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.
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.
The gifts of imperfection are not found in holding onto perfection. I learned the hard way in and around the area I grew up in…
If the U.S. Capitol were a cake, it would have perfect lines, and these were the standards in the schools and household I grew up in.
If you change your perfection ways, you can discover the gifts of imperfection over perfection. You can achieve bigger and better things.
Perfection can create unwanted side effects like anxiety and self-pity (that you can overcome). If you’re an overachiever, you know how aiming for perfection can create performance anxiety.
Thankfully “progress over perfection” replaces “practice makes perfect” in our delicate world.
Because early on I wasn’t perfect in school. I attended the #1 highest ranking public high schools in America (in the DC suburbs) at the time, and that didn’t help my cause. Let’s say I ended up doing well, but that didn’t seem perfect or good enough at times especially when applying for top colleges.
At home, my dad was a high achiever, a hardworking Harvard architect who graduated at the top of his class, earned an impressive scholarship, and the whole nine yards. He had high ideals in life and I got the passed-on message about those ambitious expectations.
Perfection was a value and I was more like an Eton Mess than perfect.
You can make your own Eton Mess (steps on how to make below) to help you remind you that imperfection still creates a form of edible perfection that tastes great.
I didn’t always know what the expectations were but I knew I fell short, so I bagged the perfect model concept early on. The problem was I had nothing to replace with, like progress over perfection. Or fail forward means you’re trying.
But I kept going and so did you…
If you’ve carried perfectionist ideals along your journey, I know where you’re coming from. It’s not easy to shake off the past… with the good, bad and ugly.
And thing that did help me was knowing that no one on earth. There was only one and he’s no longer on earth.
So I decided that good meant keeping high standards and wanting to make achievements in life (and valuing the gifts of imperfection).
Naturally, you want to do your best but the wheels do fall off sometimes in our fallen world.
And when you become obsessive in the process of an outcome, that can be self-destructive and unhealthy.
Perfectionist behaviors can also negatively rub off on other people or into blame situations.
The ego or Imposter mind can be crafty and find coping ways to urgently nourish your soul and body if you let your mind run and ruin your life. Keeping your mind separate from you and your spirit can help your journey.
Re-defining and embracing imperfection is the healthier way to a happy life.
The Gifts of Imperfection at Work
Remind yourself that being imperfect is better. Maybe, that’s getting things done is better than none.
Remind yourself how you made imperfection work for you in the past. That people embraced your imperfect work.
…If you forgot to do something, as we all do, you’re no longer perfect so that helps you to rule out perfection as always. Our ego loves to use “always” and “never” when it’s usually more like “sometimes”, “often”, or “rarely.”
You may not even have missed out on this activity in any impactful way.
One of the best things you can do to let go is to fail at something and see that: 1) you survived, 2) you’re okay, and 3) something good came out of your scenario… maybe it was that you learned 1 and 2 and can repeat. Usually you can find a positive if you want to that helps your outlook and growth.
You can embrace: Good is good enough. When I embraced this mantra, it helped me to hit “send” and “publish.”
You get more done and are happier taking the stress and pressure off yourself. Because what will be, will be. So many factors are out of controls anyways.
Being imperfect sets you up to keep going, doing, and trying…. and eventually finding your purpose or destiny.
Catching and correcting written spelling and grammar mistakes is good but is different than making sure every word is perfect to your mind’s satisfaction. There’s a fine line between valuing your work and what you do, and obsessing over the quality because of what that would represent if you didn’t perform well in some way.
Your performance isn’t as important as those youu impact. That’s the lesson from the movie Burnt where Actor Bradley Cooper’s Type-A and chef character learns that letting go of his perfection for a calmer teamwork environment brings home the additional Michelin star success.
The supporting kitchen staff actors are empowered to do their jobs without feeling like they’re walking on eggshells in front of their boss.
You may have also learned this lesson as an employee working with others and working towards climbing the organization ladder.
And you may have found that those promoted weren’t necessarily the hardest workers who delivered flawless work. Some weren’t even as qualified as the person who should’ve gotten the promotional job, but they were trusted with their work given to them (as part of the gifts of imperfection).
