I’ve oh so originally come up with a rule for myself. Not unlike Mel Robbins 5 4 3 2 1 rule, the 15 minute rule attempts to serve the same purpose from a different direction.

Both rules service to ignore the excuse making thoughts you have. They’re used to override the parts of your brain that make tasks into a bigger deal than they really are, which keeps you from taking action.

5 4 3 2 1 GO rule that Mel Robbins implements gives you a start time. Need to get out of bed? 5 4 3 2 1 GO.

Need to start your laundry? Need to get up a shower? Need to start the project you’ve been putting off? 5 4 3 2 1 GO.

It’s a wonderful rule, that helped me immensely when it comes to getting many things done.

I hit a wall however. I can begin sure, but mid task I get distracted and move onto the next thing. I start cleaning but then a friend sends a tiktok and I down to watch it and get stuck for 30 minutes scrolling.

So, the 5 4 3 2 1 GO rule gives you a great way to start, but the 15 minute rule provides an end. Sometimes when we see an end, we are more likely to start something because it feels less daunting.

I also found that, the 15 minute rule is a trick that leads me to continuing way past the 15 minute mark.

For example, I set a timer to focus and clean my room for 15 minutes. I try to get as much done as possible, but if I’m almost done by the end of the 15 minutes, I’m not going to leave the vacuuming or whatever else is left for next time. I’m just going to finish the job.

If I tell myself to sit down for 15 minutes and write, but completely focussed, phone away, no distractions, I’m more than likely going to get sucked in and complete whatever I’m working on. Honestly, even if I don’t, I’m happy I got my brain moving and my creative juices flowing, because…

15 Minutes is Better Than NONE

“I won’t have time to spend an hour at the gym today” okay, 15 minutes is better than 0 for that day. Truly, THAT IS WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE! Plus, that 15 minutes will turn into 30.

If you work on a creative project, on a task, or cooking, on learning for 15 minutes a day, that comes out to almost 2 hours a week! That is NOT small number. Thinking about sitting down and giving something your undivided attention for 2 hours is a great intention, but it’s likely to deter you from even starting. Now the week is over, and you’ve given that thing you want to work on 0 hours of your time, and so, it’s pushed out to “Monday”, and the cycle starts again.

Dedicate yourself for only 15 minutes to any certain thing and you will begin to feel so much better about yourself. You’ll start looking forward to the 15 Minute Challenge DAILY.

It’s only 15 minutes.

Sit down and do the math. What percentage of your days is spent consuming vs. creating?

I’d feel safe betting my savings account on majority of people under 30 spending less than 10% of their lives creating.

How many hours do you spend scrolling? That’s a easy one, that ones obvious.

But how much time do you spend listening to music? Podcasts? Consuming the creations and thoughts of others?

Not to mention watching shows, youtube videos, even in the name of educating yourself or seeking inspiration. You’ll get lost in the endless loop of consuming self betterment content and run out of time to actually put what you learned into practice.

We are creators. Humans are creators. Do what you love is a great sentiment, but learning what that is takes work. Mainly because we only tend to love what were doing once we get good at it or gain some sort of notoriety.

Create – but for what?

Creating for the simple purpose of profiting in the end has kept me in that paralyzing loop of consuming information on how I can create and then profit from it.

What type of content SHOULD I make to gain followers? What kind of digital product SHOULD I make to make money? What skill SHOULD I learn to make more money?

I’ve gotten lost in the sense of needing to spend every second of my free time away from my actual job trying to find a way to make more money with my freetime. Sure, more money is always better. We also measure success with numbers because its the easiest visual aid. We definitely don’t want to feel that our time is wasting, since it’s so fleeting and we seem to have so little of it. But is that even true? Or do we think life is fleeting because we don’t slow down enough with the painstaking and most rewarding act of creating?

