by Carmen Ohling | Nov 6, 2019 | Eat., Live.
Take the time to cook your food.
How possible does that seem to you?
We are a society that is so rushed and most people do not take the time to cook delicious, nutritious meals!!⠀
Need convincing on why you should?
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Here are all the benefits –
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1. You get to pick the ingredients that you like and enjoy. ⠀
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2. You get to control what’s added to your meals. Most restaurants use cheap oil when they cook your foods. Did you know this can lead to excess inflammation in your body?⠀When you’re in the one in control, you are able to be in charge of not only how amazing your food tastes but how it leaves you feeling when you’re done eating.
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3. You can try new foods, seasoning and ways to prepare your food. This is actually fun and it can get you out of that spaghetti-taco-meatloaf-pizza rut you’ve been in every week for the last 10 years!⠀
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4. When you slow down at meal time, not only to cook but to eat, your digestion improves and your body’s absorption of nutrients increases.
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5. The more you cook at home and control what you are putting in your body, the easier it will be to lose fat and meet your health goals!⠀
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4 EASY STEPS TO TAKE SERIOUS ACTION
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1. Plan to cook 2 new meals this week- see how it goes and try for 3 next week. (I’d love to see the meals you’re cooking! Share them online and tag #cookathomewithcarmen!) ⠀
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2. Write out your meal plan, prepare your shopping list, and then go buy all the shit you need. You can even make this feel like “me time” by preparing your meals and shopping list on a Saturday morning while you enjoy your cup of coffee or tea.⠀
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3. This is the important part…actually cook the meals no matter what! There will always be an excuse, but know that you will feel so good making your own meals! Consider this to be an exercise of putting yourself first – above all your outward commitments and things you should be doing.
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4. Make sure to save all the recipes you really love, so you can use then again!⠀
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HOW I CAN HELP:⠀
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Send me an email at carmen@carmenohling.com if you’d like to chat about how you can implement this in your life and finally start feeling the way you want to feel! I’ll be sure to send you a few ideas on how you can put a plan of action into place. ⠀
Trust me, together we can be healthy and live our best lives.
BONUS:
In order to help you start cooking at home, I’ve created 12 recipes for you featuring all things pumpkin. Click here to grab your free download! I know you will love them and that they will become a part of your weekly rotation this holiday season.
Wishing you a ton of light and love,
Carmen
by Carmen Ohling | Oct 31, 2019 | Live.
Do you want to know what most people say when I ask them, “What do you want?”
The answer is most often, “…. I don’t know.”
It’s funny because I remember at the beginning of this decade, my answer was the same! At the time, I was living my life based on other people’s expectations and what I thought I should be doing.
I was the “responsible one” out of my friends and my family. I was climbing the corporate ladder, we had the house, the kids, I volunteered, and was doing all of the things until one day, I just stopped in my tracks.
I couldn’t figure out what was wrong at that time but it was that I didn’t know who I was as a woman!
There were two things I needed in my life that set me on the journey of who I am today. I highly recommend you start digging into these two things as we wrap up 2019 so as we go into 2020, you can be moving towards what you actually want in life.
Experience More In Life
If you’ve been consuming my content at all, you know that one of the things I share most is that you can do more by doing less. This is how!
Start by asking yourself, “What is most important to me today?” and start intentionally creating experiences that are in line with that.
It is so, so easy to be on the treadmill of life and keep doing all the things that you’re “supposed” to be doing. For me though, that never gave me space to be creative or an opportunity to dream about what could be beyond the normal!
By stepping off the treadmill and intentionally creating more experiences, the more you’ll be able to figure out what is important to you and what you want. The next time you look at something and wonder to yourself, “I wonder what that is like,” go do that thing!
- Is it a cooking class?
- Is it a new play date with your kids?
- Is it joining a women’s group?
- Is it planning a new adventurous date with your partner?
Lean into any fear or nervousness it may bring up for you because that is a sign you’re about to uncover something amazing!
Collect Your Evidence
As you start creating these new experiences, it’s important to start collecting evidence that it is meant for you.
Do you ever have those days where it just feels like everything around you perfectly lined up? It’s probably because you took the time to slow down, check in with yourself, look up at the world, and noticed what was actually going on around you! This is so different than having your head down and being stuck in tunnel vision with all of your to-do’s. Sound familiar?
