Category: Health & Wellness

Health & Wellness, Meal Planning

Personal Quiche

Lori Martin

OK, a little departure from my recent posts, but I had to share this one asap! As many of you know, I follow FASTer Way To Fat Loss for nutrition and exercise. Thankfully my time in Hawaii didn’t derail me, and now that I’m home I’m trying to get right back on track and let the program do what it does. Monday and Tuesdays are always “low carb” for macros and HIIT for workouts.

Confession – I struggle with my macros on Monday and Tuesday. The biggest struggle is planning for Monday and Tuesday. It’s easier for me to “throw together” food on “normal macro” days than it is for me on low carb days, so if I want to really get those targets, meal planning is necessary.

Here is something I saw on a reel (maybe Instagram, maybe Facebook) and I thought – “Oh yes – that one is happening”!!! Now, let me say, this is basically the same thing I normally eat to break my fast, BUT it’s just presented in a different way. I’ve done a “base” recipe here that I can add items to in order to switch it up and get some different flavors.

Personal Quiche

This one is SUPER easy. I used the SOUPer Cubes baking dishes that came with the set that I purchased. If you haven’t read my posts about these awesome tools, click HERE. I have two of the 5″ square ceramic baking dishes, which I used for two quiches (one for today, and popped the lid on the other for tomorrow).

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

2 Carb Balance Flour Tortillas

1/4 cup cottage cheese

Seasonings of your choice

Spray your baking dishes with cooking spray. Place a tortilla in each baking dish. Crack two eggs into each tortilla, making sure the tortilla is placed such that the egg isn’t going to run out. You’re using the tortilla as a “crust” for your quiche! Using a fork, mix up the eggs a bit. Add in 1/4 cup cottage cheese and mix lightly. When mixing, make sure you don’t break through the tortilla! Sprinkle with seasonings of your choice.

Carefully place the baking dishes into a preheated oven (375 degrees). Bake until eggs are set (use a toothpick or a knife to check eggs). Turn oven off and let them sit in the oven for 5 additional minutes to crisp up your “crust”.

Enjoy! You can eat one now and save one for tomorrow’s breakfast! The macros on this meal are awesome, IMO!

Macros

If you want to add items to this, it’s so easy! Add bacon, veggies, etc and add those to your food log with the Personal Quiche as your “base” recipe. Toss in some spicy sausage, peppers, and top with salsa for a south of the border flavor!

Two personal quiches – ready to go!

If you’re interested in Souper Cubes or FASTer Way To Fat Loss, check out my “A Few of My Favorite Things” page for links! I hope you enjoyed this quick, easy, delicious, and super healthy meal!

Health & Wellness

Wellness Wednesday

Lori Martin

We’ve all made them…we’ve all broken them. Here we are on January 15, so this is a check in. Did YOU make any New Year’s resolutions for 2025, and if so, are you sticking with them?

One of my “casual promises” is to take better care of myself – physically and mentally. Here’s a little Wellness Wednesday check in on my progress for doing just that.

I have exercised every day so far in 2025. THAT is a pretty big accomplishment for me – especially because I sneezed hard the other day and tweaked my back. This is what happens when you get old! Normally an injury would side-line me, but because of the things I’ve learned from FASTer Way To Fat Loss – not THIS time silly injury! Day one I decided to (gingerly) hop on the treadmill and walk instead of doing the FW workout for that day. That slow, intentional walk helped me loosen up and feel a bit better. Today was “Total Body Strength” and I decided I’d try that workout, but be smart about it. May times I did body weight only instead of adding weights. I went slower than the trainers on the video did, but I got through the whole thing, feel better than I did before, and no additional injury to the back. I call that a win!

Mentally I’m taking more “self-care” time. Keep in mind that self-care is different for everyone. Personally I enjoy knitting, DIY home manicures, reading, and watching a series (currently watching Yellowstone). Spending time with family and friends is definitely self-care for me, as is cooking and meal prep. (Finding some of Avery’s gingersnap cookies hidden in the fridge was self-care this week – ha ha) Some (or all…I’m not judging) of these things might sound horrific to you – and that is 100% OK! Find out what activities “heal” your body and mind and invest a little more time in those for YOUR self-care.