A challange just for Sam

I recently watched Julie & Julia on a flight back from Boston. I was reminded of a time when slow consistent projects and effort had space to exist. Julie Powell started her blog for the pure reason of doing it. No financial end goal. No get rich quick scheme. She gave herself a year to work through a challenge while utilizing her creative skills.

So, Samanta, here a challege for you. One year of creating more than I consume. I don’t know where to begin, so I’m starting with this blog post.

I will do things I’ve never done before, things that *GASP* I’ll be bad at in the beginning.

For the simple reason of doing and creating. No end goal. Not even for the sake of self betterment. Only goal is to stay consistent and create more than I consume. Write, sew, build, plant, paint, work out (yes I’m counting that as creation), cook, make videos, edit videos. If my standards tells me I am failing, I will ignore that voice.

I won’t follow a niche, I won’t stay in a category. Just make.

We are officially a year away from our wedding! 

I see a lot of brides on TikTok and Instagram talk about how stressed they are and how “unfun” the whole process is for them. Which is sad to think about. THAT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE YOU. 

I couldn’t be having an easier time. 

It helps having a fiance who is excited to do every step with you, and having more than a year before your wedding to get everything in a row.

So, how can you make your wedding planning LESS stressful? By doing the below things as soon as you get engaged: 

CREATE A ROUGH DRAFT OF YOUR GUEST LIST: 

Your wedding guest list is one of the first things you’re really able to do, and it’s the most important place to start.

This is like freestyle writing our your first draft for your middle school essay. Throw in everyone you can think of in google sheets, and get a rough count. Now you know what to look for when it comes to venue space and size. 

PICK A VENUE TO MINIMIZE YOUR GUEST LIST RELATED STRESS

If you plan on getting married 1.5 -2 years after getting engaged, your ideal date will most likely be available in any venue you chose, so don’t stress about forcing a venue search solely for that reason. Though it is better to do it sooner than later. 

Choosing your venue and putting a cap limit (and minimum) on the amount of guests you are able to have will make the decisions for you when it comes to the guests you’re not too sure about.

For example, our wedding venue is limited to 140 people, however, our food and bar package has a required minimum. This helps limit the people we feel obligated to invite from our B list, but also encourages us to be a bit more liberal with the amount of invitations we send knowing we need to hit that minimum and that there will be a percentage of people that don’t come. 

“NO SAVE THE DATE; POTENTIAL INVITATION ONLY” LIST: 

If you’re a year or so out and you’re really torn on certain people, don’t just create a B list, but a “Potential Invite Only” list. 

A “B list” still makes you feel like you have to make a decision a year out when you’re sending your save the dates. 

A lot can change in the next 6-9 months before you send your invitation. So make a list of people that you’re not ready to make the decision on just yet and won’t send save the dates to, but you may want to send invitations to 3 months before your wedding date. 

Yay! You can now stop stressing about that great aunt who always fights with your grandma and called you fat that one time. 

… for now at least.

START THE FUN STUFF EARLY ! (DESIGNING)

Starting certain things earlier than you feel you have to is a great thing so you can make adjustments along the way, instead of starting things from scratch a week before they need to get done. 

Wedding website, save the dates, wedding invitations, signage, etc etc. 

Both me and my fiancé are creatives, so we enjoy working on these things. We started well before we even had anything concrete to contribute.

I created our withjoy.com account, secured a domain for us, and created the layout of the whole thing. I chose the colors, put in any info that I know, and set up for any info I will have in the future. 

I created a page in Lithuanian for all my family members that will be invited from Europe.

Once our venue was booked, I plugged in all the venue and hotel info, the scheduled transportation, etc. (It was easy to have all that info since we are getting married at a resort, and all the accommodations and information was provided altogether) 

All I had left was to plug in our photos once we got them done, and we went live! 

We also jumped ahead and worked on our save the date and invitation designs. We’re big Canva users and had a lot of fun working on them together. Again, once we got our engagement photos back, we threw it all together and placed our save the date order on Canva. 

