Southern Fried Fitness Recipes

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Every Word of this Classic Empowers ME!!!

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend

'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again


Chorus

Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

You can bend but never break me
'cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal

And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman


I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land


But I'm still an embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother understand


Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything

I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong


I use the words of this fantastic Helen Reddy classic as my mantra!  I "believe" every word was written for me and there is room to share- so if it speaks to you... USE IT!  BTW, for me, it isn't a Women's Rights issue song, it is all about PERSONAL EMPOWERMENT!

Your Sister in Success!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Granola Recipe

2. Wildflower Granola
3. Chocolate Cream Stuffed Brioche French Toast

80% Recipe Cooking Instructions
Maple Nut Granola 4 cups rolled oats
2 cups crispy brown rice
cereal
1 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1 ½ cups shredded dried
unsweetened coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
½ cup pecans, cashews, or
walnuts
1 cup raisins
2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
¾ cup canola oil
¾ cup maple syrup
1 tsp. almond extract
1. Preheat oven to 250°F
2. In large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. In separate bowl, whisk together oil, syrup, and almond extract. Pour wet mixture over dry and stir to coat.
3. Transfer granola to 9 x 12-inch glass casserole, spread evenly and push raisins into granola so they are not on the surface.
4. Place on top rack of oven and bake 60 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and cool completely to set.
5. When cool, slide spatula along bottom of casserole to release granola. Break into chunks and store in airtight container.
Makes 10 cups

1. Maple Nut Granola

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Friday, March 18, 2011

Bricks and Mortar

Ninety Nine percent of diets begin with food and exercise… or BRICKS AND MORTAR, and not where they need to begin, with the ARCHITECT.


Here at Southern Fried Fitness, we live an 80/20 Lifestyle. This is a whole system that begins in the mind and is delivered to the body. The first step in The 80/20 Lifestyle is taking the plans to the Architect.

Naturally, the second step is choosing your general contractor. This is the person responsible for the performance of all sub-contractors…

Well, first comes the commitment to the mental changes that need to be addressed on the Southern Fried Fitness Lifestyle Diet; second, comes your nutrition- yes… before exercise. You simply cannot out-train a crummy diet. So, until the nutritional changes are made in your life that support your exercise efforts it is just a temporary fix.

Consider nutrition your personal health and fitness General Contractor. Once your new nutritional habits are established, your effort in the gym will be put to the best use possible.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Japan, Unfathomable Suffering

This is my first mention of the horrific tragedy that has fallen upon Japan; not due to callus disregard for human suffering but due to my own personal selfishness.  I am a very emotional person and in many areas of my life, my empathetic nature serves me and others;  however, in some situations my empathy leaves me vulnerable to experience a deep unshakeable pain.  Over the years I found myself putting up walls to keep out experiences that I felt were just too difficult for me to cope with; I caught myself doing that very thing with the Japanese crisis.  I spent most of today watching footage and forcing myself to acknowledge the devastation that they will now be adjusting to as normal.  The faces were full of pain, confusion and disbelief (as well they should be); occassionally the news brought stories of hope and rescue, children's laughter and reunions.

My dear Japanese friends, I am ashamed that I hid behind a cloak of detachment; I will pray, and think of you often and I send love to you from every direction I possibly can.  May your God bless and keep you.  This is a brilliant reminder that we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.

With Great Love and Hope,
Robin 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

In an Instant, My Eyes Were Opened!

I am going to share with you a very tender and personal story that changed my life in an instant. It centers on a beautiful little blue eyed, cotton headed boy, my sweet angel Rylan. I think it is important to mention that Rylan is my number three son; before him came Mac, a sweet, inquisitive, quiet lovely little boy that entertained himself with his brilliant imagination and prior to Mac we had Colton… Our First Born, showered with attention from birth, not to mention toys and clothes alike (he didn’t stand a chance) but all in all he was relatively easy to raise (despite being spoiled rotten). My point is… I was not a new Mommy; although the boys were only four years apart I had been involved with children my entire life; the second oldest of five, camp counselor for years and now my own beautiful family. From the day that little stinker entered my life; I knew God had special plans for him (it was just a feeling, and I didn’t know exactly what it meant).

