Hi Friends!
Our prayer for you this Christmas Eve and beyond is that you will have ~Peace~ not only in your waking moments, but in your sleeping ones as well!
Blessings and P E A C E!!
Give the Gift of P E A C E !!
You’ve probably heard that Christmas song that goes, “Let there be P-E-A-C-E on earth and let it begin with me.”
As you finish up your last-minute Christmas shopping, why not consider giving the gift of P-E-A-C-E this season?
Is there a relationship that needs reconciliation, a kind word of hope you could give, or some other gesture that would bring peace into someone’s life or your own and make the world a better place?
In the past four months, since we published our book, we have received numerous stories from people telling us how they have experienced greater amounts of peace, not only as it relates to food, but also to L I F E in general!!
But don’t take our word for it! You can read some of their stories in our Amazon reviews and/or purchase HERE.
Have a BleSsEd and PeAceFuL Christmas!!
Messy, Messy, Messy!
One Christmas-time tradition I have is to watch FrOstY ThE SnOwMaN with my kids. I love that movie. Probably because it takes me back to my childhood.
Yep.
Immediately I’m transported back to the frigid South Dakota Christmas season, in front of the television with my family, watching holiday specials with popcorn and grape juice.
In the movie, there is a scene where the magician attempts to do a trick for school kids involving eggs. The trick obviously fails and he ends up with raw eggs on the floor to which he responds:
“Messy, messy, messy!”
Messy, messy, messy. How true is that statement when it comes to life. It is also true in Peace with Food. If you truly want peace, you will have to take on the role of a scientist and experiment. Here are a few things you need to know about this process of experimenting in the pursuit of Peace with Food:
- As we just mentioned, it is MeSsY – Things won’t always go as planned. At times you will feel that you are botching things up. It’s par for the course. Just keep moving forward and don’t worry about getting things perfect.
- It takes TiMe – We call experimenting a process for a reason. It is not quick and it requires patience.
- It is AwKwArD – Experiementing can be really awkward when you first start. But remember, the sooner you get past the awkward stage, the sooner you will gain the wisdom and skill you’re seeking.
So, as you experiment, give yourself grace. With each tiny step forward you are making progress and that’s what life is all about – enjoying the journey on your way to your destination!
Lara’s Podcast: My Hard Reality Talk
Do you hate doing dishes? I did too!
I AM SO EXCITED to tell you about my most recent discovery!
Ever since I got married, the #1 thing that annoys my husband is that the kitchen is always full of dirty dishes and cluttered counters. I will admit, I put off this task because I feel so overwhelmed by the endless pile of dishes. It seems pointless for me to spend so much time cleaning, when it is a never-ending job.
For years I have tried everything to fix this problem. I would start on “Monday” and make the kitchen top priority. Well you know what happened, I would get swamped with other things, get behind, and then the kitchen would be a mess again and I would feel like a failure. (Kinda like what we say about dieting, right?!)
A few weeks ago, I reached my breaking point. I could tell Doug was annoyed and I want to make him happy and fix this problem, so I asked myself some questions that were inspired by our book.
*What is the least amount of work I would have to do, to get the biggest return on my investment?
*What is 1 small step I could take to improve this current problem?
*What will bring me peace, now and in the long run?
After thinking about these questions, I knew I needed to experiment to find what would work for me.
THIS IS WHAT I DID: I decided it was okay to break the RULE that “They” say, which is to NEVER start your dishwasher unless it is completely full (because you are wasting money).
I made the realistic goal that every night, before I went to bed, all I had to do is start the dishwasher. Not clean the sink. Not load the dishwasher with more dirty dishes, simply start the dish washer with whatever was in it.
GUESS WHAT? It has worked like a charm. And now, every morning while the kids eat breakfast, I can unload the clean dishes, load up the dirty dishes, and start the dishwasher again. For whatever reason, this system keeps me from getting in over my head with a huge pile of dishes. Apparently starting fresh, with a dishwasher of clean dishes each morning, was enough to keep me on track.
Now this doesn’t mean that my counters are constantly clean, but it has certainly helped 🙂 Remember, you can’t be all-or-nothing. This is a huge improvement, even though it isn’t “perfect”.
Seems like such a simple solution and it has taken me over 10 years to figure out. But the important thing is→→now I know←←and I can continue to tweak and experiment with it if needed.
What is something you are constantly fighting with every day? Could you apply some of the same questions as above? How can your pitch the all-or-nothing mindset and forget the rules set by “They”?
(I figure the extra expense of running a 1/2 full dishwasher at night is worth the investment of not feeling overwhelmed every day 😉 Would you agree? )
Are you having a “fat” jeans day?
Oh, you guys.
This picture was taken while I was grocery shopping last week. Now that the weather is getting colder I grabbed these jeans and threw them on before I ran out the door to head to town.
As I was walking the food isles I couldn’t help but constantly be reminded by HOW UNCOMFORTABLE my jeans were making me feel. That’s right–they were s.n.u.g.
The funny thing is, I attempted to take this picture because I planned to write a post to you on how yucky I felt, but then I caught myself being surprised that the picture didn’t look near as bad as I felt. Remember in the book when we talk about the disconnect? This is a prime example of that!
Anyway, I still want to talk about how crummy I felt and what I did when I got home. I took the jeans, folded them up, and hid them away in a box. That’s right. Just the thought of seeing them hang in my closet was going to present too much negative energy, reminding me how unpleasant I felt when I wore them last.
Sure, I will probably pull them out some day, and try them on again. But in the near future, I need a break from them. I am going to wear clothes that make me feel good and not fat (I don’t like to use that word…but let’s face it…that is how some clothes can make us feel).
Are there some clothing items that you are surrounding yourself with, and they only serve as a constant remember at how much you hate the way you feel when wearing them? You don’t have to necessarily throw them away, but consider boxing them up for now. Today, let’s focus on surrounding ourselves with things that lift us up and make us feel GOOD. It is amazing how doing that will rub off on how you treat others, the food choices you make…and the smile you see in your eyes when you catch yourself in the mirror.
We have one choice to make today. To either remove negative energy so we can treat ourselves and others better OR let the negative energy hang around and underestimate the power it has over us.
Which will you choose?
Lara’s Podcast: My Recent Slip-Up with Cookies
Lara’s Podcast: Making Realistic Goals for the Holidays
It Pays to Be Nice!
I love this pose of our puppy, Buddy. And of my husband Scott. Both are classic.
For Buddy, this pose is the very thing that caused us to choose him over the 20+ other puppies. While all the other puppies jumped on us, in out-of-control-puppy fashion, Buddy, politely sat looking up at us with those innocent, puppy-dog, dark brown eyes. We were suckers. He had us at “HeLLo”!
Buddy clearly set himself out from all the rest and we knew that he was “ThE OnE”.
The funny thing is that I was set on getting a female. We had a girl’s name picked out and had purchased pink and purple studded collar and lease, a pink crate, and other girl dog accessories. But even though Buddy did not meet the qualifications and requirements, he was still chosen all because he was N I C E!!
How that lesson parallels life. Often times the most qualified person, or the person who seems to meet all the requirements get passed over by some unlikely candidate, all because they were the more gracious person. There is a saying that, people want to do business with people they know, like, and trust. I’m sure it could be said that people want to do life with people they know, like and trust, as well.
So, today, I am pondering how I can be a bit more FriEndLy, PleAsaNt, and KiNd. Who can I say “Hello” to that I might otherwise pass by? Who can I give a smile, pat on the back, or other gesture to let them know they are important?
Hmmmmm. . .
Peace with Food 
