Healthy & Light BBQ Recipies from Medifast

Battle Your Demons
Everyone has demons that they need to battle, and some will have demons that are taking the sparkle out of their life more so than others. And it can often be our demons that lead us to other demons. For example, some people have the demon of money and stress looming over their head, which can then lead to finding an escape in other ways, such as through drink or drug use. It’s an escape that can be so welcoming in terms of making you forget your problems, but as soon as the morning comes around, they’re there again. It’s a cycle you need to break sooner rather than later, and it can be done through addiction treatment centers. Even if you wouldn’t call it an addiction, it’s still going to do you so much good to visit one, because through these treatment centers you can get counseling to help with the problems that you feel you’re having. This is one big secret demon that people wouldn’t like to admit that they have, there will no doubt be many more that you need to address.
Find Your Passion
Having a passion in life is so important, and it keeps you grounded far more than you would think it does. So to find your passion in life, you have to think about a hobby that would interest you. That hobby could be anything from taking up an instrument to getting into sports. But whatever it is, we highly recommend that you find something to focus your spare time around, rather than doing nothing.
Live For Something More
Finally, you just need to make sure that you’re living for something more. Think about getting up for more than just work and getting back to your bed in the morning. Make more effort with social situations, eat right, sleep right, and generally focus on yourself, rather than thinking about other people all of the time.

There are a lot of subscription boxes out there…And i’ve been lucky enough to try out a few and have fallen in love with several! But what if you could join a subscription box, and get green, socially conscious goods and donate to causes at the same time? I know I’m more likely to buy a brand that donates to a cause than a brand that doesn’t…like TOMS, who gives to several causes every time you buy a pair of shoes. You need shoes anyways, why not purchase a pair that’s going to change a life? Back to the subscription box…Sevenly.org is changing the way you can give back with their new subscription box service that was launched in December 2014…
Sevenly exists to bring funding and awareness to the world’s greatest causes. Every item purchased on sevenly.org gives $7 to the designated charity. By creating 7-day cause campaigns, customers can purchase this cause art and $7 of their purchase will go back to that cause. By doing this, Sevenly has raised over 4.3 million dollars and helped over 1,363,000 people. They are helping to fight sex-trafficking, stop child bullying, provide medical support for the underprivileged… among many, many other amazing causes!
In December Sevenly launched their first box of socially conscious goods — all of the products do good and give back (think, companies like TOMS shoes), and they give back 7% of every CAUSEBOX to the charities reflected in the box. Sevenly donated $3,500 to the Jessie Rees Foundation which provides joy and hope for children who have been diagnosed with cancer. But even more than that, the items in the box help provide jobs, meals, education, clean water and more to people around the world. In each box there is at least $150 worth of value and it costs $49.95/quarter.
What’s in the box?
Perf Turkish Towel – retails for $55
Perf is short for perfect – and we think this Sevenly exclusive Turkish Towel is the perfect-est, soft-est, beautiful-est home accessory we’ve ever seen. Flat woven in Turkey, these towels are highly absorbent, fast-drying, and roll up perfectly for easy packing. I know this towel will see many trips to the beach. Perf gives 15% of their profits to community development projects in Haiti.
HALF UNITED “Fighting Hunger” Necklace – retails for $34
Each “Fighting Hunger” necklace incorporates three hand-polished recycled bullet casings to take a strong stance in the fight against hunger. Half United’s mission is to use fashion to provide aid for world hunger – and they donate half of their profits from every product sold directly to global hunger relief efforts! These beautiful and powerful necklaces are made in downtown Los Angeles. It really is a striking necklace.
Tribe-Alive Bracelet – retails for $35
This super-chic, beaded bracelet was crafted by Tribe Alive exclusively for Sevenly! Every bracelet is handmade by women in Honduras under fair trade working conditions, and each piece contributes to community development and job creation in developing countries. We were thrilled to help design this beautiful piece alongside this world-changing company and these amazing artisans!
Denik “Be The Change” Journal – retails for $17.99
Denik believes that Art Can Change The World – and so does Sevenly! So naturally we paired up for something special and exclusive. This Journal is the perfect companion for all of the world-changers, day dreamers, doodlers, and to-do listers. It features one of our favorite quotes and encourages action. A portion from every notebook that Denik sells goes toward funding schools in developing countries through amazing foundations like Pencils of Promise.
“Good Day” Sevenly Cling – retails for $9.95
A positive thought in the morning can change your whole day. What better way to remind yourself to cherish everyday than to wake up to the words “Today is a Good Day”?! This Sevenly original product may peel on and off windows easily, but it will stick with you throughout your entire day. Take photos of the cling on your bathroom mirror, and use #sevenlyselfie for a chance to be featured on our instagram feed!
Smarty Pants Vitamins – retails for $4.25
Smarty Pants partners with Vitamin Angels to give vitamins to a child in need for every bottle of vitamins that they sell. Together they have helped over 500,000 at-risk children and counting. These vitamins are made in California and they are so tasty and nutrient-rich that you just might quit Kale and Quinoa – stay nutritious and change the world all at once.