As the boys grew and we muddled through the day to day of toddlerhood one common theme kept cropping up… Where there was smoke, there was Rylan. He was like herding baby ducks, into everything, picking fights, clowning around, and precarious beyond reason. I grew anxious just gearing up to tackle the days with him, knowing that he did not possess one ounce of peace and calm. Please don’t misunderstand… I adored him, he just brought my job of parenting to an entirely different level than my first two boys; and it was exhausting.

One day in the spring I accompanied Rylan on a third grade field trip to Kentucky Down Under, a wonderful Australian based Zoo and cave exploring trip. We were fresh and ready to enjoy the day; Rylan always LOVED when he had me all to himself! It was a rather long day, we explored the caves, milked the cows, watched the Kangaroo’s and their Joeys play, had a picnic lunch outside, and enjoyed venue after venue of entertaining attractions. The first half of the day was beautiful, Rylan was busting with excitement but managed to contain himself; however, as the day progressed he slowly lost the ability to control his impulses and I found myself physically holding him back, asking him to stop interrupting and pushing his way to the front. The field trip finally ended and we made our way back to the bus and returned home. On the Rylan scale of behavior (1 being horrible 5 being awesome) he was about a 2.5; I could deal with that, but boy I was glad it was over.

Well, just so happened that my husband was out of town on business and Rylan had baseball practice that night. So I shuffled all of the big boys where the needed to go and loaded up Rowdy (number four son) and I accompanied Rylan to his practice; Rowdy could play on the playground, I could watch and Rylan really wanted me there with him. Baseball was just not enough to hold Rylan’s attention, he was either throwing dirt, talking, jumping around but the last thing he was doing was focusing on baseball. As the practice came to a close the Coach had the boys run four or five laps around the bases; it started out okay at first, Rylan ran along just like all the others but by lap three the newness had worn off and Rylan had to find another stimulus to keep him going. He began grabbing at the boys running in front of him, he had turned base running into tag. By the fifth lap he had already knocked down 2 or 3 boys by grabbing them from behind and as he ran into home plate for his final act of boredom he tackled the boy running in front of him~ busted his nose, scratched his face… It was aweful.

As I made my apologies, I grabbed Rylan off the field (trying to maintain my composure); a bubbling volcano was about to erupt inside of me. I had spent the entire day holding him back, redirecting him, correcting his impulsive behavior and this was the last straw… I was finished. The entire drive home was made in silence (afraid of what I might say); he was completely oblivious to the reason I was so angry, all he could say is “Mommy what did I do?” Once home, I sent him directly to his room with instructions to remain on his bed until I get up there to speak to him.

Boy… I was ready! I was really going to let this little 7 year old have it. I was so tired of him being the center of dissension in and out of our home; I was going to lay down the law once and for all. He was going to be the perfectly behaved child or I was going to beat him into submission (figuratively) I was D.O.N.E. done. As I made my way up the stairs (steam pouring from my ears), I had an epiphany, in an instant I had complete clarity and my anger melted into empathy and love; he can’t control himself. He physically cannot control his actions. His young life flashed before me, one transgression after another played out. As I watched in my minds-eye, all I could see was his beautiful smile and laughter as he tackled the boy at home plate, or pushed his way to the front of the line, or interrupted with curiosity; this wasn’t a child full of malice this was a child that needed his Mommy.