(Our save-the-dates were completed and ordered within 2 hours of getting our engagement photos back from our photographer). 

CHOOSE YOUR COLORS 

When you start your “designing” process early, you’re forced to choose your colors, font, etc. This is great because you get to revisit your initial ideas, really sit with them and change your mind if you want to before anything is live, and confirmed. You don’t want to chose all of that a week before you send you invites and your wedding aesthetic is locked in.

To recap – here is what you can you as early as possible to make you wedding less stressful (and added bonus – actually fun!) 

• Create a rough draft of your guest list 
• Lock down a venue, and use that guest limit/minimum to your decision making advantage 
• Create a Save the Date list, a B list, and a “Potential Invite Only List”
• Research and create your wedding website 
• Create a Canva account and start designing your wedding save the dates, invitations, signage 
• Choose your colors and adjust throughout the next few months 

These are the most simple (and fun) things you and you fiancé can do to get started on your wedding planning journey. The earlier you begin, the less pressure you feel to make any decisions that will be set in stone. 

What are the first few things you got a head of that made your wedding process much easier in the long run?

Embarking on the journey to manifest your dream life demands a realization: though it might not be easy, it’s fundamentally straightforward. Oftentimes, our path gets convoluted, hindered by overthinking and analysis paralysis.

My whole life I’ve felt in a sort of limbo. It seems like something is perpetually unresolved. Lack of control can send us down a spiral of self doubt and further inactivity that can snowball into something that feels really tough to get out of. 

Lately, a sense of frustration with my choices—or lack thereof—has taken over. However, I’m well aware of what has historically brought me pride, inspiration, and a sense of accomplishment.

DOING. 

Simple. Not always easy. But simple. If we let it be. 

How does one embark on the journey of productivity and getting things done?

It’s not a walk in the park, yet it’s not as complex as we make it out to be. We frequently overcomplicate the concept of “doing.” Luckily there’s a self-help “hack” that takes merely a fraction of a second to initiate: refrain from overthinking.

Simple. Not always easy. But simple. If we let it be. 

Human beings are almost wired to think themselves into failure, without fail.

So, starting today, with this post, I’m imposing a ban on indulging in discouraging thoughts. Instead, I’m reverting to “doing.”

My personal past experience has demonstrated that following a self-devised action plan leads to increased self-trust over time. We start with getting small things done that eventually add up to unimaginable goals being accomplished. 

Now, before you can be a thoughtless left-programmed soldier, you gotta do a little thinking first. 

PLANNING

We’re making goal lists and to-do lists, baby. HELL YEAH. The caveat of these to-do lists however, is that once you write it down, it absolutely must get done. No. Matter. What. 

For my personal goal lists, I outline where I aspire to be or what I aim to achieve within the next month, three months, six months, and year. The key is to do this in a way that’s fun. If a limiting thought creeps in telling you something is unrealistic, or silly, you push past it, and write it down anyway. Negative thoughts hold no sway here. They haven’t served you in the past, and they’re not serving you now. 

Whether the objectives are big or small, don’t perceive them as overwhelming. For now, we’re just giving ourselves an idea of what direction we want to go in, and trust me, when you look back and realize that you can mark off half of the things on that list as accomplished, you’ll be blown away and inspired to keep going. 

Daily and Weekly To-Do Lists:  

When it comes to to-do lists, I suggest focusing on the immediate week, then break it down to daily actions. During the initial phase of rekindling your “doer” spirit. Daily tasks are paramount.

Each morning, set aside a bit of extra time, and outline your to-do list for the day. This can include even the most routine activities, like making the bed and brushing your teeth.

Perhaps you’d like to infuse more self-care into your routine. Include a weekly to-do of dressing up and wearing the outfits you’ve been saving that don’t actually require a special occasion. Choose to make an ordinary day special enough to wear it. Maybe it’s going to the gym 3 times a week, or getting your nails done, or learning a new skill. 

