 Little things add up, and it's our job to pay attention to what we are consuming. Someone shared this with me recently… “I asked my little drive through coffee hut today how much sugar was in my daily morning chai tea latte… 30 grams! I love my chai tea, but sheesh... 30 grams 5 days a week is bad bad bad...” I also love chai but NEVER order in a shop anymore for this reason. In fact, now that I have a healthy relationship with sugar, I can’t even drink a whole cup of something like that. It’s TOO sweet to me! Now, I make it at home. Here is the traditional version and short cut version I use. TRADITIONAL Make your own chai from loose leaf tea in big batches and pour into single serve mason jars and heat up in the morning. It's not worth it to make one cup at a time because it makes a mess. I usually make 8-12 cups at once and drink it all week. It's so good I have a hard time just drinking one cup per day J Making chai from loose leaf tea can be time consuming, and honestly if you follow the traditional preparation you HAVE to add sugar - it's bitter as fuck because they brew it STRONG. When I make it at home I add ONLY enough sugar to make it taste good, but not actually taste sweet. Which is probably a quarter what most prepared chais have. Here is the ratio: 2 tablespoons per 1 cup water, bring to boil. Add 1 cup milk, bring to boil, turn off. Add sugar or honey to taste, I try to do about 1/2 tablespoon ( = about 6 grams), but sometimes if I brew it too long it needs more. Again, make a big batch. It's more of a mess than it seems. Also, find a loose leaf chai you like, which can be tricky, look for places you can try a small amount in case you don't like it (health food stores may have it in bulk so you can get small portions). Chais vary a lot in flavor. I like Rishi brand but it's pricey and I have to make a special trip to get it, and also my local Sprouts has a loose leaf chai in bulk that I like, and it is very affordable. QUICK VERSION And here is my shortcut recipe when I'm lazy. TAZO Chai Tea. Boil 1/2 to 2/3 of a cup of water, add TWO tea bags. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Remove tea bags. Top off with milk remainder of 1 cup (experiment with proportion to find your taste preference). Heat again (this is important, it blends the flavors of the milk and tea), but don't boil (because it will make a mess in your microwave). And of course… let me know how it goes if you try it!!!! 
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 Okay, I just had a chat with my mastermind sister (my friend who just gets me and reflects me and helps me be my best self and grow my business, too!) yesterday. We talked about how we - us specifically, but humans in general - do the same thing over and over, even as we wish we would change it. We observe it, we notice it, we realize it's not benefitting us, and yet it's HARD to change things!! I suppose humans really are creatures of habit. She was talking about business. She has these amazing ideas (she's brilliant), and then she does NOT implement them. Then she has the brilliant idea AGAIN, and tells me about it, and I'm like "Yeah, you said to me before." Which surprises her. I guess she's so brilliant she can't even keep up with herself! And I shared with her how often I write in my journal that the day would have been better if I had gone to bed earlier and gotten more sleep. I'm not talking hours, I'm talking half an hour, an hour. And yet, that little bit is so hard. So she brainstormed an idea for her to get her ideas onto paper. And I agreed I'd talk to my coach about my schedule and my desire for getting 10% more sleep. And then after this conversation... I thought my my OLD journals. Over and over I write things like this: Yesterday was horrible eating day. (And the day before). Stuffed myself on pizza. Felt sick. All day bad bad eating. Feel sick. Ate so much I feel I will bust my seams. One day sugar free. Eating eating eating. And I know that at the time I was not using my journals purposefully. I was not moving forward with them, I was really just recording. So as interesting as it is now, I wasn't really putting them to work back then. And that's the thing. We can KNOW what we need to do, and still now know HOW to do it? So here are my questions to you, Do you know what you need to do? Do you have a plan on how you will do it? Ask me if you have any questions. I'd love to give you some feedback if you are looking for it.   I do not market self care as part of my services at all...and yet it's probably in the top 2 things I actually work with clients on! Specifically in the form of stress management. And, yes, I also struggle with my own self care!!! No one is going to tell me "Go to bed" or "Go stretch your body" or "Drink some water" - only my MOM did that, and now I am the mom!!!! So I have to listen to myself and my BODY! In it's most basic form I think self care comes down to honoring what you need (talking and doing are not the same, doing is honoring), and having boundaries that support that. For me it all comes to boundaries, with my husband (hard), with my business (harder), with my kids (hardest). It's hard to not do the things that everyone else needs. It's hard to take care of yourself FIRST, but it's essential. But my body talks when I’m not honoring myself I get sore, I get crabby, I get headaches. Simple things can help: A large glass of luke warm water upon waking. A night away at a girlfriend’s house. Even if she has kids, that’s not the same as my own J Ideally time to myself before the kids get up (but sometimes – actually MOST of the time- I sleep in until they wake me, and I’m fine with that, too!). It’s hard to prioritize your own body. I don’t know why. But I see it all the time, in clients, with friends, and it’s even something I have to recommit to periodically in my own life. That is where the diference lies… you can keep going down the path you are on, and you will keep getting what you have been getting. Or you can commit to changing old patterns and creating new habits that help you feel great. It takes a lot of deep work to do this. It’s simple, but it’s not easy. A professional can help. I’ve benefitted from hiring coaches along the way! Want to know how you can benefit from a coach? Ask me your questions! |
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