A thought....

First day being un-processed was a success, I have not had one morsel today that was not fresh or full of preservatives.  I thought it would be very difficult and it really wasn't as horrible as I had imagined it.  You see it is all about getting your mind right, if you have the proper mind-set you can reach the world, you can achieve your dreams, you can make anything possible.....and it all started with a thought.

Isn't that the age-old truth that I feel we have skated around our whole life, making excuses why we haven't done all the things we've dreamed of, all the things that when we were 5 years old seemed so possible, they  seemed so real, that we never would have thought for even a second that there was any other possibility than to accomplish our dreams...but somewhere down the road we took a wrong turn onto 'Mundane Lane' and we have been struggling to exit ever since.

The minute you have a thought, the second you have a goal you think you want to reach, the moment your dreams become a vivid scene in your head...that is when you pounce..you take action, you must not wait, because waiting turns into contemplating that turns into procrastinating and finally the thought becomes a distant memory that never becomes tangible.

I hope that you will take yourself seriously enough to realize that you have something no one else has and there is a reason you think the way you do and want the things you want and have the desires and dreams that you have....because no one else could ever have them...they are you and they make up your destiny if you would believe in yourself enough to achieve them.  I bid you all a farewell til tomorrow!

Warm Regards,
Candace

Yummy Spinach Fruit Smoothie

4-5 Frozen Strawberries
1 Banana
1/2 cup of Organic Apple Juice
1/2 cup of H2O
3-4 Ice Cubes
Hand Full of Spinach

Blend together and Enjoy :D

Goodbye Poor-American Diet, Hello Health!

So you know when you say your going to do something and then you say it again and then like 4 years pass by and you still have yet to do anything?..... This has been me, for the past 4 1/2 years I have been reading and researching and wanting to give up ALL processed food and just see how much better I feel.

I have read and read and read as many magazine articles, online web-sites and blog postings as one could and it has just come to the point that if I don't do this now I will never do it and I don't want to spend the rest of my life saying I want to do something and never actually accomplishing it.  So for the next 30 days I will be giving up ALL processed food, I will be consuming an array of fresh vegetables, juicy fruit, fresh beans, rice and nuts.  

Some say this cannot be done, that our poor-american diets are to hard to break and even if we attempt to do so then how will we ever be able to go out to eat, have dinner at a friend's house or go on vacation...but surprisingly enough there are a lot of restaurants that cater to this life style, as for the friend's house you can bring your own dish and make enough to share and for vacation you can cook your own food depending on where you stay or you can find a local health restaurant that caters to your needs.  Yes it is less convenient and not as many choices and sad to say you have to give up those double-stuff oreos and coke, but imagine all the benefits this one change can make you......

....You will look better, your skin will glow, you hair and nails will grow, your sure to lose some LBS and there is no limit to how much energy you will have.  When I think about all the harsh chemicals I am consuming on a daily basis and how harmful they are to my body, it's no wonder we have so many health ailments, weight-issues and an all-around-haggard look.  We are slowly, but surly killing our bodies and I would like to be able to still be coherent and kickin' when I am 70 years old, not frail and asking my future children to spoon feed me my dinner.

I will be posting for the next 30 days so that you can all know how my little journey is going and if you care to join me in bettering your health then I hope I can help along the way!  I bid you all a farewell till tomorrow!

Warm Regards,
Candace

Vegetable Kabosh Stew
Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Broth
Filtered H2O
Cabbage
Carrots
Mushrooms
Celery
Onions
Tomatoes
Black, Pinto, White Beans
Fresh Basil, Chopped
Fresh Bay Leaves
Chopped Garlic

Cut all vegetables and put in crock pot on low heat with enough broth and H2O to cover the vegetables, also add any salt free, sugar free spices that you like along with the fresh basil, garlic and bay leaves, let stew all day, it only gets better as you let it marinate, cook beans separately and then add towards the end or cooking the stew, Enjoy : D

YOU

What is this thing that we as women constantly do to ourselves, we try to give the illusion that everything is under control, we try to have the perfect body, the perfect hair, the best skin...we go to these "innocent gathers" with our girlfriends and all the while we are constantly trying to compete, most of the time we don't even realize we are doing it I don't think, we show up to a friends house wearing the latest and greatest talking about whats new and all the while making it sound like the best possible situation that we could ever be in at the best possible time with the best possible people...when in actuality we find ourselves up at night when we are all alone, when our husbands are sleeping, when we are finally quiet, wanting what some else has, asking God why we haven't accomlpished this yet or telling ourselves that tomorrow we will finally start that diet we have been putting off because we want to be as thin as so and so.