Maybe you’ve been on a scrolling bender (talking to myself here) and you want to get back to a place of focus and patience, so you put down meditating for 15 minutes every morning on the odd days of the week.

What you write down, you must cross off. Don’t avoid writing down certain tasks due to a fear that you won’t follow through and further disappoint yourself. That in itself is the limiting belief you can’t allow to take hold. Writing down tasks is itself the most important task. 

If you included it on the list, that’s a good enough reason for the future you to follow through.

So, I will start with myself. 

With September starting in a couple days, my goals for the whole month of September are: 

• Go to the gym and do resistance workouts 3 times a week 
• 10,000 step average every week 
• 2 blog posts a week – no matter how short or long, or well written (or not), or entertaining. 
• Start filming vlogs again and have at least 2 done for the month of September 
• Finish the book I’m reading now (Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin) 
• Write out and follow a to-do list at least 5 days out of the week 

Remember, self-help lies in simplicity, and achieving your goals begins with productive action. Let’s embrace this process, banishing overthinking, and transitioning from dreamers to doers.

YEE HAW

Whole30. Whole26 I made it 26 days. I made it a day past Thanksgiving. Which I was proud of.

I have to say, most of the changes that happened to my body I only noticed after I got off the diet (twasn’t fun)

Here’s what I experienced 

During

1. Weight loss! I went to the gym only twice all month (shush), and I ended up losing 6~ lb. I noticed most of the weight loss in my face and waist. Pants were fitting way nicer.
2. Eczema kicked in. Two potential causes: I ate enough nut butter to kill an elephant, and the cold dry weather. I stopped consuming nut butter about 2 weeks ago and the eczema has improved a lot.
3. Appetite. I stopped feeling hunger. Breakfast would carry me through til 3-4 pm. I felt so satiated. The nutrient dense foods I was consuming made me feel energized, not overly full, but definitely didn’t leave me hungry. I think that’s the clearest indicator my body could provide that shouted “YES BITCH THIS IS IT, WHY HAVE YOU BEEN DOING THE POLAR OPPOSITE FOR 25 YEARS?!?!?!?”

After

I didn’t following the rules off slowing reintroducing foods, and I totally regretted it. 

1. I ate a little bit of gluten and was DESTROYED physically for 24 hours. 
2. Coming off the diet, every day I was extremely hungry, no matter how much I ate. A couple hours would pass and I was ready to put on camo and go hunt down a whole buck for a single meal 
3. I ended up gaining back 3~ pounds in a month, but haven’t gone up past 160, which I’m happy about

All in all, this diet is an awesome reset, and a great way to get rid of bad habits. I’d definitely do it again in future, but now, I’m embarking on a new fitness and health adventure I’ll talk about in a future post!

Let’s get the most important thing out of the way first. This was BY FAR the cheapest food expense month in as long as I can remember.

My meals were NOT small. They were filling, nutrient dense, and so satiable that most days I’d forget to eat lunch, simply because my body didn’t need it. I was always a two meals a day kinda girl, and I reverted back to that.

I of course cut out snacks, aside from berries or the occasional date. The money I saved not going to Starbucks, honestly that in itself was enough.

So, lets get into it. What did the shopping cart look like? Here it is.

So many berries!

I’m my breakfast post I talked about my chia breakfast pudding. I absolutely drowned it in berries, worked out cause they happened to be unbelievably cheap for the first week or so of my diet. In season foods are the way to go.

A LOT of bacon! Jk don’t overdo it here, I’m a big believer in eating proteins and fats, but you don’t want to have bacon for every meal for a months… I mean you want to but, don’t?

Farmland bacon is amazing, but the classic cut is paper thin, and the “thick” cut is your regular ol’ thin, but don’t hold that against them.

Steamed broccoli florets. 10/10 just add salt.