Most importantly, they worked at building relationships and connections while others focused on producing the best work.
Building good rapport is a skill that’s valued and can be even more difficult than keeping the head down doing work. People want to work with those they know, like, and trust. So letting your guard down some and letting them know a personal side of you can help you win points.
It’s not just in what you say or how you say it. There’s an energy that you give off even when you’re sitting in front of your computer that you may not even know you’re giving off.
Everyone has a part they can play no matter what special personalities they display. Your non-judgment of others and focusing on their positives is what will create a good work environment for you…
Not necessarily being the person who does perfect work. Perfection is an illusion. What you do today, will be obsolete tomorrow or forgotten by most, years from now. Who you showed up as, and your progress contributions will be remembered.
So, what if you’re caught up in the perfectionist trap?
If you find yourself falling for perfectionist obsessive ways, being self-critical or beating yourself up, here are some smart steps to take:
Be perfect.
Whaaat? Yes, be perfect. It’s all in your mind. When you force yourself to NOT do something, you unintentionally end up doing that behavior. Because your subconscious brain doesn’t hear NOT.
It picks up that you are focusing energy towards that area. It’s not always helping you, and your eyeballs can even skip over the words “not,” as part of the process if you’re reading words on a page.
So you’re trying not to be perfect, can backfire. (I’ve deliberately highlighted the word “not” in several ways here to catch your attention).
Instead in self-awareness, catch yourself and realize that you don’t want to do that anymore. Because before you probably didn’t see it when you were acting that way, but now you’re aware.
So give yourself grace to take two steps forward and one step backward in growth.
In the beginning, it can be like an internal dance you’re trying to figure out. But you’ll get it because you’re trying to make it better than the old ways that didn’t work the way you hoped.
Your trying can shift over to your growing out of perfection instead of toward your output.
Imperfection takes less effort, and caring less sometimes is the answer if your mind is running the show.
Eventually the gifts of imperfection outweigh perfection with your desires and efforts.
But, there are exceptions and times when you do want to shine and be as perfect as possible. So you don’t want to lose all your perfection traits if that’s what comes naturally to you.
Like when you have a performance or presentation to give and want to wow the critics. Or you have a test or an interview to ace. The difference here is that these aren’t everyday occurrences and they’re solo acts you want to nail.
Back when I had school team presentations, several times I was disappointed when the group didn’t do the part they agreed to. Letting go of the idea that everyone was as dedicated, I learned later to do every piece of their part and mine, as though it were performed and turned in solely by me…
That was my backup plan.
If the team came through on their parts, then I would rely on them. And when they did, I realized that we had better information as I could chime in with additional insight in their areas and mine because the research was done.
I gave my best and that’s all I could do. And that’s the attitude to embrace for progress over perfection.
Stay Authentic
In make or break situations, stay authentic to your deeper, healthy self desires.
Let go of worries.
Striving for high standards is a better way of living.
Be happy with your imperfect message and letting your caring, human side come out.
You can come back and change your thoughts. You don’t have to nail every point flawlessly the first time. We think we never have a chance to do over.
That’s true only if you think it is. If you came across as serious before, you can come back as light-hearted or funny in a pivot around new audiences.
Be comfortable where you are and your confident energy will shine through. Keep showing up the way you want to be perceived.
You get to be who you want to be as human, not perfect (remembering the gifts of imperfection).
If you think these tips could help someone grow, please share with them.
And here’s how you can make your own Eton Mess dessert that could be a good metaphor to embracing your authentic creativity and imperfection inside you.
fruits (raspberries, blueberries, lychee, cantaloupe shown in photo)
Instructions
Shape meringue to liking on a baking sheet. Bake in oven on a low temperature around 250°F/120°C or less until marshmallowy soft but crisp. You'll be able to see when the edges are starting to toast.
Let the meringue cool and break off on your plate in a mess. Add and pile on fruits you would like to use to create a modern art dessert plate.
Home exercise program habits are a great way to get your exercise and healthy energy jolt in if you only have a few minutes.
