINK YOU HAVE ADHD?
