Author: thenewsuperyou

I believe continuous learning and self-improvement can make life better and more energetic. I like to share what I've learned with others.

New Way of Thinking

Bad Attitude = Bad Habits = Bad Work Ethic = Bad Life

Being the victim is a choice.

~LC

Starting out my day by writing down what I’m grateful for has made my life so much better, and it worked almost instantly!

Sure, I still get mad sometimes but I deal with it in a different way now. Instead of dwelling on whatever pissed me off all day, and getting angrier and angrier, I’ve learned to let it go. Focusing on what I’m grateful for helps me focus on what needs to get done. I know that if I want to continue to grow both professionally and personally, I need to also grow spiritually, and for me that starts with practicing gratitude every day.

Even if it’s something as simple as a sunrise, or having indoor plumbing, or anything else I often take for granted until I miss it, anything helps. I’ve come to realize I’m much happier just appreciating what I have as opposed to being pissed off about something I don’t possess or have control over.

I know it’s ok to want more out of life, and to strive to improve, but perfection will never happen. And that’s ok too. I know as long as I’m moving forward and improving myself every day, I’ll be a lot less stressed.

In my experience, if I get angry about something that isn’t perfect, it ends up ruining both mine and someone else’s day, and no progress is made.

Too many people seem to be focused on the small picture. They are greedy and always ask, “What’s in it for me?”

Maybe if those same people tried practicing gratitude, tried helping out others more, and stopped having the attitude of, “Well I’m not going to do a good job because I don’t get paid enough.”, they might actually get a raise or promotion. They might even actually be able to be happy!

Or maybe not.

All I know is what works for me. And what works for me is having a good attitude even when things aren’t going well. Overcoming challenges with grace and a good attitude are what helps me grow and be happy. And when I’m happy, I can be helpful to other people. And being helpful to other people makes me happy.

And so on, and so on…

Thanks for reading ~ LC

Ginger-Soy Salmon w/ Sesame Cauliflower and Spinach

Ingredients: Marinade

  • ¼ cup rice wine vinegar

  • 1/8 cup water

  • 3 TBS low sodium soy sauce

  • 1 tsp sesame oil (preferably toasted)

  • 1 lime, juiced

  • 2 tsp ginger paste

  • 2 Wild Salmon filets, 4-5 oz

Ingredients: Sauce

  • ½ tsp ginger paste

  • ½ tsp fresh garlic, minced

  • ½ TBS shallots or red onion, minced

  • 1/8 c cilantro, chopped

Ingredients: Cauli/Spinach

  • 1 TBS shallots or red onion, minced

  • 2 tsp fresh garlic, minced

  • 1 head cauliflower, cut in florets, lightly steamed or blanched

  • 5-6 oz baby spinach

  • 1 TBS sesame seeds

Method:

  • Make marinade by combining all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth

  • Arrange the salmon filets in a baking dish and cover with half the marinade

  • Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Save the rest of the marinade for the sauce

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

  • Pull the salmon from the marinade to a baking dish. Discard the marinade

  • Bake the salmon for 12-15 minutes, maybe longer depending on your oven. You want the filets to flake with a fork and be at least 140 degrees F

  • For the sauce, put the reserved marinade in a pan and add the onion, garlic, and ginger

  • Simmer about 5 minutes, or until garlic and onions are soft

  • Add cilantro, simmer another minute, remove from heat

  • For the Cauli/Spinach, heat a little canola, or cooking oil of your choice in a sauté pan. Add the garlic and shallots and shake them around. Add in the blanched or steamed cauliflower and shake it around til it gets hot. Last, add the spinach and cook until it just begins to wilt. Add the sesame seeds

  • Put the cauli/spinach on the plates and top with the salmon. Spoon the sauce over the salmon and garnish with a squirt of lemon juice, a little chives, and perhaps some minced bell or hot peppers

  • Enjoy!

**Tip: Salt depends on how salty you soy sauce is. Taste before adding more salt. I also like to add just a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes whenever I sauté garlic, just because.

Chamomile Turmeric and Ginger Tea

Try this for a good nights sleep!

