You Are What You Eat

I have my eye on the prize. Fast food commercials torture me while I snack on water, greens, and wheat toast. I'm currently reading, "The Four-Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferriss. Chapter 1 is really about changing our perspective on reality, what we are truly required to do as human beings. Our entire lives we are fed the idea we are to grow up, finish school, either go to college or work, work for 40 years, save money, and retire. We are expected to stay put most of the time, settle down and get comfortable, play it safe and avoid risk. Every day that we follow our routines we are reinforcing the validity of our environment.

It's important to take some time to really think outside of the box for a moment. Think about what your true capabilities are, then think larger. We are all simply human beings, people from different backgrounds, cultures, races, religions, ideas, and dreams with this one amazing consciousness in common. One beautiful and miraculous reality we analyze with more than a billion different perspectives. What if I don't have to look this way? What if I could wear what I want to wear? What if I could speak to any person I want to speak to without worry about how they will react to me? What if I could be confident and happy? Why not? We are taught to be humble and fair, whoever works the hardest reaps the most reward and most of us probably unconsciously think we deserve our lot in life. We must stop thinking about our so-called limitations and focus on our unbelievable human potential.

Let's have the audacity to contest the status quo. By transforming my body I'm breaking down the walls that have held me in for 22 years, I'm undoing the learned fear of trying. It's okay to start, it's okay to look stupid, it's okay to feel exhausted and embarrassed. All of these experiences are making me stronger and it's becoming the framework that support my future successes.

I visited Ferriss' blog Experiments in Lifestyle Design and discovered his article on "How to Lose 20lbs of Fat in 30 days...Without Doing Any Exercise". It gave me an idea for a spin-off recipe using things you might already have at home, stepping outside of the example menu a bit and calculated the calories based on Weight Watcher points.

Skinny Shrimp





2oz shrimp, frozen or fresh

- or -

2oz lean chicken strips, cooked
1/2 can peas and carrots w/o salt added (drained)
1/2 can italian cut green beans (drained)

A few pinches of:

Rosemary
Garlic
Onion powder
Black pepper
Oregano

Splash Lemon juice
Olive oil

Heat pan on high and add 1 tsp olive oil. Add shrimp and lower heat until partially cooked. Add 1/2 can peas and carrots and 1/2 can green beans. Sprinkle over the seasoning, splashing lemon juice over top of the shrimp and veggie mix. Toss ingredients around in pan gently and cook until the moisture is evaporated and the green beans are firm. Serve. You can add Parmesan cheese on top if you want, the entire meal is only 3.5 points!

Yum.