C'mon Ladies lets GET REAL HERE!  Maybe I am the only one who feels this way or has this constant need to want to be better then the next lady, but when I see day after day after day after day the same thing in other women it has me thinking I can't be the only one who feels this way.  The constant need for approval, the woman who is always trying to lose weight, have the perfect body, the woman who feels that if she can just be a size smaller or weigh a 115 pounds then life will be better and all her cares will wash away. 

That is simply not the case...because don't you see that if you don't want that you will always want something else, nothing will ever satisfy, no perfect weight or size 2 of jeans will make you suddenly perfect.  I say all this because I know my own struggles and I can see the same pain I've seen in myself in other women around me.  The only thing I can say is Thank God for Jesus....It is hard enough with him to cope with these thoughts I could not imagine it without, only to say I would think it would be almost unbearable.

I am hoping that my cander will help women going through something similar to find strength in knowing they aren't alone, that maybe if I show others my imperfections they will not feel so helpless.  I wish when I was 18 and even now someone would have sat me down and said..."you are the perfect you, you are beautiful, you can always strive for a goal but just know it's not the end-all-be-all if you fail, because your gonna fail, your gonna fall down, your not always going to achieve your dreams and your not always going to like who you are....but just know after all that..once your life seems to be so annoying and there is no door you see to escape or even a window for that matter...that you are still beautiful and no one, I mean no one can ever replace you...you are irreplaceable". 

Just know that if you don't like your life or yourself right now for that matter, then all you have to do it ask for strength to change and once you start to do that you will gradually notice that you really do have a lot to offer and you can wake up each day and look yourself in the mirror and say "It is what it is and I am really starting to like what it is".

I bid you all a farewell and a Good day til the next time!

Warm Regards,
Candace

Chicken Burgers with Goat Cheese Salad
spring lettuce
dried cranberries
chopped green olives
greek vinegrette (or any you like)
goat cheese
ground chicken
chopped jalapenos
dill pickles
garlic powder, sea salt and pepper

Mix ground chicken, seasonings and chopped jalapenos in a bowl, form into patties and cook on stove over medium heat until cooked.  Mix remaining ingredients for salad in a large bowl and toss.  Once burgers are cooked top with pickles and anyother burger toppings you like and enjoy ;D

Examination

Examination

Why is it that we go through this life concerning ourselves with the littlest things that have no real value and yet they can consume our very existence. Our whole being is caught up in this twisted toxic thing that occupies our minds and distracts us from why we are really placed here on this earth.

Who cares what so and so said and what they did last week that really annoyed you, or how they offended you in some way , or how they could possibly think that for one second they have their life all put together, does it really matter? When I think about all the wasted seconds, hours, days I have spent on things that have no value it leads me to want to change, there is something within me that is much stronger, that has more to offer then the latest gossip or how big of a home I have or how new my car is or what the latest fashion trend is, I mean honestly is there anything more important than living your life how you were meant to live it. There could be someone that you were suppose to help and because you were too busy in "wasted-time-land" they may never even meet you. It's all connected, you can't fulfill your purpose with out the help of someone else, wether it be your family, a friend or a perfect stranger...and so it is with someone else that may not get to their purpose because you were MIA. Are you willing to take that chance? ...That possibility....that is a hefty risk my friend that I am not willing or wanting to be responsible for, and while I am sure God would just send someone else to replace me if I chose to be so careless I would rather it be the way it was meant to be.

I have a feeling I was meant to do something great, something life changing, something world shaking, something that would have massive impact on society and so are you, there is no book written specifically for you that takes you step-by-step on how to accomplish your dreams, there is something to be said of figuring it out on your own, there is a sense of great accomplishment and determination once you finally reach that end result. I will never reach it if I never try.

Your life is staring you in the face and daring you to take the first step...if you don't someone else will, your destiny will not wait forever, your life begins NOW this second, this moment, there is no pause button or quick re-wind, this is it, the time is now and it is definitely not on your side, I don't want to be gray-haired and sixty before I realize that all the things I wanted to do...all the goals I wanted to fulfill was wasted because I procrastinated my destiny.

There is no second chance, no nine lives...you live once and you get what you give, and on that day when it all comes to an end and it's just you and our Maker and He asks you if you lived to the utmost and if you accomplished your destiny and if you helped when you could have and loved with all your heart....there will be no one to blame your failures on, or talk your way out of the problem, or rely on someone else to step in and answer for you, no, it'll be the one moment of truth where you have to be completely honest and I am just not willing to give a disappointed answer! So I will continue each day as best as I can, love as much as I can, give compassion when compassion is due, lend a hand when someone needs more than two and always strive to reach my purpose, because is there anything really more important? I bid you all a farewell til next time!

