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I have always aspired to having an exciting life.  I worked at an internet start up company that was growing fast.  I traveled the world to snowboard, lay at the beach, see nature, experience different cultures. When I was in-town I was out with friends and family eating at new and favorite restaurants, seeing Broadway shows and museum exhibits, or taking day trips to go apple picking.  I was always on the go, doing new and exciting things.  I was also completely exhausted. Eventually, I couldn’t sustain the pace of my life and my exciting life came to a screeching halt because I developed multiple health problems and an autoimmune disease.

I got myself back to feeling good and my body healthy through lifestyle changes in diet, exercise, sleep, relationships, and managing stress.  These changes had to become habits in my life to build a foundation for my health.  I had to get comfortable with sameness.  I created “robot routines” for my morning, evening, and meal-prep, so I could run through the same sequence of tasks and do it with ease.

I still travel, spend time with friends and family eating and experiencing new things.  I’m going through the same routines each day so I can eat a nutrient-rich diet, make time for exercise and rest, and manage stress.  I’ve made space for health and have good energy to live the life I aspire to.

Chrissy xo

Time is one of my most precious, most coveted resources. As a busy mom who needs to take care of herself, I need to accomplish all of my parent and work responsibilities and still make space for my health. I do this by creating “robot routines”for things I do frequently so that I can finish them quickly. I follow the same steps each time until my body is trained to do them automatically and it becomes a habit. This allows me to free up space in my day to support my health. Here is how to create “robot routines” in your life:

1. List out all of your routines that you do daily or frequently. A routine is made up of a sequence of actions. Here are a list of my routines:
   • morning routine
   • picking what I’m going to wear
   • weekly meal-prepping
   • weekly meal planning
   • after-school routine
   • bedtime routine
2. Write down the steps to complete each routine. Keep it simple. Be health-minded but don’t go crazy because creating a routine filled with extra steps to be healthy will just stress you out. Here are the steps to some of my routines. Repeat these steps each time you run through the routine.
   • Morning routine: wake up – go to the bathroom – drink a glass of lemon and salt water – make breakfast and pack school lunch – pack my lunch – wake the girls up – put breakfast and vitamins on the table – get dressed – drive the girls to school
   • Weekly meal-planning: choose 7 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 4 dinners
3. Get everything you need for your routine and make sure it’s in the place where it belongs. You will train your body on each step of a routine until it becomes a habit. Your body will automatically know where to go to get the food, lunchbox, toothbrush, etc you need to compete the step. If something isn’t where it’s suppose to be, you’ll either waste time finding it or you won’t be able to finish the routine because you have to go out and buy it. Here are the things I need to complete my morning routine:
   • toothbrush, toothpaste, face cleansing oil, toner, face serum, moisturizer
   • lemon and salt for water
   • all ingredients to make breakfast
   • all ingredients to make lunch
   • full stock of vitamins
   • gas for the car
4. Make your “robot routines” healthy. One of the easiest ways to make space for health in your life is to ask yourself how could you make your “robot routine” healthy? You can do this by:
   • using non-toxic products with recognizable ingredients
   • choose whole foods, lots of vegetables, and protein that has spent time on pastures eating grass.

Chrissy xo

Whenever I’m invited to a party, one of the things I always offer to bring is a fruit plate. It’s super easy to put together because there is no cooking, just cutting and washing. Fruit is great to eat during appetizers or dessert. It’ll be the best and healthiest sweet treat on the table because it is a whole food and has a variety of nutrients and minerals. Fruit plates present beautifully and the host of the get together will love your consideration.

Here is how to put a fruit plate together:

• use in season fruit because they taste the best
• select at least 3 fruits
• buy organic for any fruit on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen. Strawberries and apples in the photo are on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen so I bought organic
• peel and cut off all inedible parts of the fruit so people can easily pick and eat – pile the fruit high, it looks grand and presents beautifully

Mashed sweet potato is part of my meal prep each week. Sweet potatoes are nutrient-dense starchy vegetables that keep you full. They also are a prebiotic so it feeds the good bacteria in your stomach. Sweet potatoes taste delicious and leafy green vegetables and pork or beef. You can also eat them baked or boiled whole. For my family, I boil 10 lbs of sweet potato and reheat it for at least two meals. I like hot breakfast so that will definitely be one of the meals.

This is a super simple dish to make ahead of time and easily reheats for easy, delicious, healthy meals during the week.

First, peel all the sweet potatoes.

Cut them into half inch slices.

Put the sweet potatoes in a pot and cover them completely with water. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

Poor out the liquid in the pot until the liquid is 2 inches below the cooked sweet potato. Save some of the liquid in a bowl in case you want to thin out the mashed sweet potato while blending.

Using a hand blender, blend the sweet potato until smooth. Use the extra liquid in the bowl to make the mashed sweet potato less thick.

One of my favorite ways to eat smashed sweet potato is with sautéed kale and Applegate nitrate and chemical free hot dogs.

Enjoy,
Chrissy xo