Restorative Wellness Coaching with Cathi Whaley MD

Let's take a moment to acknowledge the challenges many face with anxiety. It’s important to talk openly, support one another, and reduce stigma. If you or someone you know is struggling, remember: you're not alone. Reach out, seek help, and be kind to yourself.

Yes!

Perhaps we could redefine our idea of time

I don't believe you can waste time
by resting
talking to a friend
walking in nature
or reading a book

you can't waste time by connecting
letting souls talk
allowing inner children out to play
or making stories to pass down

you can't waste time by helping
or doing anything at all that feeds your soul
and energises your weary bones

that's exactly what time is for
in fact everything else
is just a tick on a list

just a tick
on a never-ending list.

~ 'Wasting Time' from 'Wild Hope' Healing Words to Find Light on Dark Days by Donna Ashworth

~ Art by Julia Arnt

It was the breast smashing mammogram day for me recently. If you are a person with breasts, breast cancer screening starts at age 40 and annually thereafter. Don’t miss out on early detection please!

As an aside, colon cancer screening now starts at 45. So if you are 45 and over please get a referral to a GI doctor for cancer screening.

Wishing you all good health and wellness ❤️❤️

This concludes this message from your friendly wellness advocate…

Are you looking for a podcast episode that is the “hey life has been hard and when life is hard here is what you do episode?”

Well it came out today. As some of you may have noticed I didn’t record for about a month. I’m not sure when I’ll record next…

BUT rest assured episodes ARE still coming. I love y’all and I love doing the podcast for you.

This episode is about lack of motivation, when to allow it and when it’s a problem…It’s about down regulating your nervous system during times of excessive stress…it’s about finding the place that heals you and visiting it as often as possible.

No my friends this isn’t an actual place…it’s not a massage…it’s not even a vacation. It is the ULTIMATE self-care. I hope my vulnerability helps yout find your own place that heals you.

So much love!

Cathi

P.s wanna listen to it? Links in the comments.

Join me for a special event "Coaching for a Cause" and make a difference in the fight against hunger! For a minimum donation of just $10, you will have the opportunity to attend an open forum coaching call with me, a highly regarded life coach and physician, Cathi Whaley MD. Don't miss this chance to join a supportive community, learn from a top professional, and improve your life while supporting the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.

Sign up now and together we can make a positive impact on those in need! Link in the comments down below.

Confessions of a happy meal prepper…

Was I always this gung-ho about meal prepping? Not really. It just seemed like another thing to add to the list of to-dos. So if you feel that meal prepping is daunting, this post is for you.

Starting a new habit…any new habit can feel daunting especially if we don’t start of with the most minute habit cultivation. Taking a page from Atomic Habits we can focus on the small minute steps that build the habit. So perhaps your meal prepping habit starts just with identifying what you want to make and pulling all of the tools (measuring cups, cutting board, etc) out to do it.

Two things will happen here: First you will notice that sense of overwhelm, etc is lessened. You’re not making anything, you’re just committing to pull that stuff out. If this is where you need to stop, go for it. When this habit is solidified you will add a bit more to it. Secondly, much of the time when you’ve done the prep work, the foundational things, you go ahead and meal prep since you’re already on the way to doing it.

Without further ado, here is the meal prep recipe for this week. This is a lunch recipe.

1 jar of marinated artichoke hearts (look for the ones with olive oil as a primary ingredient)- chopped and marinade saved
1/4 diced red onion or however much you want
Chicken breasts from a rotisserie chicken
Mediterranean flavored feta cheese
Container of cherry tomatoes cut in half

Chop up and combine the chicken, marinated artichokes, diced red onion, add cherry tomatoes cut in half. Then pour the marinade over the chopped up items. Lastly add some Mediterranean flavored feta cheese to taste. Now look I don’t measure the chicken, red onion, etc. I just try to keep plenty of marinade in there per the solids to keep it moist.

I serve this over chopped romaine hearts (or whatever lettuce, kale I have at the time) at the time of eating. It may not be the prettiest picture but it sure is yummy! Happy eating!

I made four dozen cookies tonight after work. Was that on my agenda for tonight?

YES and no.

