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Cracker Barrel Menu Calorie Counter + Healthy Losing Weight Tips

Cracker Barrel menu vs. fast food is night and day. Cracker Barrel uses slow cooking methods for some dishes that us foodie enthusiasts appreciate! This homestyle burnt-top Cellantani and cheese (with a healthy option) recipe is below.

If a Cracker Barrel menu is not close to you, you can make your own homestyle slow cooking comfort foods like burnt-top corkscrew pasta macaroni and cheese.
Homestyle burnt top baked macaroni and cheese reminds one of slow cooking, the Cracker Barrel restaurant, and the fond eating childhood memories. 🧡

In this post, you’ll get tips to lose weight from snacking, ordering off a Cracker Barrel menu, and how to make calories count! And how to to get the tasty burnt-top on your baked macaroni without drying out the pasta.

After your turkey feast has come and gone, what are the secrets to keep a healthy, trim body you aspire to?  …I share my best tips below. And they don’t require giving up macaroni-n-cheese if that’s one of your favorites.

If you’re on the road, it’s easy to get off-balanced in your diet. I recommend the Cracker Barrel menu that’s loaded with options for a conscious calorie counter, where you can find a healthy meal for under a thousand calories. Real homey comfort food and not a frozen packaged one.

👇 You can get to my Cracker Barrrel menu selections if you scroll way below. 

…But, as with most my blog articles, there is jam-packed meaty healthy inspiration and tips in between. So that’s where I’ll start… with my story.

My Food Life Lessons

I think I’m lucky because I have pretty much maintained the same ideal healthy weight since my late 20s (after some hairy years working  around decadent catering food).

And yep, I’m a Vata so my genetics play a big, big part.  I’m not a vain person, but I am self-conscious (another Vata trait we call sensitive). That could be you too.

We are all unique in that we have a different one-and-only body that’s given to us to maintain for our entire life. And that’s daily changing.

So we want to optimize our body and body image that’s relative to each of us. There are some tips that work for all of us females and humans. Some ideas that work better for some of us than others.

And you know your body better than anybody else.

For the lifestyle part, like everyone, I had to learn in life’s journey.

Early on I went into a testing phase and tried to listen to reliable sources about how to have a healthy body. I wanted to get more tone and slender so I tried the trendy health fad diets with so many others.

Back then, I focused on one diet in particular, where I counted calories. You can probably guess what happened?… I gained more weight during that season. I craved foods and especially pasta that I grew up eating and had given up.

I was also craving sweet foods I normally ate and gave up.  If you have a sweet tooth (e.g. for Vatas that’s your middle name), bread just doesn’t cut it as a sweet if ya know what I mean. 

That’s when I realized self-discipline and willpower produce backfiring results…

When I told myself “no” to certain foods, that just made me want them more.  …sound familiar? 

That’s because our minds, don’t actually hear “no.”  Instead, your mind hears you’re putting energy towards that food item, so then you just want it more. English isn’t your mind and body’s first language. Your mind-body interprets words by your feelings and actions…hmmm.

…so I ended up essentially on a “yo-yo” diet, where I was below weight, gained it back, and then went over the weight that I started with as I got a taste of the foods I loved like mac-n-cheese.

These were years before Oprah was popular on television and we learned all about the yo-yo diet effects from her sharing journey to the masses.

And, weight and size are relative to each of our bodies. In my body size journey, I went down to a size 2 (from a size 6 at the time) and grew to a size 8.

I have fit into the same size clothing and maintained a size 4 since then (it’s funny how some clothing pieces have come back in style a few times and I can live them up again!).  …OK, so before you judge or playfully roll your eyes at me, I KNOW what you’re thinking…

Oh my gosh, I would love to be a size 4 or 6 (if you are, you know what I’m talking about!)… Or maybe you prefer your ideal size whatever that is…

But the truth is, it doesn’t matter what your number, size, or weight is, as much as keeping overall balanced body proportions to your frame, where you like and feel better about yourself. When your feed your mind happiness, that shows up in a healthier body as body love (and NOT body shame).

That’s the ultimate goal (to feel good about ourselves and our self-image). We need to build up our self-esteem especially if it was beaten down in the past. You may have experienced PTSD or had a rocky childhood.

Or maybe you still need to heal from wounds, build self-confidence from insecurities, and develop an abundant mentality to replace the victim mentality. That’s common for most of us.