If you don’t know where to find pieces of evidence, start by observing the things that people always say you’re good at. Thing about those moments in your experience when you’re heart felt on fire and you felt pure joy!
Are you ready?
There are 65 days left in the year! Think about –
- How can you create more experiences?
- How can you follow your curiosities?
- How can you figure out what is most important to you?
All of this is so you can ultimately answer the question, “What do you want?”
Do this rather than waiting for New Years Eve to come around and set New Year’s Resolution that you’re never going to keep! (And it’s not just you – over 80% of New Year’s Resolutions are dissolved by February!)
Let’s not let another decade go by living someone else’s life, following someone else’s rules and not living in alignment with who we really are. That’s not what life is about.
I encourage you to collect experiences and collect evidence that life is for you.
Do you need any help with his? Email me at carmen@carmenohling.com so I can help you get on the right path to living the life of your dreams.
Wishing you a ton of light and love,
Carmen
by Carmen Ohling | Oct 23, 2019 | Movitation
LET’S DO THIS TOGETHER!
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life!
One of my daily intentions is focusing on what I have and what I know I can have, instead of picking myself apart or focusing on what I don’t have. Today, I invite you to join me. To get started read a few of my thoughts below and ask yourself these questions:
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A FEW THOUGHTS 💭👉🏽⠀
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1. Do you ever notice when you focus on what you don’t have or what you don’t want, you only seems to get more of the same?⠀
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2. Do you ever notice that when your in a state of constant stress (like many people everyday) you tend to pick yourself apart and feel like shit?⠀
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3. Do you ever notice that by focusing on what you don’t have all the time, you never actually get what you truly desire?⠀
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So here’s my daily game plan and again I invite you to join me:
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1. When I notice myself focusing on a lack mindset (ie- I am so stressed, I am never going to get this done, why does this come so easily to other people, etc) I will immediately stop 🛑 ⠀
Then, tell myself “I recognize that this thought is not of my highest self, I choose again.” And in this moment, with this intention, I can choose a higher thought. One of abundance and gratitude. ⠀
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It’s not always easy, but with consistent practice this can be a game changer for my life and yours! ❤️⠀
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If you’d like to share this intentional, daily practice with me comment below: I CHOOSE A HIGHER THOUGHT!
Want to chat more about this topic? Email me at carmen@carmenohling.com!
Sending you a ton of light and love,
Carmen
by Carmen Ohling | Oct 17, 2019 | Uncategorized
I remember when I left my 16 year, successful corporate career.
For 16 years I worked on average 6 days a week, 10 hours a day. I loved my job and I was freaking good at it! So why did I find myself in my car before work one day crying? You know what- I had no idea why I was crying but after that day I was on a mission to find out!
There were a lot of thoughts with me when I thought about what I should do. I should stay in my career because –
- I’ve been here for 16 years
- I’m the primary breadwinner for my family
- My entire community knows me as this career woman
The loudest thought that downed out all of the “should’s” was that I had forgotten who I truly was. There was no congruency in my life and I had no idea what I stood for as a woman. I cried that day that I left my successful career, and I’d love to say they were all tears of joy but the truth is that it was scary to let go of a career that I had established as my identity. It was like ripping off a bandaid and all I kept thinking to myself was, “who the hell am I without this?” Not knowing what was next and heading into the unknown was terrifying but it was what I needed to do.
The New Shift
Fast forward 5 years….. My husband and I decided to sell the home we lived in for 15 years in Oregon, along with 90% of our belongings, and move to Colorado. You’ll never believe this, but the day we moved into our condo was actually the first day I ever saw it. If we had moved 10 years prior, there’s no way that would have happened!
The truth is that today, one of the most exciting things in my life is the uncertainty of the new opportunities that I’m experiencing. I actually like not being in control of what’s happening and rather, being open to the world and what might happen.
The more that I have released my grip on everything in life, the more open I have been to what the world has for me. This has led to more connections and more opportunities than ever before.
Do you want to know why?
The Power of Letting Go
I’ve realized that trying to be in control of everything keeps you playing small because you have less to lose. By releasing your hold on control and opening up, it allows you to experience more, play bigger and see what is possible.