I fell to my knees sobbing, how did I miss it? How could I not see what, in an instant, became so obvious? I made my way to Rylan’s room and found him sitting on his bed repeating “I’m Sorry Mommy”; as tears rolled down my cheeks I crawled in his bed and held my beautiful little boy, apologizing to him. We talked about the day and I gently explained what I had just become so keenly aware of, and I promised that I was going to do everything possible to help him control his impulses. I told him, “God has a very special plan for your life, that is why he gave you so much moxie but it is Mommy’s job to help you direct that energy; let’s work together so you can become what God intended.”

Then I went to work… learning everything I could about behavior modification and redirecting ADD without medication (I am not for or against medication, I just believe that behavior modification must be part of the treatment). That was nearly ten years ago, and my beautiful blue eyed, cotton headed boy is almost grown up; and I was right, God does have special plans for him indeed.



On your journey to living The Southern Fried Fitness Lifestyle, do you ever feel like you lack the self-control to really change your life? We may all be older on the outside, but on the inside many of us are still young children that lack the skills necessary to navigate certain situations. Now is when you must nurture yourself; you must be both the young impulsive child and the loving Mother. Now is the time for that young child in you to learn and grow and develop into the adult you know he/she can become. A loving Mother doesn’t get angry when a small child can’t perform a task… they slow down and teach them and praise them and rejoice in all of the small victories, all in an effort to build confidence and self-reliance in their child. Be the best Mommy you can possibly be to yourself; nurture, love, educate and celebrate the adult you are destined to become.

Your Sister in Success!

Robin

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Enjoying Life's 20% Indulgence!!!

My weakness for Homemade French Fries
Enjoying Life’s 20%


Nothing nourishes the body like wholesome, clean foods; The Southern Fried Fitness Lifestyle recognizes the importance of consuming foods in their most natural state in order to maximize the nutrition and health benefits. Besides loving the flavor, freshness, beauty and versatility of our clean diet, we respect the foods nature has provided for us and their ability to energize our bodies, grow and repair our muscles, stave off disease and keep us sharp mentally and physically. This is why 80% or our diet consists of nothing but clean, healthy, natural foods delivered straight from nature and consumed in the most organic form available to us.

For a Southern Fried Fitness Follower food is not a “free for all”, it is an area of life that requires great responsibility; not just for us personally, but for our children and for generations to come. The key to success in The Southern Fried Fitness Lifestyle is learning to reframe your relationship with food:

80% of the time we make choices that contribute to our health and physical wellbeing, by choosing foods of higher quality.

20% of the time we make choices that contribute to our soul and mental wellbeing, by choosing foods that speak to our heart.

Memories are made around food; food engages the senses and we are stimulated visually, physically, and emotionally. My Southern roots are steeped in traditional Southern foods and when I no longer celebrate those foods, I will no longer feel Southern. Delicious, southern indulgent dishes feed my soul and I wouldn’t dream of abandoning them. I just have to keep them in their proper place… My 20%!!!

The Southern Fried Fitness Lifestyle is about learning how to live an 80/20 life; that is… making “Clean” healthy lifestyle choices 80% of the time, while saving 20% for a favorite guilt free Southern indulgence.

For the remainder of this week…Decide on your 20% Indulgence~ choose what you are going to spend your 20% on??? Think about…

• What day will it be?

• What meal will it be?

• Will it be a dessert or a main dish?

• Will it be a small main dish and a small dessert?

• Where will you enjoy it?

• Plan for it.

• Use your vision exercises to think about how wonderful it is going to be.

• Anticipate it.

• and when it arrives… Savor it!!!

• Start planning your next 20%

Like Phase One, Phase Two is an adjustment period. We are tightening up our daily routine and incorporating our 20% Indulgence into our regimen. Don’t count calories, or beat yourself up if you aren’t perfect… We want progress, not perfection. A little further in the program you will decide how often you need a 20% Indulgence~ for now, let’s stick with once a week.

Now, start planning your 20%!!! Woo Hoo… I am thinking long and hard about mine, I will let you know!

Southern Fried Fitness 80% healthy, 20% indulgent but 100% delicious!!!