Ingredients:

  • One bag chamomile tea
  • 1 cup hot water
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger, or 1 tsp *fresh grated ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground turmeric, or 1/2 tsp *fresh ground turmeric
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 1/2 TBS honey
  • 1 pinch ground cinnamon, or 1 stick **whole cinnamon

Method:

  • Steep chamomile in hot water 3-5 minutes
  • Remove tea bag and stir in almond milk, ground ginger, ground turmeric, honey and ground cinnamon
  • Enjoy!

*If using fresh grated ginger and turmeric, add them in while you steep the tea. Wrap the shavings in cheesecloth and tie it off, or pour the tea through a strainer before drinking.

**If using stick cinnamon, steep with the tea. You can use it to stir your tea!

Willingness

Lack of willingness held me back for so long I really don’t know how I made it this far. I always had to have my way in order to be happy, and I didn’t know how to live life on life’s terms. I had to live life on my terms. I didn’t know there was any other way. I wasted so much of my life trying to manipulate people and situations to suit my own agenda. I was constantly struggling and fighting against the flow instead of working with it.

I just wasn’t willing to do the right thing. I wasn’t willing to be helpful to others. I wasn’t willing to do what it would’ve taken to make my life better because I thought it would be easier to try and change everyone and everything else.

I was dead wrong.

After becoming so sick and tired of being frustrated and angry all the time, somehow I finally managed to find the willingness to begin to transform my sick and selfish mind. I became willing to live in joy, to love and be loved. I became willing to let people in and to let people help me. I didn’t fight anymore. I became willing to take suggestions. I became willing to take into account other people’s points of view.

I became willing to do the work it was going to take to turn my life around. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been well worth it. And even though it hasn’t been easy, it’s been a whole lot easier than trying to fight and manipulate and argue my way through.

Before I could change my mindset, I had to become willing to change. I had to be willing to be honest with myself and others.

I had to become willing to do things I didn’t really want to do, but that I knew would good in the long run. I had to be willing to stop taking the easy way out to have things become easier in the long run.

I had to experience a lot of pain to get to the point of becoming willing. I caused a lot of pain too, and now I am willing to make amends for it.

I don’t know where I’d be right now if I hadn’t found the willingness to change, but I know it would be in a much darker, worse place than I am right now.

 

~Thanks for reading – LC

 

 

Fake It ’til You Make It

black and white person feeling smiling
Photo by Gratisography on Pexels.com

Back when I drank a lot I had trouble focusing and being completely mentally present at any given moment. I didn’t have the willingness to do the work it would’ve taken to turn my life around. I wanted my life to be better, but I wanted it to just happen, with no effort whatsoever on my part. I had no interest on living my life on life’s terms. I wanted to live on my terms. Life had other ideas…

My life had to get completely unmanageable for me to finally get the willingness I needed to even begin the process of working toward my goals. Once I got the willingness, I started acting “as if”. I began looking at my life “as if” it were already better and I began acting “as if” I really wanted to do the work even though deep down I still didn’t.

I’ve learned in my recovery that if I brought my body, my head would soon follow. So I started going through the motions until my actual state of mind caught up with my new approach on life.

This was a slow but steady process, and it worked! My life has improved immensely since I started the simple process of acting “as if”. I just focus on doing the next right thing and I try to improve myself just a little bit every day.

I’ve been able to apply this technique in other areas of my life as well. I’m able to adapt to sticky situations much easier now.

Now, if there’s something I don’t particularly want to do, I fake it ’til I make it!

~Thanks for reading – LC

Roasted Sweet Pepper Sauce

This is a good-for-you basic sauce that can be tweaked to complement just about any dish you want to make. It can be made in large batches and frozen in small portions to be pulled out as needed for something delicious and healthy in a pinch.

This is a versatile sauce that can be used alone as a cold dip for veggies or used as an ingredient for a vinaigrette or aioli. It could be turned into a pasta sauce and used as a marinade.

Try adding other ingredients and play around with it! Make it yours!

Ingredients:

  • 2 qts roasted mini sweet peppers
  • 1/2 cup red onions, diced
  • 2 tsp raw garlic, minced (3-4 cloves)
  • 2 tsp canola oil
  • 1/4 tsp Allepo pepper or chili flakes
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric, ground
  • 3/8 tsp lemongrass powder
  • 1/8 tsp white pepper
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 TBS kosher salt

 

Method:

  • Roast the sweet peppers in a high heat oven til they blister a little. Make enough to end up with 2 qts cooked peppers.
  • Run the peppers through a blender
  • Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions, garlic, and Allepo
  • Cook for a few minutes til the onions are soft
  • Add in the roasted pepper puree
  • Mix it all together well and heat it up
  • Add in the rest of the ingredients, mix well, simmer for about 10 minutes
  • Pass the mixture through a food mill or fine sieve (it will be silky smooth)
  • Enjoy hot or cold!

