Venus Meets up in Miami

This past weekend, Venus members from around the world met up in fabulous South Beach in Miami, Florida, on the beach. We enjoy each other so much in the community that we knew we would have a blast in real life! We put a heads up in the forum about 2 months ago, and I could hardly wait until it was time to go!

Enjoying a night out on the town; dinner at Meat Market on Lincoln

From left: Coach Lita, Coach Liss, Coach Jenny, and Naomi enjoying Miami Beach

Bonding

As crazy as it sounds, we make some pretty tight bonds in the Venus forum.  We are from all over the world and completely different walks of life, but driving change puts us on a similar path.   ...Continue Reading HERE

6 Nuggets on Getting Stuff Done

Venus hosted a call the other day with a guru on taking action or getting stuff done (GSD). I actually was not that excited about it but felt I needed to take part, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised. Here are some tidbits I took away.

1) Linguistics matter

The term "workout" might have negative connotations for you. Everyone is different, study how that word makes you feel. What do you associate it with? If the term is negative, use a new term for your Venus weight lifting program. Perhaps training (my personal fave) or exercise would be a better fit for you. The same goes with anything- diet, chores, budget, whatever.

2) Get off the excited wheel

Whenever you start a new diet-exercise plan (or really any new program) you are excited for about 7 days. Then the new excitement wears off and things become mundane. 99% of the population goes searching for the next "thing" soon after and thus circle the excited wheel again.

Thing is, on the other side of mundane lies the goal. Looks like this- excited < mundane < goal

If you would stick with plan XYZ (we are assuming the plan works, Venus for example) then you will arrive at goal in time. Instead the majority are in the excited loop. Excited < mundane < new plan < excited < mundane < new plan

3)  Find happiness in striving

Most people *think* they will finally be happy once they achieve goal X (insert body, money, significant other)

And they never are. Because the new wears off the goal once you achieve it in 2 days, studies show. Even goals that take YEARS to achieve such as winning an Olympic medal or setting foot on the moon.

Learn to be content where you are, find the happy in striving.  Again, this is true for health, wealth, and relationships.

4) Quit focusing on your problems

Instead focus on HOW to SOLVE them. The only sure way to fail is to stop trying. The thing that makes big achievers different is that they are consistent. They are persistent in troubleshooting and refusing to give up. Allowing others- especially someone who has been there, to help you problem solve is key. (This is where coaching come in, and why it works!) 

It is said there are no new problems. Quit trying to reinvent the wheel. Many hands make short work.

5) Be congruent

Do you do what you say you will? If you cannot count on YOU, who can you count on? Be decisive (indecisiveness is common for women) and live it with 2 feet in. Quit half-heartedly doing things, be in or out.

6) There is no perfect

Perfectionists tend to operate as procrastinators (It gives an out as to why it is not good enough to anyone else, and helps to avoid the task because of the mental drain.) Perfectionists also operate from a scared position, afraid to mess up.

Nobody.is.perfect.  No person. At anything. So quit trying to live up to that.

Instead focus on "more often than not" and doing "your honest best."



These nuggets were some reminders I needed that day, so I though I would share :) GSD!
X- Liss

Healthy Stuffed Peppers

Growing up, my momma used to make stuffed peppers. They were wonderful. And I had kind of forgotten about them until I suddenly had a craving the other day.

The best thing is that this recipe is easy to sub and exchange items in to fit your plan. I will show you how I tweaked it, and suggest some other easy changes. The servings are huge, a great bang for your calorie buck! And at 409 calories per pepper and 39 g of protein, I am loving these macros.

Healthy Stuffed Peppers

Makes 4 hearty servings

Ingredients:
4 bell peppers in any color
1 lbs lean ground beef (I used 90% lean, you could also sub lean ground chicken or turkey)
1 can tomato sauce (you could also sub diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup rice, cooked (you could also sub uncooked oats, even breadcrumbs or pureed cauliflower)
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 tbsp egg whites (or one whole egg)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp stevia
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder (or 2 cloves, pressed)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup cheese (Optional. I used cheddar. You could sub parmesan and mix it with the other ingredients.)

What you do:
Preheat oven to 350F.

Wash the peppers, and cut the tops off and remove the seeds inside. Place in a microwave safe dish, and microwave for 5 minutes to blanch.

In a separate large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients (except cheese) by hand thoroughly.

Grease an 8x8" pan and place the peppers upright. Stuff the meat mixture into the peppers. Place in the oven for 1 hour.

The last 3-5 minutes, pull the peppers out and top with cheese. Put back in the oven to melt.