And enjoying a blueberry bite can refreshing when you’re warmed up! Sherbet recipe below ⬇️ 🫐
Since the pandemic days, most of have tried or incorporated a video or home exercise routine. And for some this has stuck and is a regular plan over gyms or in-person fitness classes. And wherever you choose to exercise, your body will appreciate. You can check your minutes, stand, and move points. 🎯
A regular home exercise program is good for relieving anxiety and daily de-stressing if you need a motivator during low energy times. You don’t need equipment, just your body as weight.
You can even do simple exercises laying on your bed, a mat, or a floor. You don’t need equipment other than your body. That’s what yoga is.
You can do leg lifts and invisible bicycle movements while you’re watching shows. Those are low-intensity but they add up. And may keep you away from the couch potato moves that you’re trying to get away from.
Using just your body, you don’t have a clunky piece of equipment that’ll become a towel rack in months. Most of us have all done similar where we had a good exercise plan in mind and it didn’t pan out. Keeping things simple always pays off!
And implementing a simple home exercise program can be the change maker to your feeling happy, energetic, and successful today… in addition to being more fit.
Because if your mind is satisfied and feeling accomplished, then you feel happy. And feeling happy is all that matters over an activity you don’t enjoy and it feels like work. Amen!?
Getting oxygen circulating to your brain also is the energy boost you need to get things going! And in that positive direction, exercise can motivate you to eat healthier and lighter that helps your gut. For some people, exercise is a good activity to do while fasting especially in the first few hours where you reap several benefits.
Today we know that most of our happy hormones are made in our gut so we want to keep our gut happy and healthy. Plus, there’s a gut-brain connection in the body-mind connection that affects our daily moods, outlook, and attitudes. 🌱
With our world back together, let’s keep up our steps. 👣
Easy home exercise program ideas needing no equipment:
Cardio exercise and high intensity interval training (HIIT) get the heart rate up that is one life-giving activity every human can use. We also improve our breathing and ability to control our breath longer.
Exercise examples include:
Burpees push-up and jump-up combos are a great way to ease tension from staying in cramped quarters. You can burn off pent-up Pitta anger or Vata anxiety you hold in seconds.
Plus, exercise helps the Kapha wake up and all of us sleep better.
If you want to stay indoors or have outdoor allergies, running (in place), and doing jumping jacks works too.
Online classes with yoga, barre, and pilates can keep you engaged and in a routine if you need more focused stimulation.
Most of us have taken a class or two this way that you can even find for free on YouTube channels like the Well+Good channel I subscribe to where you can get a balanced workout.
Here are some other home exercise program moves you can create for relieving anxiety and overall good physical fitness health:
House stair master substitute. If you live under a roof with stairs, run up and down the stairs several times. Then when you come down the, slowly walk down backward (recommended if you have carpeted stairs only so as not to slip).
If you live in a condo or apartment, opt to take the stairs instead of the elevator. And if you live in a one-story home, you can do repetitive leg lifts.
You can switch the mindset of parking closest to your destination. Park far away and avoid the potential car dings, get the shaded parking spots, and also get your exercise points in.
You can also practice mindfulness and get present with your body and how it feels in each muscle movement.
As we age we start to feel joints more and we lose muscle. And that’s all the more reason to keep up the exercise!
Natural steps stretch your hamstrings and other muscle parts of your legs and buttocks. Your gluteus maximus has the largest muscle group in your body, so focusing on these muscles will provide a high reward for your efforts.
Jump rope (or jumping jacks). Take a piece of rope and add a small weight to the bottom. Then start jumping rope. Do repetitions of forward and backward jumps for variety.
This (and hula hoops… remember those?) is great for tiring kids out with lots of energy. Of you can bounce a stress ball against the wall and play catch for stretching arms naturally.
…Jumping jacks are also a great way to get your blood circulating from head to toe. These are great to do especially if you’ve been sitting for a long time, and your legs or feet have fallen asleep.
Daily sit-ups. Do daily repetitions. Your stomach supports your back that you need for just about every movement.
If you have a longer torso, a better situp would be half crunches where you don’t go back down to the floor fully. You will still get the stomach benefits. And try to hold the crunch longer to reap more muscle benefit.
A variations is you lay flat on your back, raise your legs straight up to the ceiling and then lift up your torso and try to reach your hands to your ankles. That’ll hurt good!
