"Egg" and Olive Sandwich Recipe

I can't Believe It's Not Eggs!


Enjoy my recipe for delicious egg and olive salad. Eat on top of greens or in a sandwich. I especially enjoy this as a sandwich using One Degree Veganic Flax and Spelt Bread with greens and a tomato. YUM! I changed up this China Study Cookbook recipe and made it my own. Try my version below and  try the original from one of my fave cookbooks:  The China Study Cookbook!

14 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained and very well patted dry to get as much water out as possible.
1/2 of a white onion, diced
1/4 cup Veganaise (use to your preferred consistency)
2 tsp dill relish
2 celery stalks, diced
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp black salt (black salt adds an "eggy" flavor)
1/4 cup green olives chopped

1. In a large salad bowl crumble the tofu. I like to use my hands to mash it up. Add the rest of ingredients and mix thoroughly.
2. Refrigerate or enjoy immediately over greens or in a sandwich with lettuce and tomato!

Feel free to share and please do let me know if you make this!  I would also love to know why you are, or why you would like to adopt a Freedom Lifestyle that includes eating vegan! 

Shine Bright,

Peg

Peg Haust-Arliss, LCSW-R 
Owner of Fear To Freedom Holistic Psychotherapy

Holistic Psychotherapist, Anxiety Specialist and Vegan Lifestyle Coach 

Questions about me or my services? I would love to hear from you!

Connect with me on FB and Twitter


Visit my website and grab your free Stress and Anxiety Toolkit! 

Spring Cleaning For Your Mind, Body and Spirit

Woo Hoo! It's been a long time coming, but Spring has finally sprung! I love cleaning out the closets and getting rid of stuff I don't use and giving my car and home a good tuneup. It feels amazing to de-clutter and organize doesn't it?  Why just stop there? Imagine the results of doing some cleaning up and tuning up for YOU, for your mind, body and spirit! Here are just a few quick and easy Spring Cleaning Tips that will leave you feeling amazing inside and out: 

MIND: It's time to clean up your stinkin thinkin!

It feels great to de-clutter the junk in the house, and when you clear out the  junky mind clutter, those automatic thoughts that create nothing but cobwebs, you will decrease your stress. We all know the effects stress can have on our health. If you continue to practice the following tip, you will break some bad thought habits and build emotional muscle to support overall good health. Sometimes we don't realize how our negative thinking is affecting us or that we are even thinking negatively at all. We humans have 50,000-70,000 thoughts a day! How many do you think are creating stress or bad moods? 
Here is a fast and simple way to ditch the stinkin thinkin trap: 

1. Catch and Shoot:  I don't know much about basketball, but I do know that when you receive the ball you're not supposed to hold it long. You have to hold for a bit to look for a strategically positioned player, but then you have to shoot. The next time you find yourself feeling stressed, anxious, overwhelmed or frustrated it's because you have caught a big ball of thoughts and you are holding them. Next time catch your thoughts. Observe your thoughts because this will build awareness and awareness is the first key. CATCH the ball by asking yourself: "What was I thinking just before I started to feel this way?" Just asking this question is good because it interrupts the negative dialogue pattern.  HOLD the ball, but just long enough to determine your next strategic action. Ask yourself:  "Is that thought true, is it possible it could mean something else entirely? What is a different perspective? Now you have a choice. You can HOLD the ball and continue to keep the thoughts that are causing distress OR you can SHOOT the ball! You can shoot that thought right out of the playing field if you can find a new meaning or simply acknowledge that it was a ridiculous thought. I have had a few of those and I bet you have too! See the truth or give it a new meaning and feel the difference. Sometimes simply catching and changing one word is enough. Here is an example I use all the time: Have you ever found yourself stressed out with all your responsibilities? I HAVE to do this, I HAVE to do that. Try this: Change HAVE to GET. Kinda changes everything doesn't it?

BODY: Release toxins and rejuvenate your health! A whole food cleanse will do your body good! It will jump start you to:

•      Reduce inflammation
•      Lose weight naturally
•      Increase your energy
•      Sleep better
•      Boost your metabolism
•      Improve your mood

If you don't want to do a full 7 day program, just adding more whole foods to your day will make a difference. An easy way to do this is by adding just one smoothie to your day. Download my FREE Smoothie Party which includes 7 smoothie recipes for 7 days. If you want to commit to a seriously delicious and results driven Spring Cleaning this year you can purchase and download my DIY Home study Clean Eating Cleansing Program. 
Get your body moving! Movement is so important for overall wellness. Just a short walk with your dog is all you need. Your dog will thank you too! Yes, gardening counts. I love to take my fur kids for walks around the property and exercise at home with DVDs. You need to find something YOU enjoy or you won't do it. Consistency and a set routine will create a new habit and before you know it you will WANT to move every day. I just read that dancing makes you smarter so what a way to improve your body, mind AND spirit! Make it easy, make it fun.

SPIRIT: It's time to shine!