Ginger Paste

Making your own ginger paste is a great way to save money and always have a quick way to use fresh ginger in your cooking. It’s easy too.

  • Peel and rough chop fresh ginger
  • Puree in a blender with enough water to make it spin
  • Strain out the water
  • Refrigerate or freeze the ginger paste

**I like to portion mine in 1/2 tsp portions on a flat tray, freeze them, then put them in a ziplock and put them back in the freezer. That way I can pull out exactly what I need when I need it.

Malt Aioli

Malt vinegar aioli is wonderfully versatile sauce that is simple and easy to make, and can be used on its own or as an ingredient in many other things!

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 c malt vinegar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp dijon
  • 2 c canola oil

Method:

  • Put all ingredients in a food processor except canola oil
  • Turn on food processor and blend well
  • Slowly add canola oil in a slow drizzle so it emulsifies
  • Taste for seasoning, and enjoy!

How I Form New Habits, and Keep the Momentum

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

I’ve had trouble in the past with keeping my momentum flowing forward and getting new habits to stick.

I’m sure you can relate..

It took me several years, after trying the first time, to stop drinking my face off every night. I wanted to quit but I didn’t tell anyone because if, (I mean WHEN), I failed, no one would know.

I didn’t have any way to be held accountable, and no one was disappointed in me, except myself.

Forming New Habits

Trying to get into a new habit is hard. I’ve heard it takes at least 21 days to form a new habit, but, depending on the degree of difficulty, it could take much longer.

Now, when I want to break a bad habit, or make a lifestyle change, I tell other people about it. This creates accountability and makes me feel like I don’t want to let them down, so I try harder.

Telling other people also creates a support system of people who can keep encouraging me when the going gets tough!

I’ve noticed people like to be involved in other people’s affairs and they can be quite supportive when they know their opinions have value.

I try to begin new habits with a shift in mindset. I tell myself I’m the kind of person that does _____, and not _____. For example; I tell myself that I’m the kind of person that faces challenges head on rather than the kind that procrastinates and hides.

Then I start actually practicing the new habit. It helps me to start from the inside and work my way out.

Keep up the Momentum

Once I get a good momentum going I try not to give in to anything that drains my energy or drags me down. If that happens, I try to recharge with conditions that put me in a good mood. I must be persistent.

I increase the activities that move me forward, and decrease the activities that hold me back.

I take a stance of action rather than procrastination.

I can make to-do lists all day long, but until I take action, they are just words on paper.

Build a new identity

  • Say “I don’t” instead of “I can’t” – If you want to be more active and lose weight, try saying, “I don’t lay around, I do stuff.” Instead of, “I can’t lay around, I need to do stuff.”
  • Create a plan and have substitutions ready – If you know you’re going out somewhere that healthy food is not an option, pack your own snacks. Bring your own food to work instead of hitting up that vending machine.
  • Find Balance – If you’re trying to get in better shape and you decide to run 3 miles every day, maybe start out with something easier and build towards that goal. And don’t sweat it if you occasionally indulge in a sweet treat.
  • Get some sleep – While you are unwinding after your day, spend time focusing on how you did and what you can improve on. And give yourself props on a job well done. De-clutter your mind so you can get a good nights sleep. If you can improve even just a little each day, the effects will multiply exponentially!

It takes practice, but changing bad habits into productive ones, and then keeping that momentum going is possible with the right mindset and attitude.

In order for me to be the best I can be, a healthy body and a healthy mind are the two most important things I need to obtain. Yoga gives me both of those and when I practice, my day runs a lot smoother. Combined with meditation and deep breathing exercises, I leave the house feeling unstoppable!

Remember, invest in yourself!

Why put off til tomorrow what you can do today?

Chin up, smile, look yourself in the mirror and say, “It’s going to be a great day!”

Stay positive, you can do it!

~Thanks for reading, LC