You see my older boy is turning 10 tomorrow, and he desperately wanted two specific kinds of cookies to share with his friends: triple chocolate and vanilla with M&Ms.

Only mom makes those cookies right? Hence, he wanted me to make them.

I was all good until I realized that just like most humans, I had grossly over estimated what I could get done tonight. Something was going to have to give.

Wanna guess what it was? My self care exercise plan for tonight.

YUP! You heard it here first. I compromised my self care plan tonight. I'm not gonna lie...when I started those cookies, I was having all kinds of mind drama as if my exercise plan had been taken from me.

But let's be real. Nothing was taken from me, I gave it away. Could I have just said no, no treats? Yes. Could I have gone and purchased some random cookies. Also yes.

I have compromised my self-care plan a billion times at this point and this one like all the others will just go into the collective blur. But here is where this one is different. First, I have a back-up self care time planned. I do this every week. In the long run, I'm going to claim exactly what I need, just on a different day at a different time. Secondly, this time I made a conscious choice. Nothing was taken from me.

Would I have loved to have my cake (bake the cookies) and eat it too (still exercise)? Of course! That's why I was having all the mind drama. But when faced with the reality of time, I picked what was most important to me, NOT just him.

What will be a blur for me will be magic for him tomorrow.

All is right in my world...

It's meal prep Sunday. There might be meal prep Monday coming your way soon...LOL.

Have I mentioned that I love eggs? Yes I do. So although I will feature some breakfast meal preps without eggs, you can count on eggs being featured frequently.

Today's meal prep recipe is almost a two in one. What you see below is a breakfast scramble using leftover quinoa, leftover roasted veggies, one egg per serving, and one piece of bacon per serving.

This is sooo easy and I"m so excited to share it!

You see, it's a staple in my house that we eat roasted veggies, quinoa, and meat bowls a few times a week. We top with a good balsamic or that cholula chipotle hot sauce. Like a good southerner I can always get behind smothering ranch on basically everything also LOL.

The leftover quinoa and veggies make an amazing scramble as well and is a glorious meal prep hack. So without further ado.

As a side note, if you're unfamiliar with quinoa, let me introduce you to this power house ingredient. It is protein rich, rich in fiber, low glycemic index, contains some magnesium and iron, AND gluten free.

Quinoa, cook to package directions. Make sure to rinse the quinoa first and then toast in the pan. This helps you get a really nice nutty flavor.

Roasted vegetable recipe:
Full sheet pan
Veggies of your choice. We usually dice sweet potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower.
Generously drizzle with olive oil (it's good fat). Then salt and pepper.

Roast for 40-45 minutes at 425. We like our veggies a bit crisp so we DO NOT MIX THEM during cooking.

For this particular scramble recipe:

Each serving has roughly
1 cup of raw spinach
1 piece of bacon
1 whole egg (I actually prefer the taste of just egg whites BUT egg shortage, I will not waste)
1/4 cup of pre-cooked quinoa
1/3 cup of roasted veggies.
Everything bagel seasoning to taste (yup for real)**

Over medium heat put olive oil in your pan and heat. Then add your spinach and cook down a bit. Add the pre-cooked quinoa, roasted veggies, and seasons with everything bagel seasoning. When heated through, scramble your egg into the mixture. When fully cooked, top with crumbled bacon and enjoy.

**NOTE: if you are salt sensitive, shop around for everything bagel seasoning made with no salt or low salt.

Happy day!

Wanna prep all your breakfasts in 10 minutes?

I got you! Meal prepping is one of my favorite things for a few reasons.

#1 I love to come up with new recipes and meal prepping is a challenge to not only come up with something new, but also something that ISN'T time consuming.

#2 Getting my family out of the door every morning takes an act of god with two ADHD boys in the house. I LOVE taking the guesswork out of my breakfast. Grab and go, heat it at work.

This week for breakfast is a breakfast scramble. I bake/microwave one large sweet potato and then put 1/4 potato per serving.

The egg mixture is two eggs per serving along with spinach and onion (sometimes pepper). Top with Cholula hot sauce, the chipotle flavor especially or whatever you like best. That is the sauce drizzled on top.

Happy day!