Good Spread Peanut Butter & Honey Packet (sample)
Most of us eat peanut butter already, so when we found out that we could feed malnourished kids just by switching over to Good Spread Peanut Butter, it was a no-brainer. And it turns out it has just the right amount of honey in it, which makes it the best peanut butter we’ve ever tasted! We had to put it in the CAUSEBOX. Now, if we could only get our hands on some world-changing jelly…
The CAUSEBOX is shipped out every quarter and the one I received is currently available. Subscribe to the CAUSEBOX for as low as $49.95 and receive free shipping. You can pause or cancel at anytime. You can also choose to support a specific charity through your subscription by having the option to pick from several charity partners.
The CAUSEBOX reminds us that we can give back in many different ways. It was nice to see all good that can come from purchasing a product. Be sure to check out the CAUSEBOX and the other great items that Sevenly makes.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Disclosure: A huge thanks to Cost Plus World Market for sponsoring today’s discussion Mother’s Day, it rolls around once a year to pay homage to the woman who wiped our tears and bottoms, kissed our ouchies and gave us ice cream for the ones that couldn’t be kissed. Every year I get my mother something she loves…roses! No, not a bouquet, a bush, tree or vine…something she can grow and care for throughout the year and just keeps giving off beauty.
My Mother-in-law is a bit different, she’s more of your southern mama and loves the kitchen..cooking, baking, its something that she loves to do. Buying her anything for the kitchen would make her mothers day.
Check out my top Southern Mothers Day Gift Ideas featuring gifts from World Market & Shutterfly.
Mason Jar Yorkshire Drink Dispenser | Tall Iced Tea Glasses | Coral Ditzy Paisley Napkins | The Republic Of Tea Ginger Peach Black Iced Tea | Biscoff Chocolate Cookies | Stainless Steel Teapot Tea Infuser | Turkish Peach Mottled Candles | Haribo Peaches Gummi Candy | Photo Necklace | Custom Photo iPhone Case
All of the smaller gifts above will fit nicely into the Mason Jar drink dispenser! Tie it up with a bow, flowers and tag and you have a gift basket any southern mom would love!
How To Create The Perfect Southern Mothers Day
1. Brunch: Kick off moms morning with a delicious breakfast to set the mood for the whole day. Few Ideas: Peaches and Cream Cheese Crapes, Buttermilk pancakes topped with peaches & pecans, Southern Shrimp and Grits, Fruit Parfeit, Pecan Sticky Rolls, Sausage Eggs Bacon Biscuits & Gravy.
2. Flowers: Extravagant blooms, such as garden roses, lupines, peonies, and lilacs, set the scene, as do lush arrangements in pitchers filled with flowers from your own garden or a market.
3. Afternoon Tea Party: To transform a weekend afternoon into a tea party for the women you admire most, begin with inspiration from the garden. Fanciful, intimate, and simple to prepare, a tea party is a party like no other. Set the scene with fragrant branches of lilacs and vintage china adorned with English rose motifs. Floral-print napkins, silver teaspoons, tiered serving pieces, and a dash of pastel-colored sugar all add a touch of romantic grandeur. And a chandelier hanging from a tree branch lends the affair sophisticated charm.
4. Lazy Afternoon: Enjoy a lazy afternoon with the family on the back porch in Adirondack Chairs
5. Classic Southern Dinner: End the day with a classic southern dinner! Ideas: Fired Catfish, Chicken Fried Steak, Crunchy Pan Fried Chicken, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Pan Fried Porkchops, Honey BBQ Chicken, Collard Greens, Scalloped Potatos/Sweet Potatos, Corn Pudding, Peach Cobbler, Peach Sorbet.
Give Mom a chance to fill her southern kitchen with all the amazing goodies at world market with the #MyAmazingMom Sweepstakes from Cost Plus World Market. One winner will receive a $5,000 WM gift card and a $1,000 credit to Shutterfly.com to treat themselves to the ultimate shopping spree! Enter at www.worldmarketsweepstakes.com.

How many times have you looked back on moments in your life with a sheer sense of dissatisfaction? It’s not uncommon, but if you go through life with so many regrets, after a while, these feelings can add up to a well of negative emotions. And while you may look in the mirror and think to yourself “today is the first day of the rest of my life”, we struggle to keep up this attitude. Turning our life around is one of the most difficult things we can ever do, which is why it’s important to do one thing at a time, rather than trying to change everything all at once. So, with that in mind, here are a few suggestions for you to start off on the path to permanent happiness.