And like most personal growth goals, it’s up to you to make your choices along the way. That’s where replacing habits helps (plus, not denying yourself any one specific food or category to reach the goal).

Along my journey, these are a few tips I discovered in choices that I’ve found that make the biggest impact.

3 Weight Loss Tips for Daily Menus

Continue reading “Cracker Barrel Menu Calorie Counter + Healthy Losing Weight Tips”

7 Workplace Balance Ayurvedic Tips To De-Stress

An example of a nature image you could have on your office desk.

The workplace balance tips below can save you. And using Ayurveda in your work space can create a better work calm and stress-less zone. Besides creating collaborating harmony, you can grow in personal development.

If you’re brave or want to develop your leadership skills, getting in tune with your co-workers can be worth the time and effort.

Taking your nose off the work grind and looking up at what’s going on around you no matter how busy you are, can pay off and change the way you see your work. It could be the difference between your work happiness or dissatisfaction.

Learning to live balanced in your personal life plus incorporating  Ayurveda workplace balance tips add up to your overall happiness.

So here we go!…

Here are the 7 Ayurveda workplace balance tips to calm stress: 

The first 5 tips are to benefit you and your surrounding co-workers (that apply to you too if you’re the boss!). The last 2 are for your edge-up with your higher-up boss manager.

1. Meetings.  A subtle thing you can do is create a calm surrounding around you. When you’re in inter-office meetings, bring your calming scents either in your coffee or tea mug, or wear subtle scents if others don’t have allergies that you’re aware of.

Beverage scent allergies don’t exist. Even people who don’t drink coffee don’t mind the brewed coffee scents, as they’ve gotten used to the aromatic smell. Adding rose water in your coffee (…betcha that’s a slightly new one for you!) will help to calm you and the stressed worker next to you.

Match the desired beverage to the people you expect to be in your meeting.

You can also wear a subtle hint of patchouli or bergamot perfume scent.

…I know this can sound a ‘lil silly to be so coordinated. But why do you think when you walk into a nice spa or luxury hotel, the room you’re in smells so lovely and calming?  (The answer is, it changes how guests perceive their hotel property experience).

Being an ex-hotelier, I know the ways they try to win back return customers with subtle mood changers and amenities.

Scents help you and others stay calm and centered, and help to create a positive energy field.

On that note, keeping your smartphone in your pocket or a small bag from distracting notifications and silently vibrating phones can be what you need for a little peace moment.

You don’t see a phone in the yoga studio, so in the same way, you can treat your daily meetings with yourself like meditation breaks or an off-the-grid intentional focus session. Continue reading “7 Workplace Balance Ayurvedic Tips To De-Stress”

Thanksgiving Spices Healthy Rainbow Variety and Za’atar Recipe

Thanksgiving spices can include cumin, turmeric, and cayenne.

Thanksgiving spices are afterthoughts to the big day 🦃… after deciding where you’ll be, how you’ll get there, and even scoring the turkey food table star.

The weeks before Thanksgiving builds up anticipation. And even the day before, it’s still not too late to craft up an Ayurveda beneficial and spice-filled menu for a Happy Thanksgiving, created with an inspired rainbow color and variety tasty feast in mind. 🌈

That can linger on year-round after the holiday week has come and gone.

I’ll never forget the memories when I had family come over and there were very few recipe sites. Today, it’s completely different!

I still reference Martha Stewart. She used to have a television show… I don’t know if you remember or know about it, but I was a fan. 🎉

I’m still a fan, but the show has long moved onto YouTube and Instagram videos! But back in the day, my raving fan energy was elevated when I got to actually visit the live television set.

The crew even sent us home with one of the show guest’s cookbook… Clinton Street Baking Co. Cookbook (that has become a big deal in the Big Apple).

How did they know that was the perfect gift for moi? They must’ve known I was coming 😅

And that weekend, they opened up Eataly (the first in the U.S.) in the Flat Iron NYC district. Those were the days when I was working in marketing and event planning for a popular Spanish restaurant chain in my area (La Tasca owned by a large U.K. restaurant company). Some good foodie memories there 🍽 and so fitting for my attendance as I had spent years in hotel catering and restaurant food party planning.

This year, is completely different. Your Thanksgiving plans may have changed but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a meal that knocks it out of the park!  You can have punchy flavors using Thanksgiving spices you may not have considered.

And even in the Martha Stewart days, it was still traditional thyme and rosemary spices.