So, on that note – take some time to define YOUR self-care and take the time to do them! If you lost track of your resolutions (or casual promises) maybe give yourself some grace and remember that TODAY is a great day to recommit and get back to those goals. Progress over perfection, as I’ve learned from FASTer Way! Thanks for reading, and remember…

It’s never too late. YOU can change your routine, your interests, your career, your focus, your circle. YOU can change. Don’t stay stuck. Do better.

Health & Wellness

Facebook Memories

Lori Martin

I find myself using my Facebook account less often, but one thing I really enjoy is seeing the “Memories” that pop up each day. This week I had a few significant ones that I’d like to discuss.

First of all, three years ago during the COVID “shelter at home” I found a reason to get out of the house to go to a blood drive. I had not donated since I was 18, and I didn’t have a particularly good time at that point in my life, so I had not donated since. But, this time in 2020 was HARD y’all and I needed some human interaction with people other than the ones sheltering in my home with me…so off to the blood drive I went.

Fittingly enough, this week I received my “2 Gallon” pin from the American Red Cross. Not only did I start donating in 2020, but I kept going as I realized that donating blood was NOT a big deal and could really help people. I am O+, so one time the blood drive workers suggested I consider doing a Power Red donation, as O+ is very helpful and in need. Power Red basically takes just the red blood cells and puts the plasma back in, so you’re donating a double amount of red blood cells each time. I have found that any time I am giving blood (be it at a blood drive or for a doctor’s appointment) if I drink a lot of water they can find a good vein easier. Donating blood is SUPER easy and really helps people, so please consider it if you’re not a regular donor!

Another Facebook memory that actually popped up today is the “one year anniversary” of finishing my first 6-weeks following the FASTer Way To Fat Loss nutrition program. Ironically enough, I had basically let my good habits slide but last week I was determined to do ONE workout and to use their app to track my eating.

I’m sure I’m not the ONLY one, but when I track the food I eat, I always eat better! The amazing thing with FWTFL is the amount of food you eat. Seriously – even a year later – it blows my mind that if you’re eating the right balance of food, you need to eat a LOT in order to fuel your body. Last week I did workouts on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. I didn’t follow the workouts by day (as Friday and Sunday are both active recovery) but did total body, upper body, and leg day. I’ve been eating better and tracking what I eat. I feel a LOT better today than I did a week ago.

Honestly, I’m not sure WHY that surprises me. I feel like I’m a fairly intelligent person, but when it comes to my physical and mental health I’m a total ding-dong. Gee, if something makes me feel great and then I stop and feel like crap, it surely has NOTHING to do with the thing I stopped…??? What is wrong with my brain?

Anyway, I’m going to let that go and focus on each day as it comes. I’ve planned out my meals for the next week, made a list, and groceries are being acquired. When I did the first 6-weeks, the weight seemed like it was melting off of me and I wasn’t even doing the workouts. I feel like a newbie again, but this time I’m adding the workouts into my regular routine.

If you’re curious about the FASTer Way To Fat Loss, there are two main components I tell people. One is that you’re not counting calories, but Macronutrients (Carbs, Fat, and Protein). Here’s the thing – turns out your body actually NEEDS carbs, so all that time I spent avoiding bread, pasta, rice, etc….dumb. The other main component of FWTFL is intermittent fasting.

WAIT – don’t go away! As soon as I heard that when I was introduced to the program I was like “Sorry, not gonna work for me…I can’t do that”. Well – turns out I CAN and even when I was “train’s not even NEAR the tracks” off track, I still kept with an IF schedule because I felt so much better when I followed it. The IF period is slowly introduced when you work with a Coach on your initial 6-weeks, and seriously, it’s amazing what a difference it makes.

If you’re interested in giving FWTFL a try, I HIGHLY recommend joining my coach, Jill Lewis. She breaks things down and makes the transition to a healthier lifestyle totally do-able! You can click HERE to join through my referral link (I would NOT recommend it if I did NOT believe in it). Be sure you select Jill Lewis as your coach! There is a special “Midlife Mayhem” round starting on the 24th. My referral link is HERE and again – Jill Lewis is who you select for your coach. FASTer Way has special programs for men, breastfeeding mommas, etc. There is a HUGE group of women over 50 who are taking control of their health and wellness by what they eat. If you’re local and want to join me for a FWTFL workout, let me know and we’ll get together and give one a try!