Warm Regards,

Candace

Baja Shrimp Tacos

De-vained and No Tails, Shrimp

Taco Seasonings

1/2 cup of Corn

1 Avocado

1 Tomato

1/2 White Onion

Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated

Whole Wheat or Corn Tortillas

Black Beans

Jalapenos

Lime

Cook shrimp in a large pan with taco seasonings, corn and squeeze the juice of one lime. In a food processor mix together onion, tomato and jalapenos until it resembles salsa, squeeze some lime in this mix as well. Warm tortillas in the oven. Assemble tacos with shrimp mix, cheese, avocado (diced), salsa mix, black beans and jalapenos, Enjoy :D

Determination

Here we are again! Sometimes in life you think you are over a season, a time, a moment, only to find that it feels all too familiar once again. I have been going through this thing where I am not being a 100% honest with myself once again and quite frankly, I'm sick of it! I mean if you cant be honest with yourself then how the heck are you going to be honest with anyone else!

It is this twisted, toxic thing that we often do because we are just too scared of what we might actually find out about ourselves once we are honest, we may not like who we are and it is a much easier thing to ignore the road block and try to find a detour then to just get your lazy butt out of the car and move it. What it all boils down to is we are just making excuses for living, "how's the writing going" or "how's the diet going" or "what about that script you were suppose to be working on" or maybe it's just that reminder of waking up every morning and looking in the mirror knowing that you aren't where you thought you'd be by now and with everyday that passes and every year that goes by your dreams are slipping farther out of reach, the child you once were whose possibilities were endless, who had a dream and knew it was a reality, don't you miss that side of you, that time for that brief moment you actually believed you were capable of doing what you were meant to do.

What if I told you you were, that you can do anything and everything your heart desires, that the realities of life are not your life, you just have to have one thing, DETERMINATION. That's all, some of the most successful people are people that started with nothing and said "this isn't good enough", they took their dreams and rode on the back of determination all for what?.....for a possibility, a possibility that their dreams could be their life. Thats all it takes just a moment of honesty followed by a dream and a whole lot of determination.

I have decided that life is just not worth wasting, so I will be accomplishing my dreams and all that try's to stand in my way. I will not let time pass me by and have little to nothing to show for it. I hope that you make all your dreams come true and for all of the realities that get in the way, I pray that you will be strong enough to push them aside. I bid you all a fare well til we meet again!

Warm Regards,
Candace

Creamed Chicken

Chicken breast
1/2 package of cream cheese
Dash of garlic, dill, salt and pepper
Turkey bacon

Mix cream cheese with spices and top chicken with mixture, finally put slices of bacon on top of each chicken breast, bake at 350 til cooked (about 30 minutes) enjoy:)

Road Less Traveled....

Sometimes we have to lose the "idea" of who we think we are to find out we we really are.  There are so many times that I have looked in the mirror and completely lied to myself about who I was, I mean how can you look yourself straight in the eye and know that what is coming out of your mouth is a lie.  How do we get so caught up on what we are "suppose" to be that we totally forget who we are.  In these past few months I have learned a lot about myself and what I want and the real, true passions and desires of my heart are, and I can honestly say there was a point in my life that I would have given all of that up to pick the safe way out, the comfortable option, the one that would make me more money and the one that would ultimatley make me less happy, not be fulfulling, and never reaching the dreams that were placed inside of me. 

After almost giving up my rights to who I was, I vowed that I will never do that again, because that is exactly what it is, GIVING UP.  That is not a part of me, that is not something that I will succomb to.  Why in the world would I ever what to be anything else then who I was made to be.  That seems oftley silly to me but it is a sad thing that many people have already done, there is no reason for this, the road to who we are is never closed and it is never too late to take that path. 

I will always remember growing up in High School, I took a creative writing class and one of our assignments was to memorize a poem by a Mr. Robert Frost and I chose the one that was this:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This has been a poem that I have never forgotten, even now....years later. He is stating that the road less traveled is the best, it is the one that is most scary and unsure and the one that if you are brave enough and don't listen to the ones that have told you can't or that something is too hard or not worth it or isn't going to make you any money, because I have found the people that give you that kind of advice are typically the ones that have not chosen the road less traveled, they have taken the more common, more safe path and are not willing to truly become who they were meant to.  And that is okay, but please, please, please do not let that stop you from taking that less-traveled-journey yourself.

The 12 weeks journey of weight loss has found me well and I am noticing a change already on my 2nd week!  I hope that this post finds you all well and happy and on the road to a greater more determinded you!  I will pray for all of you that you would find the courage and strength to become all the things you were meant to be!  Bidding you all farewell till next time!