Since Thanksgiving is usually a home food event, so it’s a good excuse to crank it up a notch if you want, and maybe even try  different, healthy Thanksgiving spices that pleases your tastes and creative desires. And wows your family and guests. 🤩

I know you’re probably like this…  you have your favorite Thanksgiving foods and can be a ‘lil scared to try something new.

But I’m hear to encourage you to rainbow spice it up and I have some original blend ideas below!

So let’s go!

First, here’s a way to get your food senses heightened the week before turkey day (this Happy Thanksgiving). For starters, you can test and sniff your spices in your spice rack or cabinet. This will give you a week or two to get the ingredients you need as Thanksgiving spices become less potent or pungent.

And you can sit on which ones could work with you. Probably any of them, since they are in your cabinet. 😁

Remember, most Thanksgiving spices (and year-round spices) have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits (preventing free radicals that can spike disease/cancer growth), so whatever you use, you and your guests will be healthier.

Thanksgiving spices (ground or whole from seeds) and herbs (plants) can be the secret ingredients you add to a new dish. And how you can create your own spectacular eye-pleasing food art at the end as some have some pretty cool colors like purple and red. I love how spices and herbs have unique colors that you can find in a 96-Crayola crayon set.

Here are 11 Thanksgiving spices (listed in rainbow color order). I also have dish enhancement ideas from my party planning experiences below.

 

1.Red: Saffron (bitter, sweet pungent):

The thin strands are good-looking and tasting on ooey-gooey honey desserts. Did you know saffron is a mood lifter? …so if you have an imbalanced Kapha to feed (…maybe yourself?), this is an amazing addition.

Year-round: Add saffron to your seafood bisques and Manhattan Clam Chowder. It’s not just for paella Continue reading “Thanksgiving Spices Healthy Rainbow Variety and Za’atar Recipe”

High Acidic Foods and GERD Ayurveda Grocery List

GERD ayurveda grocery list

High acidic foods can wreak havoc on your daily gut-feeling life.

If you’re food shopping and trying to make choices for your grocery cart, adding a stomach-friendly GERD Ayurveda grocery list can enhance your eating life. Lowering stomach acidity and finding enhancing foods for balancing your body is fun, healthy, and sometimes what’s needed.

If you have a condition like high acid (or more severely GERD) in your stomach, whether you’re a Vata, Pitta, or Kapha (or have any of these imbalances), you’ll be interested in what you select for your refrigerator and pantry.

And, you’ve come to the right place for a list of safe foods to reduce GERD (or lower acidity) and increase balance (listed further below…)

Having a mix of fresh and pantry foods can give you a sense of calm, and especially if you have a backup supply of your favorite items because you leave any food comfort panic thoughts to rest. Continue reading “High Acidic Foods and GERD Ayurveda Grocery List”

Vata Body Mind Type: Is This Your Natural Way?

Vata body mind typeVata is a way to define a body and mind type. As a Vata, I know most of us are naturally thin and have worry tendencies.

Are you a Vata?

If so, this article post is all about you. And if you don’t know what a Vata is, you can discover more below.

You have several identities in this world.  I’ll share a few of mine…

Some are fun. You know those personality tests you can take (to learn about yourself and your friends). Well… in the self-taking Enneagram test, I’m most closely a 7.  We’re the happy enthusiasts.  …Hoo-ray!

Maybe that’s why I created this place for others to glean off of my happy aura 😊.

By the way, all the Enneagram types 1-9 are great (you’re still a complex individual and have potential traces of all the types). If you’re not familiar, Enneagrams are based on your general life motivations. Any one enneagram type is not better than another, but I like to cheer mine on (and be happy for the happy type). As an Enneagram 7, we’re known to be the optimistic and positive people in this world.

This makes sense because I naturally gravitate without hesitation towards life’s pleasures enjoying beauty, fashion and gourmet foods. Which makes people that know me wonder, how I can be so deeply spiritual?  I think of this combination as my superpower…  being in this world, but not entirely of this world.

On the outside, like all of us, I’m just a person having a daily spiritual journey. I found better answers inside from life’s challenges and life’s non-answers. In other words, in the silence.

I was actually born 90% Vata. “A who?”, you may ask if this is new to you.  That’s right, I identify as the Vata body-mind type in Ayurveda.  There are 3 types:  Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. We all possess traces in varying degrees of each of these types and any of us can get off balance (irritated, anxious, lethargic, etc.) from these types.

Today I’m just focusing on the Vata type… Continue reading “Vata Body Mind Type: Is This Your Natural Way?”

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