The Lord has blessed me with the ability to eat the same exact meals for weeks and love that shit EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. (Until I over do it and can’t stand the sight of them) Point being, I don’t get bored with food quickly.

One meal I ate every day for the first week was tuna salad. Canned Tuna, cheap AF, celery, also cheap AF and it LASTS. Add super expensive AF Whole30 approved Mayo (I used Primal Kitchen brand). Half of a mashed avocado. GAME CHANGER. Lil salt. Lil peppa.

Burgers are the easiest way to pass the time. Throw a mountain on toppings on that naughty boy. My go to is two, not one, two mayos, Primal Kitchen Chipotle and regular. Pickles. Pickled jalapenos. Bacon. Mushrooms. Avocado.

That lasted the first week.

The latter part of the diet I switched to salmon, steak, and my lovely green salad.

This salad may not look like much, but let me tell you, that is an accurate assessment.

Well at least looks wise, flavor-wise, muy bien.

What’s’inner:

1. Romain
2. Avocado
3. Dill
4. Cucumber
5. Dressing – salt+avocado oil+red wine vinegar

She’s a goodin

That’s all. See ya.

FIRST AND FOREMOST 

I have to mention, it is day 11, and I have lost 6.5 lb! I haven’t exercised at all, aside from a 2 hour walk I took two days ago.

ANYWAY…

Breakfast, the most argued meal of them all. Is it the most important? Should we be skipping it and intermittent fasting? 

Technically, either way, your first meal after not having eaten for a while breaks your fast, so sorry to say for the naysayer, due to the technicality, I’ll have to agree that no matter when you do it, your break-fast is absolutely the most important meal. 

Now, this post isn’t about discussing when you should eat your first meal of the day, it’s about how to completely enjoy it and feel satiated until your next. 

I have to be honest, I have yet to read any of the recipes in the Whole30 book. 

But I fucking LOVE breakfast, so I got this. Savory, sweet, everything in between. Morning, noon or night. (I actually had breakfast for dinner a couple days ago). 

All that being said, I am still very particular about my breakfast items. So not to waste anyone’s time, I won’t talk about every wonderful food item for breakfast there is, we’ll stick to what I’ve been eating during the first week and a half of my Whole30 journey. 

Chia Pudding with Fresh Berries and *Nut* Butter

*Queue a non-esthetic picture!*

What I use:

• Chia Seeds 
• Vanilla Almond Milk (no sugar added) 
• NuttZo Nut Butter (doesn’t include peanuts or added sugars) 
• Perhaps a dash of cinnamon atop?
• Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, member berries

Here’s the trick to the chia seeds, yes make them the night before, BUT, the most annoying part is mixing them until they’re all coated, or trying to drown them with your spoon over and over but they just won’t stay down. GO TO SLEEP CHIA SEEDS, GO THE F TO SLEEP.

So, my work around, fill a little mason jar a fourth of the way with chia seeds, then fill the rest of the jar with almond or coconut milk, or just water, and SHAKE IT SISTER.

Then fridge it. Heck, if you have a few mason jars, do them all at once, call it meal prep. 😎

Assemble when you’re ready to eat.

When I ran out of berries, I diced up an apple. You can put in dates, coconut shreds. Worlds your chia bowl… you know except for all the things you’re not allowed to eat on this diet.

Eggs and …???

Classic. Can’t go wrong with eggs. It’s the food I always fall back on. They’re so incredibly healthy, they’re satiating, they’re versatile.

Scrambled, boiled, fried, I’d name more but the rest don’t interest me. (If fried/scrambled, I use ghee or duck fat)

Double down on the protein and fat. What a stunning combo. 😍  Makes me feel my best.

I usually just scramble two eggs (salt + pepper), but when I’m feel frisky, I’ll boil them.

You can totally stop at that, but I like to eat them with a side of bacon, or better yet, cold-smoked salmon. DUDE, I am telling you. Chefs kiss. 🤌 

Alternatively, two fried eggs over a bed of sliced avocados, with salt, pepper, and pepper flakes over top.