Rest, and then continue and do as many reps as you can.
Lift dumbell weights or use milk gallons filled with water that have handles.
But before you do that move, add in a warm up routine. Yoga works well for this before you lift weights when muscles can be cold, tight, or contracted. Never skip the warmup part even for a home exercise program that you’re in charge of..
And one exercise that you probably haven’t counted…
Cleaning and straightening the house stretches your muscles and is exercise. When you’re cleaning, you’re actually doing yoga. You have to bend, stretch and squat to reach every nook and cranny in the house. Your cleaning poses are working smaller muscles. When you look at it that way, cleaning isn’t a chore and can be relaxing. 😊
That is a good segue into yoga that has great physical and mental health benefits, such as helping you calm, reducing anxiety, stress, tension, and depression.
If you don’t have a yoga mat, you can use beach or old towels (aren’t you glad you kept those?).
Start with deep breathing. For calming, I’ve modified my own yoga breathing technique. I found that inhaling deeply through your nose and exhaling long breaths through your mouth (for full air release from lungs) are most satisfying for releasing tension.
You instantly feel lighter.
But you can also stick with traditional yoga breaths through the nose.
Performing these breathing exercises increase the flow of oxygen, releases tension, slows the mind, improves concentration, and calms emotions.
When you’re ready to start your poses, keep in mind you can do your own modifications. Yoga poses should feel good for you, like a good stretch. Poses should not hurt. Everyone’s bodies are different so adjust the variation of the pose to your body.
Use: in any yoga pose, you can hurt yourself to be mindful and careful.
Test the waters on each pose without trying the maximum stretch on your first few sessions. Like the effects from any exercise in an exercise home program, you won’t know how the pose affected your body until a day or two later.
You can have a flexible torso, but a stiff neck or back. Everyone has a different range of motion.
We all need daily stretching and cardio to stay limber, healthy, and fit. The goals in yoga are flexibility, balance, and strength.
The best way to learn yoga poses is to see the pose and hear the pointers on what you don’t want to do.
From your home, you can watch and listen to videos on each pose to see the proper body alignment and learn about the intended goal of the pose.
Yoga Exercises For Your Home Exercise Program
Standing poses:
Sun Salutation poses — good for morning heart openers. We have a tendency to cave our bodies inward and look down. Sun salutation help to open the body.
Mountain poses (commonly referred to as tadasana) — aligns the spine and restores balance to the body and mind.
Start mountain pose standing with hands in a position like the prayer emoji where you’re praying at your heart center
Then raise your arms up towards the ceiling.
Fold the entire torso down towards the floor, and let arms hang down (in forwarding bend pose). Hands can rest on feet or as far down on your calves as you can.
Forward bend poses — helps back, spine, and back of hamstrings
Standing or sitting poses: Do Cactus Arms throughout the day to open your shoulders. Good especially if you hunch over a lot, are straining on the computer, or work in a kitchen or factory standing for long periods of time.
Yoga Floor poses:
Cat/Cow (knees and hands-on floor) — good back and spine stretch. Tabletop is the neutral position in between Cat and Cow poses.
Downward dog (feet and hands flat on the floor) — releases tension in the shoulders, hamstrings
Chair with hands in the air (feet on the floor) — energizes the body, strengthens the entire leg muscles and lower back
Sitting poses:
Spinal twist — helps the spine to rid of stiffness
Hero — keeps your knees flexible
Front on mat poses:
Cobra — expands the rib cage, chest, and abdomen
Bow — strengthens the back, opens the chest, tones the thigh and buttocks
Half locust — helps buttocks, back of thighs, posture; improves circulation
You could do a Plank pose (great for arms like push-ups) and then lower down into a Cobra, Baby Cobra, or Sphinx pose as a (Vinyasa) flow.
If you’re new to yoga, many yoga poses have animal, nature, or object names. Their pose names inspire peace, beauty, and purpose. For more inspiration, check out these 100 yoga poses.
Yoga can help keep intention focused on staying healthy and provide calm, gentle exercises for anxiety and stress reduction.
And to reward yourself in all your hard work and to cool down, how about a low-fat blueberry sherbet.
