This month’s coaching tip is about how to never fail at your goals again by giving yourself some grace and how to recover when you “fail” with your goals. (PS – you don’t actually fail the goals, the goals fail you). This month’s recipe is a slow cooker gem that is satisfying both for fullness and flavor. And slow cooker means more time to relax and rest!

Did this month go really fast for you too? I had plans to get so many things accomplished this month and now it’s over… and many of the things aren’t done.

I know I’m not alone. Especially in today’s culture where we are overloaded with tasks coming at us from multiple directions. So, yeah, I only released one heart health blog in February, when I had planned to release five. Whoops?

Did I fail? Nope. Because I really do believe it’s possible to never fail at your goals again!

But yes, sure, at first, it was stressful. I considered spending more hours at the keyboard to write and update blogs. Then I gave myself some grace and decided the sky would not fall if I didn’t meet my self-imposed deadlines. So, you can expect to see these articles come out when I can get them done without forcing it!

Many of you may be feeling the pressure and stress of things from your own self-imposed deadlines, tasks, or goals. Especially since we are rolling into March and those of you who set out with new healthy habits starting in January… are likely feeling the pull of the old comfortable habits and it’s making things HARD!

If this sounds familiar, please read on to learn my process on how to never fail at your goals again!

I encourage you to give yourself some grace too. Start to offload the things on your to-do list that you can. Start to do less. You deserve to rest. In fact, you will show up better when you allow yourself time to relax and recharge.

“Sometimes you have to give your body a break… Rest to restart and break to breakthrough.” – Ned Bryan Abakah

Yours in good health,
Alexia Lewis, RD
Master’s Level Nutritionist
Registered Dietitian
Certified Health Coach

What’s On My Table

Ever wondered what a dietitian eats? Surprise! It is not only super-healthy foods. This dietitian eats for nutrition and for pleasure. You can too. 

It was time for a new crockpot. Typically, Sunday dinner leftovers get me through a couple of weekday dinners. I’ve been slowly increasing the number of patients I see each week, so it was time to find another option for a dinner to get me most of the way through the week.

And by another option, I mean an I’m-too-tired-to-cook-dinner option. Enter the slow cooker (aka crockpot).

I did way too much research online. So many options. Anyone else starting to long for the days when you walked into a store and had 2-3 options? Information and choice overload is real. Anyway, I opted for the Ninja Foodi Everyday Possible Cooker Pro. (No affiliations with Ninja). Lemme say that I love it!

Now, what to cook?

Answer: Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.

If you’ve ever worked with me, you know I love the SkinnyTaste website for recipes. I don’t like the name of the website (sorry Gina!), but I do love all the recipes I have made from the website. Every single  one has been a winner! And the author works with RDs now, so I’m all in.

The Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Sweet Potatoes recipe is beyond easy. We add sriracha but otherwise, follow the recipe. This dinner has been in the weekly meal rotation since the first time I made it. We do add another chicken breast and two small potatoes (or one large one to split) so we get six meals.

You may look at that recipe and ask me, where are the veggies?? Especially if you’ve worked with me as I do encourage most people to eat more vegetables. Insert eyeroll. I know, I know. So predictable for an RD!).

On Sundays, we also meal prep for salads by rinsing, spinning, and chopping lettuce and peeling and slicing carrots. We keep the lettuce in a Stasher bag, which I love for ease of use, cleaning, and not being wasteful (no affiliation). We keep the carrots in a big mason jar.

We slice and add sugar bomb tomatoes (have you had these? OMG so good!) and mini cucumbers before eating because they don’t keep as well when prepped ahead and it doesn’t take much time. Then we top with some salad dressing and oyster crackers. I love these as an alternative to croutons.

So, no original recipe from me this month. Just a way to get a delicious and balanced dinner on the table with minimal work for those busy weekdays.

What I’ve Been Coaching On

You can catch a glimpse of what my coaching style is like in this section, where I share some of what I’m working with my clients on. This is based on my experience with my patients and is provided solely for educational purposes. It may NOT be appropriate for you. Please check with your healthcare provider before making changes based on the information provided here.

With my private practice, I used to promise that my clients would never fail at their goals again. That’s a mighty big promise. And I still stand by it.

First up though, we are all so mean to ourselves. So, I implore you, please don’t tell yourself that you have failed at your goals.

Does this sound familiar? OMG, I totally failed at my goal to only ever eat salads… that must mean that I am a failure… that means that I will never be able to get healthy… so, screw it… and does DoorDash deliver cakes? And where’s my blanket? And what’s the newest show I can binge-watch?

Been there? Yah, me too. We’re human.

Here’s the thing: If a goal isn’t working, blame the goal, not yourself.

Read that again. I’ll wait.

Once that sinks in, I hope you realize that you can fix that goal (not fix yourself!). A better goal that will work for you without you having to get on the struggle bus.

Start to consider each goal as an experiment, because it kinda is.

We think we know what might happen, but we don’t know for sure.  It’s normal to believe the future will be just like the past. 

Even if there was an outcome in the past that you expect will happen again, it’s not set in stone. You don’t have a crystal ball. (Learn more about the cognitive distortion called fortune telling).

You may have changed. Your situation may have changed. You may be working with an RD and that’s a change. (Just sayin).

With an experiment, we give it go, see what happens, and learn from the results. Aka FAFO.

There may be tons of “nope, that’s not it” attempts on the way to “oh yah, this works.”

So, consider each attempt as a “practice run” that can teach you something valuable if you look for it.

Reflect back to what happened right before you stopped working towards the goal. At some moment, you made a decision, conscious or not, to stop.

When you identify that moment and find the trigger for that decision, you can plan around it next time. 

In other words, you can make that goal better. And by better, I mean personalized for you, your life, your circumstances, and your goals.

And now, my friends, you have not failed. And you know exactly how to never fail again.

Medical Nutrition Therapy

Wanna get some help with your own personalized no-fail goals? How about more ways to get a heart-healthy meal on the table with less week-day effort?

Let’s do it!

Click right here to get to Alexia’s provider page, choose a date/time and start the scheduling process.

• One of the first screens when you start will let know if your health insurance is accepted by Nourish.
• Before you finish the booking process, you will enter your insurance information and get an estimate of the expected costs.

And, of course, you can reply to this email if you have questions or want to be hooked up with another amazing RD at Nourish. I’m happy to help! 

About Alexia Lewis RD

Hi there! I’m Alexia and I believe in science, humor, and delicious food.

Heart health is my jam. I love to write and speak publicly on this topic and all aspects of living a heart-healthy lifestyle.

I believe you shouldn’t sacrifice your mental health in pursuit of better physical health. You deserve to be both happy and healthy. You don’t have to choose just one.

I am a master’s level nutritionist who is also a registered and licensed dietitian in multiple states in the USA, a certified personal trainer, and certified health coach. I also invested in becoming a culinary nutritionist and weight management specialist. In other words, I got you.