Warm Regards,
Candace

Healthy Goat Cheese Pizza

1/4 Package Goat Cheese, Crumbled
1 PackageLow-Fat Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded
1 can of crushed tomatoes (no-sugar or additives)
1/2 of a Purple Onion, Diced
A Few Green Olives, Diced
1 Tomatoe, Sliced Thin
1 1/2 Cups of Oats Ground Fine in a Food Processor
1 Garlic Clove, Chopped Finely
Dash of Salt and Pepper
3 Eggs
Dash of Non-Fat Milk

Mix Oats, Eggs, Salt, Pepper, Garlic and Non-Fat Milk in a Food Processor, pat mixture down on a non-stick or greased pan.  Mix Salt, Pepper and Garlic with Crushed tomatoes and spread over top of crust, then sprinkle cheeses and toppings and put in oven at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes or until bubbly, Enjoy : D

Do you ever wonder.....

Do you ever wonder why things are the way they are?  Why all the things that are going on in your life are going on in your life?  Sometimes it can be hard to cope, like all of the inner-most things you thought you possessed, all the things you were great at, all the things you could do better then anyone else and all the things that you thought made you who you were turn out to not feel substantial anymore.  It's knowing you were meant to do this really great thing, this really big thing, this really astounding, life-changing, earth-shattering thing.........that you were meant to be somebody.......and instead you find yourself spending your days listening to people complain about the rotation of their contact lenses.

I said all that to say this, though you were meant to be somebody, though you were meant to change the world, though you were meant to do something so phenomenal that at times it doesn't seem plausible and you just have no idea how your going to get from point A to point B before the turn of the century, MAY I remind you that YOU don't have to figure anything out!  That you serve a God that has all the plans of your destiny etched on the palm of his hand and he has no intention of blotting them out.  You MUST remember that though you feel like the things that were spoken over your life are now a distant memory that feels like it could have been something you dreamed are waiting for you, they are not waiting for your plan or your agenda or even your idea of what you think things are suppose to look like, but your destiny is waiting for you to TRUST and have FAITH in the Creator, in the one true God that took one thought, YOU, and made it into a beautiful, tangible being such as yourself, now you honestly cannot tell me that the Creator of the whole universe would decide to speak you into existence and not have a destiny planned out for your life!

It all sounds so silly when you take the time to really examine your life and what you are doing and who you know you were meant to be.  Yes, yes it may seem so futile and pointless what you are doing right now but I promise you He does not have you here, in this place, at this moment, in this fragment of time, doing what your doing for nothing.  There is a reason, He is either helping you and teaching you something or He is using you to help and teach someone else something...wether you find out which one, or have the eyes to see which one... is entirely up to you.

Some of you may be saying "but I've been here forever! I have been in the same place in my life for so looonnnng!"  And I would say to you, I KNOW, I have been there, I am currently there and I know exactly what it feels like to open a new door only to have it slammed in your face and throw you 10 steps back from where you were.  It is a miserable feeling that gives little hope and can stoop you into a depressive, "what's the point" kind of state, but YOU MUST NOT LET IT!  I was there stuck in the horrible frame of mind for a while and then I re-evaluated the situation and prayed and seeked the Lord and became positive and tried to be upbeat and cheery and really strived for an "out".....and I wish I could tell you the I have found one....but to put it simply, I have not, and I am not sorry, and I am not discouraged and I am not angry with God for the "hard-time" or the trials that I go through or the worse trials that sooo many others that I personally know are going through.  NO I absolutely REFUSE to let the enemy win this one!  I know who I am and who I was meant to be, and although I am not ready to draw the curtain yet I know that I am not far from the stage.

I really hope that this is encouraging to someone reading this and I know with out a shadow of a doubt that if you hold-fast to your destiny, to your dreams that help will swiftly arrive...it really is how bad do you want it, how fast are you willing to humble yourselves to learn it and how quickly can you become it.

 I will do a final post before Monday to tell you the details of my new 12 week Body for Life Journey and I hope you will all join me for that one as well!  I bid you all farewell till this weekend!

Warm Regards,
Candace

Cajun Chicken Wrap

2 Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded
3 TBSP of lite Mayo
1 TBSP of Thousand Island Dressing
Generous amounts of dill weed, pepper and cajun seasoning
Chopped Dill Pickles
Chopped Purple Onion
2 Sun-dried Tomato Wraps
Goat Cheese Crumbles
Lettuce Leafs

Mix shredded chicken with mayo, dressing, spices, pickles and onions in a bowl til coated, spoon mixture onto wrap top with goat cheese and lettuce and Enjoy : D