Letting go does not mean letting your goals go, it just means letting go of the outcome. This means that every day, you can take deliberate, intentional action to achieve your goals, but you don’t have to white-knuckle it daily for a specific outcome. Instead, you’ll see the world around you with open eyes and an open heart rather than limiting yourself with tunnel vision.
Does that tunnel vision sound familiar?
It’s okay if it does! As an ambitious, goal oriented woman, I’m sure you’ve made it where you are today by “keeping your eye on the prize”. But imagine what you could create with the world around you if you open your heart to exploring the unknown.
Use This Question to Keep Moving Forward
I invite you to sit down and start asking yourself this question, “What am I curious about today?”
Is this a new book or podcast? Taking a new fitness class? Trying out a new recipe?
When we follow our curiosity, we can really understand what we’re passionate about.
If you can’t think about what you’re curious about today, that is okay! Can you think about what you were curious about 5 years ago? 10 years ago? 15 years ago?
When we were children, we were curious about everything! However, we heard “no, don’t do that” about a million times and it’s become ingrained in us to not do things. But by allowing some time for play and for joy, the creative and curious version of yourself is likely to emerge.
For more tips and to learn more about my story, Click here to listen to the episode of the Why Should I? Podcast where I talk more in depth about why I continue to pursue the uncomfortable and how it’s changed my life!
Wishing you a ton of light and love,
Carmen
by Carmen Ohling | Oct 10, 2019 | Live.
People always tell me that they need more time in their day.
I disagree.
I believe that what you actually need is more energy. The amazing thing about energy, is that you get to protect it! You can shield yourself from distractions and other things that drain your energy. (This topic is something that we can ALL use – even myself.)
It’s probably no surprise that one of the biggest distractions for most people is their phone!
Did you know that the average person checks a social media app around 10 times (or more) per day. Often times, we end up reaching for our phones out of habit! On top of that, we don’t even realize that we’re checking it!
Fun fact: Studies show that when you check one of your social media apps, you’re average session is between 10-20 minutes. The math is clear and simple.
If you check your phone 10 times a day and spend 20 minutes each time on it, you are spending nearly 3 ½ hours of your day on social media! (And you say you need more time, huh?)So I ask, why are you on social media in the first place?
Most responses to this question including “trying to connect with friends or family” or even “connecting for business reasons”. But the truth is that most people fall into the 90/9/1 rule.
Here’s what that is:
- Most people are spending 90% of their time are consuming information.
- 9% of the time we are interacting with information.
- 1% of the time we are actually creating a post.
My next question for you is, what kinds of content are you consuming?
Often times, we are looking at people and wondering why we aren’t doing what they are doing, or we’re comparing ourselves and feeling less-than. These kinds of thoughts take up so much space in our brain!
This content is not building us up, it is sucking energy out of us.
It’s completely distracting us from all of the things we’re trying to accomplish in the first place!
So – if you are trying to get things done while dealing with these distractions, think of what you could be doing with the 3 ½ hours social media may be taking from you.
We have less than 90 days in 2019 and that means that if you still want to take powerful steps forward to reach your goals, you may need to tweak some of your actions. I’ve got you covered – here is a challenge and a tip.
Challenge: Don’t hop on social media for the rest of the day and cut yourself off mid-day for the next three days. I encourage you to do this as thoughtfully and as intentionally as you can. Don’t just try to rush through the next 10 hours and celebrate by curling up with your phone before bed. Really think about how checking out for a bit makes you feel.
- Are you more present?
- Are you actually listening to what your family and friends have to say?
- Do you feel more engaged with the world around you?
- Are more focused and alert?
- Are these feelings you haven’t felt in a while?
- Do you want to keep feeling this way?
If so, you can try incorporating something called ‘batch working’ into your routine. There are plenty of apps that can help with this, but essentially you’ll choose one task to focus on and turn off all notifications so Facebook, Instagram, email, etc. aren’t there to pull you out of focus.
I want to hear from you! Email me at carmen@carmenohling.com and type “I’m in!” the subject line so I know that you’re trying to make this change. I’d love for you to check back with me after your three days and let me know what showed up for you…..
I’m so excited to see what you discover.
Wishing you a ton of light and love,
Carmen
