How to support loved ones, Nail lunch, Face your fears, and Dumb alarm clocks rule.

HUNGRY

Lunch gave me the most fits while losing fifty pounds. Oftentimes I would get wrapped up in work and skip lunch all together, or I’d eat something fried and covered in cheese. When I figured out how to implement a healthy lunch without it taking forever to put together, it got easier.

What does that look like?

A lot of times I have plain Greek yogurt with a seed mix or a nut granola.

But recently I started mixing it up with this bean salad. That’s what I’m sharing today. I make it early in the week and use it as the week goes. It keeps me from standing in front of the wide open refrigerator and snacking while I decide what to actually have.

It’s got some zing, lots of texture, plenty of color, fiber, protein, and it tastes great.

Ingredients:

• 2 grilled chicken thighs
• 1 can of beans, rinsed (I like pinto or black myself)
• 1/3 jar of sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/2 cucumber-sliced & quartered
• 2 radishes-sliced
• 1/2 carrot-either sliced into little discs or ribbons that I make with the peeler
• 1/3 cup Giardiniera. I like minced (or Chicago style)
• A bit of parsley if we have some
• Favorite seasoning to taste. I like Pike Peak Butcher’s rub from Savory Spice myself.

Prepare it by dumping it all into a bowl, mixing it up, and putting it in the fridge. It’s ready whenever I am.

Want to iterate?

I had some leftover roasted asparagus & cauliflower this time.

Pesto makes a nice addition.

Toss in your favorite salad dressing.

If I don’t get enough spice, then I add chili crisp.

ANGRY

Recognizing your fear will take you a long way in getting over it. I reflect on challenging emotions on Tuesdy mornings. You can check out the rest of my weekly topics in this post.

The prompt:

What are you scared about right now?

Feeling scared can be an embarrassing or intimidating thing to admit to someone else. Using a journal entry to confront it means we won’t let it fester and overwhelm our decisions.

Sometimes our health, relationships, family, or livelihoods face genuine risk. More often, our minds inflate fear. Spending a session examining the thing that scares us differentiates between the two. If we validate it, then the clarity we get by the end of our writing allows us to ask for the help we need. If not, we realize how many ways we can mitigate the risk or overcome the fear all together.

As always, follow these steps for writing in your journal:

• Sit alone without distractions
• Write continuously for 15-20 min. Don’t stop for spelling mistakes, grammar, punctuation, or anything else. It’s not about readability. It’s about transforming thoughts into language.
• You can type, write with pen & paper, or dictate into a recorder.
• Dig deep.
• Keep it confidential. You can delete it or burn it afterwards if you like, but this is just for you.

LONELY

Become a beacon of light for your loved ones who come to you with disappointing news, a fear, or other troubles with Dr. Becky Kennedy’s 3 statements to support people through tough times.

She recently appeared on The Knowledge Project Podcast and shared this framework. I’ve already used it multiple times. Put it to use yourself.

1. “I’m glad you told me about this”

-Ignore the content, no matter what. Even if you feel mad, sad, or disappointed with what you just heard.

-Praise the action of coming to you with a challenge.

-Compassion creates a safe space they will want to return to next time they face a challenge.

1. “I believe you”

-Validate their feelings.

-Moving directly to silver linings or looking to boost their esteem actually dismisses their current emotions.

-Follow “I believe you” with something like “That sounds awful” or “That’s really disappointing” or “I hate it when I’ve done that.”

1. “Tell me more”

-Encourage them to go further, which demonstrates your support.

-Show them you have time for their whole story.

-Acknowledge every emotion. It will make logical next steps easier to see.

Praise, validate, and continue.

TIRED

I got a dumb alarm clock to wake me up in the morning. It stopped me from zombie scrolling right before bed and had an unintended effect in the morning, too.

I’ll link to one article regarding screens before bed, but I hear the advice all over the place. You can find more if you’d like to search. Michelle Drerup, PsyD explains it keeps your mind from slowing down, the blue light makes you think it’s daytime, and social media apps play up your emotions. That all disrupts bedtime.

I’m quick to fall asleep, but I lost track of time while my thumb flicked cat memes, highlights from the game, snippets of standup comedy, and scenes from podcasts up my screen to no end. My mornings arrived before I wanted them to, and I had a hard time getting out of bed. I took the advice and put my phone outside of the room. Sorry to say, scrollers, but it worked.

On top of getting to sleep faster at night, the phone longer to greets me as soon as I open my eyes. Instead, I go to the bathroom, have a simple breakfast, and take a shower before I pick up my phone. It’s a fulfilling way to start the day. My mood’s better, and I am more productive.

Dumb trick with a dumb clock…but it leaves me with more energy.