Nutritional stats per serving:

Nutrition Facts
Servings 4.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 409
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 19 g	30 %
Saturated Fat 9 g	45 %
Monounsaturated Fat 7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 118 mg	39 %
Sodium 1118 mg	47 %
Potassium 1011 mg	29 %
Total Carbohydrate 17 g	6 %
Dietary Fiber 4 g	14 %
Sugars 8 g
Protein 39 g	78 %
Vitamin A	83 %
Vitamin C	263 %
Calcium	17 %
Iron	29 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because therecipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

10 Weight watchers points plus PPV

9 weight watchers points

High Protein Pumpkin Pie

I had a craving for pumpkin pie this week. Haha! Makes perfect sense since it is Easter, right?

So I took a fellow Venus Coach, Coach Roberta AKA Ro's protein custard souffle recipe and tweaked it to what I had and my craving! Everyone has been raving about these protein custards she has been making too! So I had to check them out. The nutritional stats are IMPRESSIVE :) 21g protein in 145 cals. DANNNNG.

I am thinking this will be excellent for breakfast, snack, or dessert. YES!

High Protein Pumpkin Pie

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 can pumpkin puree
2 cups egg whites (I used Egg Beaters)
1/2 cup water (you could sub unsweetened almond milk too)
1 scoop vanilla whey protein (I used GNC wheybolic vanilla)
2 tbsp stevia powder (or approx 20 drops of liquid)
2 tbsp whole almonds, ground (or 1 tbsp almond flour)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice (you can also sub in equal parts nutmeg, clove, ginger, and cinnamon)

What you do: Preheat oven to 250*F. Grind the almonds into powder in the blender or food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into a greased 8x8" pan and bake for 60 min.

Cool and cut into fourths. Store chilled.

Nutritional Stats

Nutrition Facts
Servings 4.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 145
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 2 g	3 %
Saturated Fat 0 g	1 %
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 10 mg	3 %
Sodium 234 mg	10 %
Potassium 221 mg	6 %
Total Carbohydrate 9 g	3 %
Dietary Fiber 3 g	13 %
Sugars 4 g
Protein 21 g	42 %
Vitamin A	0 %
Vitamin C	0 %
Calcium	4 %
Iron	2 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because therecipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

3 weight watcher points plus PPV

2 weight watchers points

Blackened Tilapia with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Marinated Tomatoes

This collection of recipes goes way back for our family but they have weaved their way in and upgraded over the years. Back in the day, when I was struggling with my weight, I did a round of HCG. The diet portion of that protocol (which is the reason people get results by the way, 500 cals a day will drop fat like crazy but it does not teach you how to maintain it) calls for a very strict regiment of certain foods and certain vegetables. I really came to love brussels sprouts at that time and these marinated tomatoes and blackened tilapia popped up then too. My kids even love these recipes. But I have changed them over time into something a little more tasty and less "diet-ish" and now they are just good eats!

So it cracked me up the other day when I had left a note for the husband with fish defrosting in water in the sink that I was making tilapia and brussels sprouts for dinner, the kids were SO excited. I mean, excited and exclaimed "YES! Tilapia and brussels sprouts!" Made my heart sing! Haha!

Blackened Tilapia

Serves 4

The stuff:
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp coconut sugar (you can sub brown sugar)
1 tsp oregano, dried
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder (or cayenne or red pepper flake)
4 tilapia fillets (approx 6 oz per fillet)
1 lime, quartered
Olive oil

What you do:
Combine all the spices and rub on each side of the tilapia fillets. Preheat a large non-stick pan over med-high heat with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Cook tilapia 3 minutes on each side until it flakes. Squeeze lime over fish and serve.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Serves 4

The stuff:
18 oz baby brussels spouts (I like the frozen packages over fresh)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper


What you do:
Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a large cookie sheet with nonstick spray. Toss brussels sprouts in a large bowl (or plastic bag) with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread out in the pan and roast for 20-30 minutes, tossing once halfway through.

Marinated Tomatoes

Serves 2

The stuff:
1 container grape tomatoes
1 tbsp yellow mustard (I use French's)
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp stevia (or other sweetener)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

What you do:
Mix everything but the tomatoes in a medium bowl. Add in tomatoes. Even better the next day! (These remind me of eating the tomatoes off your hamburger for some reason!)

Nutritional Stats per Serving

Blackened Tilapia

calories 180
Total Fat 3 g
Total Carbohydrate 4 g
Protein 32 g

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

116 cals
7 g fat
12 g carbs
4 g protein

Marinated Tomatoes

17 calories
0 g fat
4 g carbs
1 g protein

X- Liss