I’m thankful for the memories that Facebook showed me this week. They remind me that there is ALWAYS something you can do for someone else. Helping others is good for the soul. The FWTFL also reminded me that this amazing feeling I have today is no accident – it’s because I’ve been working AND fueling my body and treating it well.

Have a great week!

Health & Wellness

Change

Lori Martin

Change is hard – so very hard. But life is full of change. I feel like I have been dealing with an extraordinary amount of change recently. My labels have changed – I am no longer Patch’s caregiver; my label as Drake and Avery’s Mom is changing as they are zooming into adulthood, so my role as their Mom is changing. There are many more, but basically right now I’m in the midst of a lot of change, and frankly, I’m not dealing with it well. I keep joking that I’m trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up, but seriously…what DO I WANT out of this life of mine?

Lately I’ve had a lot of questions. Questions lead me to seek answers, and books have always been a good place for me to find answers. I’ve been reading a lot, listening to audiobooks, and podcasts, and talking to others. I’ll be adding another page to this blog for links to books, programs, products, etc that I truly enjoy and have found benefit from. This isn’t a side-hustle to make money – if you see me endorsing something it’s being utilized in my life, and I’m of the opinion that it is helping make my life better.

One audiobook I was listening to recently discussed how we have to be motivated in order to DO things, but in order to be motivated we have to have ambition. That made me stop and think. One of my struggles is my own personal health and wellness. I KNOW that for myself, it is a set-in-stone FACT that my mental health and physical health are deeply connected. I feel that to be true for many people, but for MYSELF, I know this to be a FACT. And recently, my mental health has been in the shitter. I am stuck in a “Debbie Downer” phase where I am unable or unwilling to reframe things to see the positive. Frankly, it’s really starting to piss me off and worry me a bit, so last night after having that bit of an audiobook resonate with me and then thinking about how that could apply to my own life, I sat down with my iPad and opened my digital planner and wrote out some tasks to accomplish today.

These aren’t huge, mountainous tasks, mind you – so don’t think I’ve conquered some major things. Right now, little things ARE major things. But that’s ok, because that’s where I’m at. I’m teetering on the edge of goo…

I KNOW these facts about myself. If I eat clean, drink water, and get some exercise in each day, I just FEEL BETTER. All around feel better. So today, those were my areas of focus. I am drinking water, I did a workout, and so far I have eaten food that fuels my body. I also have a few other items on my “to do” list today, including getting the guest rooms ready again (we had family stay and two guest rooms needed the bedding washed and replaced), bathe the dog, and make a meal plan for next week. So far so good – everything is done except for some laundry still in the washing/drying stages and the meal planning, but everything else that I had listed is accomplished.

I also know that being creative fills my cup, so as I am nearing the end of my current knitting project, I will plan my next project this weekend, as it will require assistance from my lovely cousin who is an incredibly talented knitter and thinks she can help me through this pattern. I admire her confidence!

My daily goals are to workout, drink 100 oz. of water, and to eat clean. The other items on my “To Do” list should fall into place as the foundational tasks will help me to feel better physically and mentally.

I want a lot of things for my life right now, but I am choosing to focus on three things that I KNOW will make a difference in my mental and physical health. I also KNOW that when my mental and physical health are in better shape, the rest of my life falls into place easier and with less struggle. Today is one day along this path. These are but small steps on the journey, but the steps have been taken today and I feel good about that. Tomorrow I need to remember the feelings from today and push myself to have the ambition to drink the water, get some exercise, and fuel my body with good, whole food.

If you’re stuck, feeling down, or just craving something for your life but can’t define it, look to what you KNOW works for YOU. What makes you feel better mentally and physically? Identify that and then make THAT your ambition. Write it out. Put it in places around your home or workplace. Set alarms on your phone. Do whatever you have to do to remind yourself what your ambition is. Ambition is defined as “an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction; desire for work or activity”, so KNOW what your ambition is and then set yourself up to be motivated every day to make it happen. When you have an “off” day, don’t let that derail your entire journey. If I hit 2 of my 3 goals in a day, I cannot let that be the catalyst to giving up completely. We each know our own truth. Stay true to that and see what you can achieve. And remember, above all else – be kind to yourself. You’re the best you there is.