Fixing The Negative Opinions Of Ourselves
We live in an age where, unfortunately, so much is placed on how we look. If we feel that we are below par in any way, this negativity festers in our minds, and we can naturally cultivate low opinions of ourselves. This is how an issue like dysmorphia rears its head. There are two options; you can either fix these issues from the inside out, or the outside in. And so, when we are working to turn our lives around, if we look good we will feel good. We all have a niggling issue on our person, such as crooked teeth, wrinkles, and so on. It can be a quick fix, but if there is something that is bugging you every day of your life when you look in the mirror, a quick fix may be the answer in the short term. Juvederm Voluma fillers can help if you’ve got annoying cracks in your face, and various types of braces or retainers can help if you are annoyed with your teeth. When you are faced with something you feel you cannot change, there are little aesthetic alterations that can be made, but it’s important not to go over the top with these. Unfortunately, if there is something that we feel sticks out like a sore thumb, it breeds negativity and it naturally stops us putting ourselves out there. On the other hand, working through the problems from the inside out can be just as effective. You can do this in many ways, and it can result in a lot of soul-searching, but if you are unable to undergo cognitive behavioral therapy, or speak to a professional so you can get these issues fixed, one of the simplest approaches is to work at altering the opinion of yourself by positive self-talk. This is a practice that some people can find strange, to begin with, because you are verbalizing positive sentiments about just self. But, there are numerous benefits to doing this every day. A lot of people think that it’s silly, but a lot of athletes do it, and it’s something that’s commonplace in certain circles, especially in performance-related arenas. And if you are trying to present a more positive image of yourself to the outside world, that age-old expression of faking it until you make it is something that you should try. By taking 10 minutes every morning to undertake some positive self-talk, you are retraining your brain to think more positively. Believe it or not, and this is a fact, your brain is physically unable to tell the difference between a real thought and an imagined one. When you have got into the habit of this, it’s one of those things in life that you can’t go without.
Creating Those Lifelong Habits
And as the habits begin to ingrain themselves, you will notice the difference when you don’t practice them. This is the most vital component to turning your life around, creating those habits that you can build upon every single day. But to begin with, these habits can feel very difficult. By creating these habits, and getting on the road to turning your life around, the outset is a challenge all in itself. So if you are struggling at the very beginning, remember that it takes, at the very least, 21 days to form a habit. Because our minds and bodies are borne of habit, when we are trying to integrate a new way of thinking, a new eating pattern, or exercising, you will naturally resist these changes. But, the importance of challenging yourself is what forces the human species to develop and grow. Because our mind’s needs challenging, this is how we create new neural pathways, but also, we evolved in a physical sense to run faster, jump higher, and generally work that much harder to escape threats. We are now, in the modern age, very comfortable, and so, we need to work towards those challenges that push us out of our comfort zone. This is the overriding sensation that you need to go for, especially when it comes to turning your life around. Now, not to say that you should put yourself under extreme duress every single day of your life, but by challenging yourself to do something new every single day, you are naturally and healthily stretching out your sphere of comfort, and therefore, your confidence increases alongside it. Everything that is new and difficult we try to avoid, but it’s these challenges that we have to go for. But before that, we need to form healthy and effective habits. This is something that can take some time, but this is where you need to trust your instincts.
Alternatives To “Bettering Yourself”
Bettering yourself is a dangerous term, because this implies that there is something wrong with you. This is far from the case, but finding simple approaches to building on who you are, in comparison to who you want to be, is something that we can all benefit from. Now, not to say that you have to constantly plow through self-help books to make you into some sort of superhuman, but the never-ending quest for answers can be exhausting. When you are working at turning your life around the best method is to think about the type of person that you want to be, and take it one step at a time in the right direction. If we overload ourselves with goals and pressures, we will undoubtedly crumble under this pressure. So, this is why it’s important to gradually step outside of your comfort zone, to make changes little by little, rather than undertaking and emotional spring clean from top to bottom. This is why so many people give up exercise routines, statistics show that the people who join the gym in January give up after 24 weeks, and this could be because of the whole “new year new me” attitude, and so, the excessive pressure they place upon themselves to get fit now, means they physically cannot cope with the strain. We should undertake the same attitude when we are changing ourselves in an emotional sense. We all know that we shouldn’t place too much pressure on ourselves, but when we think about turning our life around, this encapsulates everything. But it’s worth thinking about the tortoise and the hare, or playing the long game, whatever metaphor appeals to you. The changes we make in our lives for the better are the ones that we learn over time, or are things we don’t recognize as seismic changes, because they take so long. For the modern, impatient person that needs everything changed right here, right now, this is not the answer they want to hear, but it is far better for you to make peace with the fact that you are changing yourself properly one little bit at a time, rather than making those promises to yourself that you are going to be a completely different person in six months or a years’ time, because, in all honesty, this is unrealistic. You are who you are, and the fact is that if you want to change yourself completely, you will have to get a new brain! Instead, there are unique aspects of your personality that make you inherently you, and everybody needs to harness their own uniqueness, and this is the key to turning your life around.
Yes, there are some fantastic tools that we can all benefit from, especially when we have those bad habits like negative opinions of ourselves, which we can replace with more positive habits, turning our lives around is not about viewing it as the biggest, most difficult challenge of our lives, although if we can make these seismic changes, this is what gives us validation in our own abilities. But now, we are placing so much pressure on ourselves, that we need to turn our lives around in more subtle, and effective approaches. Remember, we are all works in progress, and this is a far healthier opinion to have, rather than making ourselves into a completely different person that we wouldn’t recognize. While it’s a cliché, to thine own self, be true is one of the best maxims that we can all take inspiration from. Turning your life around is possible, and it’s all about three things, how we view ourselves, the habits we undertake, but also making peace with ourselves to embark on this long journey in our own sweet time.