Scrambled eggs with fresh berries is also an awesome combo if you feel like starting your morning with a little zest.

For the eater that needs to switch it up every day, sorry, I’m not your girl. I love routine. Though, I think this diet is meant to quiet down your food fussiness and get you back to the old ways of eating, back when we didn’t have to much to chose from.

Maybe I outta crack open that book and see what ideas they offer, if. I like them, I’ll let you know.

Bon Voyage! Eat that meat.

THIS SHIT TOO EASY 

I gotta be honest, when preparing to start Whole30, I was expecting November to be the slowest moving month of my life, but a week in, time is flying by, and I’m really enjoying it! 

This diet has made grocery shopping what it’s supposed to be. I’m the person that speed walks past the fresh food section of the grocery store because my ADHD (self-diagnosed) brain gets overwhelmed at trying to figure out what to do with it. It’s so much easier just to get snacks, frozen food, or if I do get protein from the fish or poultry department, I go for a bagged salad so I don’t have to figure something out. 

The problem was that I had all those alternatives as a choice! It made eating healthy and planning meals so much more difficult. Truly, when I realized how many restrictions there are on this diet, I got super excited! 

No but I did for real, a plethora of choices has never done me any good.

Just the shopping trip itself on day one of Whole30 made me feel healthier…pride wise.. I felt so cool with a cart full of healthy shit. Yeaaaah, look at me peasants. Buying your junk food. Just like I had a couple days prior. But not anymore, now I was a changed woman with not one, but TWO bags of broccoli florets to flaunt.

I spent 20 minutes in the produce department. (I’ll be making separate posts with shopping lists and recipes).

I’m relearning that avoiding the inner isles isn’t any more difficult or time consuming than cooking fresh whole foods for yourself. 

Also, for someone with a gluten allergy, I’ve virtually avoided 70% of the things that are off limits for years, so it may be a bigger adjustment to others, but if I can do it, anybody can. 

STARTING POINT

For starters, some stats. 

As far as eczema, most of it is gone due to an extreme steroid, however, currently I do still have slight flares on both of my elbows. Yucky.

Otherwise my skin is pretty immaculate, aside from some slight texture and occasional redness around my nose, it’s pretty good, so worst case scenario, it becomes perfect.

I first weighed myself on day three instead of day zero. 

Weight on day three was 163. HOWEVER, I weighed myself on day five and I had dropped down to 160 already! I haven’t been under 163 in months. HUGE FOR THE PROGRAM!!

… I’m still huge but I’m sticking to this program.

So now that I’m seven days in, I can admit, it’s so much easier than I initially anticipated. 

The meals are satiating and incredibly nutrient dense. 

Physically, I don’t feel much different yet, but I plan on getting back into the gym soon, and I’m interested in how the new diet may affect my stamina.

DIRTY, DIRTY SPENDING HABITS

The BIGGEST difference so far is my shopping habits. I shopped on the first day of the diet (which totaled $130 btw), and did not go food shopping again until today! That’s an entire week I didn’t go to the grocery or convenience store and spent money. 

I don’t know if that seems like a big deal to anyone else, but in my adulthood I’ve developed the need to spend money on food constantly. Mainly because I never plan out and buy full meals, so I’m left going to the store to get extra ingredients every other day, if not every day. 

On top of that, I had a horrible habit of getting little “treats” throughout the week. Running to the store for a sweet, a bag of chips, or a beverage (or all 3), as well as Starbucks runs every other day. IT ADDS UP. Thousands spent a year all to make my addicted little brain happy. 

All those things are now completely off limits. It’s not even an option to pop over to the store for something “fun”. The calories in and money out has been cut down extremely. 

Restaurants and cafes are also off the table because I’d rather just not risk consuming something I shouldn’t, and since it’s only 30 days, I can make the sacrifice. 

One week down, three to go!