5 Minute Healthy Dinner Ideas + Returning to Sanity

Well, what do you know? I looked up Einstein’s definition of insanity that I often quote and share with others and… according to Google, it was “misattributed to Albert Einstein, and the earliest known source is actually a 1983 Rita Mae Brown novel.” Well, it looks cool with a picture of Einstein contemplating insanity and telling us all about it:

I bring this up because I was in this energy recently and had to break out of the cycle to restore my own sanity, balance, and peace of mind. I had a house guest stay for 10 days (!!) and then went to the airport with this departing guest to fly up to Michigan to help my parents for the next 5 days.

A little over 2 weeks out of my normal routine with very little time for myself. It probably would have been manageable had I implemented a lot more self-care and sort of paced myself through it all. Not my forté. I now see the insanity of what I was attempting.

To be fair, I had a nice adult chat with my friend who planned this 10 day visit and explained that I would still be working with clients, training dogs, and not able to entertain for 10 days straight. I would block some time, we would work around each other’s schedules, each do our own thing, and plan a few things together as it was such a long stay. No problem, easy peasy, we both agreed.

The time came. Friend arrived. I immediately DID feel like I had to entertain, plan and prepare 3 meals a day (hell, I fast a lot and don’t even feed myself 3 meals a day!), check in on plans, drive places, come up with plans, and entertain like a lunatic. It wore me out and wore my friend out. And, of course, it was one of the busiest client week’s I’ve ever had. INSANITY. By the time we headed to the airport, we both needed a break.

But not this girl, she planned a trip to Michigan directly on the heels of this friend’s visit. I headed North to check in on and help aging parents with tax prep, hospital visits (Dad & Stepdad admitted to the hospital right before I arrived) , assisted living tours, and arranging for more support.

Predictably, I broke down in tears a few days into each scenario. Stressed beyond belief (self-imposed) and sort of in the Twilight Zone with day after day out of my normal routine and not taking time for myself.

The moral of this story my friends? When your schedule is packed and you are traveling… it is not a good idea to throw self-care out the window. This is the time to RAMP UP your self-care!

Drink more water , arrange to eat the healthy foods you normally do , make time to stop at a grocery store, fast more to let your body and digestion rest from stress and travel. Don’t survive on coffee, sugar, and Frito’s trust me, I tried it, it takes my body a week to recover from this foolishness. Make time for a full night’s sleep , meditation, journaling, and the things that you know help you rest & restore each day.

I am turning 53 in 4 days. It is very clear to me that I just can’t push myself as hard as I used to. I have some great resources below for QUICK & EASY SELF-CARE when you need something to help you through a day or two or 14 of stress and being out of your element.

This Week’s Shot of MINDSET

During my first teary breakdown, my wonderful husband Simon gently tried to calm me down with some Michael Singer wisdom.

Simon and I both have our own well-worn copies of The Untethered Soul and pretty much anything Michael Singer has written. Michael Singer is Simon’s favorite spiritual teacher. The way he teaches just resonates perfectly with Simon. He has even bought the book and recommended the podcasts to friends who are struggling through difficult things and need to reset the mind/ego to release suffering.

When my mind was going crazy with stress, I took the time to listen to some well chosen Michael Singer podcasts and it helped me see everything more clearly. I realized my mind and my ego were creating suffering for me because things weren’t exactly the way I wanted them to be. I was out of my normal routine and it made my mind go a little crazy. Does this ever happen to you?

MICHAEL SINGER PODCAST

I highly recommend choosing one of these podcasts and making time to listen. Even for 10-20 minutes, doesn’t have to be the whole thing. Choose a topic that resonates with what you are going through and take a time out. I often multitask and listen while I am cooking or doing something else if I feel I ‘don’t have time’. I bet you will feel reset and refreshed after. I know I sure did. Thank you Simon for pointing me in Michael’s Singer’s direction to help restore my sanity.

This Week’s Shot of HEALTH

Feeding yourself healthy nourishing meals does NOT have to take a lot of time (or $$$ BTW). Those are mainly excuses. When you have the right resources at your fingertips, you can whip up a healthy meal faster than drive through or take out. We don’t even like takeout because the food is always cold and limp by the time we sit down to eat it.

We had takeout pizza the night before I flew to Michigan because I was tired of cooking and wanted something easy. We ordered from a great place called Pure Pizza that uses local organic ingredients. It was still cold & limp by the time we ate. Meh.

I should have whipped up one of these Happy Pear healthy 5 MINUTE MEALS.

This is a playlist of 60 different meal ideas that can be made in 5 minutes. Simon & I love The Happy Pear guys. They are twins from Ireland who went plant based for their health over a decade ago just like us. Simon loves the recipes because they have a British flair to them. Healthy plant based versions of all of the favorite comfort foods he grew up with.

These videos are fun to watch and very inspirational. They actually set a timer and make a meal in 5 minutes flat! They do a lot of the chopping too. You may not have the exact ingredients on hand, but choose one that resembles what you have and throw a healthy meal together. Your body will thank you. It will be way better than Frito’s and old, hard cookies at your Dad’s house (one of my travel meals, ugh). I wish I would have stopped and made a fresh bowl of veggie ramen. I will next time!

If you are interested in using the power of the mind to uplevel your life, I share mindset expertise every week, along with fun & insightful stories from my own life path from 80s hair band superfan to chemical engineer to health & mindset coach (what a journey!).

You will also see plenty of health promoting tips and recipes because I am blown away by the power of intermittent fasting + a healthy diet to prevent & reverse just about any health concern Mindset plays a big part in health and healing too, the power of the Mind Body connection is pretty mind blowing.