Just about everything friendly! Keto, dairy free, gluten free, carb free- this meal can be made in a multitude of variations. Whenever I can swap out bread with a lower carb option I go for it. Lettuce cups are a great alternative, and still super tasty. You can choose any protein you want also, even making this vegetarian or vegan friendly. 

Ingredients:
1 cut of steak 
3 lettuce cups
Homemade salsa / Diced tomatoes 
1/2 avocado
1/2 green pepper
1/2 yellow onion
Taco seasoning 

Directions:
Season your steak with salt and pepper, grilling on a flat top/BBQ/skillet to the temperature you like in the middle (rare, medium, well done). In a sauté pan, cook your sliced onions and peppers, seasoned with a sprinkle of taco seasoning, pepper and garlic powder. Once steak, peppers and onions are done, place in your lettuce cups. Add salsa and diced avocado on top. Enjoy! 

"Everything happens for a reason" they say. A saying I've grown up with. A saying I've heard time and time again, as I just barely reach that goal. And as painful as it might feel, it's true. Everything does happen for a reason. What's meant to be yours will always find you. The job, the relationship, the home. Everything you need already lives within you, and that is probably the most calming feeling through any chaos. 

When you feel the sting of rejection, you search for anything to make it just an ounce less painful. You fall asleep at night hoping and praying tomorrow will feel even a little bit better. And my favorite part of waking up, is for those first few seconds where you don't realize reality. When you're just coming into the morning, opening your eyes and stretching for a new day. Those are the seconds I hold on to. When I know everything happens for a reason, but I'm not quite sure what that reason is yet. I hold onto those 10 seconds. Those 10 seconds that allows you to be anyone you want to be. Those very few seconds where you can imagine a life that is so pure to your soul, that no sort of reality can amount. 

We have to believe that everything happens for a reason. Because if we don't we are lead down this trail of pain and misunderstanding. So many things happen in this world that make no sense. So many things that I cannot wrap my mind around. But believing that things happen the way that they are supposed to, guides us into comfort. "I don't understand I was the best girlfriend and he cheated on me" only to meet the love of your life a year later. "I worked so hard at that job and still got laid off" only to get your dream job months later. "I saved for so long to take this vacation that got cancelled" only to get an upgrade and have an even better experience. 

Some days I want to believe it wholeheartedly, like when things are smooth sailing. But when the going gets tough, it's always a challenge to see the bigger picture. Although I can look back and nearly every scenario that felt so tragic, lead me into a direction I wasn't able to create in my own mind. 

We all have plans. And sometimes plans don't work out the way we want them to. Or they don't work out because that's the universes way of saying no, this is what you truly want. It's like an unseen guidance that brings us back on our path when we are veering off. Some call it the silver-lining in a bad situation, some call it the higher power, some call it religion. Call it whatever you want, but everything does happen for a reason. 

I know, we're all ready for things to go back to normal. But as we navigate through what the new "normal" will be, we have to define what our new normals are personally. For me, when the pandemic began it gave me something I hadn't had in months. Which was the opportunity to workout daily. I worked a job that had me out of the house for nearly 13 hours a day. By the time I got home it was dinner, shower and bed. Having the opportunity to be home, allowed me to put more focus on things that truly mattered like taking better care of my body. 

As badly as I miss my gym workouts I'm starting to love my gym that's only a few footsteps away from my bed. And as badly as I want a squat rack and treadmill, we make it work and still make it sweat. Check out one of my favorite workouts, that'll have you sweating in no time and sore for days. 

In-home workout: 

Begin by stretching

(Do each workout 12-15 reps, repeat 3x)

Walk downs / Inchworm 
Mountain climbers (30 seconds)
Push ups
Leg lifts

Jumping jacks (30 seconds)
Squats
Lunges
Glute bridges 

End by stretching

​-- Good luck! :)