In my holistic practice when I hear someone say that they feel lost or dead inside or without purpose, I help them understand that it's not that they are lost or without purpose, but it certainly can feel that way when they are not feeding their spirit. Ask yourself: "What area(s) of my life need attention, What needs reorganization?Is there anything or anyone in my life that I am allowing to dim my spirit? What needs to go or what am I missing? For example, are you involved in a relationship that you know has been hurting you, but you can't find the courage to leave? Are you choosing to have people in your life that bring you down instead of build you up? Have you forgotten about your dreams and goals, have you been too busy to do what you love or be with who you love. What can you do now that will turn up the light even a little? How can you grow, how can you give to yourself and others? The possibilities are endless and remember it's the seemingly small stuff that often times is really the big stuff. 
 

Allow light, joy and fun in! It's already here. It's already within you, all you need is some good Spring Cleaning.

Shine bright,

Peg

Peg Haust-Arliss, LCSW-R 

Holistic Psychotherapist, Anxiety Specialist and Life Strategist  

Questions about me or my services? I would love to hear from you!

Connect with me on FB and Twitter


Visit my website and grab your free Stress and Anxiety Toolkit! 

 

HOW TO MAKE EVERYDAY VALENTINES DAY

Happy February! It's the month that belongs to Valentines Day, THE day of love and romance. Wouldn't it be great if every day felt like Valentine's Day?  Read on even if your relationship is already good or if you're single because this will make your already good relationship great and your next relationship amazing. 

First, a bit of self assessment. Consider these questions about your relationship:

Do you feel good when you think about your partner? 
Do you resolve conflicts with respect and without hurting each other?
Is your communication clear and understood? 
Do you apologize when you know you need to.  
Do you put your partner first above all. Yes, even your kids! 

How did you do? How many yes's did you have? That last one is a biggie! When meeting with couples, I know there is trouble brewing (and I see it often) if one or both partners feel second to anything in their relationship.

Let's move on. You want to feel needed and important, yes? Of course you do, we all do. Your partner does too. In fact, one of the most simple yet most powerful gifts you can give your partner is your presence. And I don't mean just physically present. Have you ever felt alone even when you are together?

Here's some tips:

1. Acknowledge often. It's easy to remember to acknowledge your partner and their feelings when your happy, but we tend to forget this vital communication when we disagree. When you disagree say this first:  "Oh, yes, I can see your point, I'll consider that." And make sure you really do! Also, acknowledge your partner for the little things. It's the little things that we take for granted, but if appreciated you will see they are really the big things: "You know, I really appreciate all the things you do for me." Use examples that fit your life.  

2. Be physically and emotionally present. This is another big one! If your partner is talking to you, put the phone down, make eye contact, and do not walk away while they are trying to tell you something. Really, wouldn't you think that was rude if a stranger did that to you?  

3. Respect and accept your partners beliefs. Just because you don't agree, don't make your significant other feel wrong for their truths. The exercise coming up will help with this.

Seeing your partners point of view is not just good practice, but in my opinion absolutely necessary if you want your relationship to thrive. Below is a great exercise. Writing especially important at first because writing will condition a new habit of thinking in you. Eventually, you will think like this naturally:

Write a short paragraph about a disagreement you had with your partner. Write it first from your perspective. Now, here's the hard part that will get easy with practice, look through their eyes and write  their version. See it as they do, be their voice.When we do this we can gain clarity and understanding that we might not have had before. With that we might get somewhere. Next, ask your partner to tell you their perspective and really listen.

How did it go?

I know that sometimes there are built up resentments so thick and high that they block you from wanting to try. But, think for a moment about what is on the other side of that big mountain of fear and resentment. Is it the partner you long for? The one you love and remember before the mountain was there? Is it the new partner waiting for you? 

Believe me when I tell you that if you focus on only your part, the only part you really can control, with patience and consistency, you will see some amazing changes. To make it super easy to bust down those blocks just practice treating your partner like you would your friends, neighbors or strangers, JUST BECAUSE THAT'S WHO YOU ARE: a kind, thoughtful considerate person. That's not so hard now right? 

Happy Valentines EVERY Day!
 

Please feel free to contact me.
 
   
Peg Haust-Arliss, LCSW-R Holistic Psychotherapist, Anxiety Specialist and Strategic Results Coach
 
Go from Fear to Freedom with my Free Anxiety Toolkit!  PegHaust.com












 


 

Happy NO MORE RESOLUTIONS New Year!

Resolutions Be Gone!  

Have you been thinking about what you want to change, start or end this January? New Year resolutions are popular, but like diets they don't work. January is a great time for fresh starts, but that is very different than a resolution. Resolution means to resolve to do something "once and for all." What did you resolve to do last year? Is it on your list again? I want to share something different for you this year. Something that is just as fresh, but way more fun! 

I really look forward to this yearly ritual.  Use the steps below to kick start your dreams and goals and then next year and every year moving forward, it will be a tool to keep momentum going, not to resolve, but to reflect, assess, test, reassess and grow! 

Here I am hunkering down with favorite pen in hand, great music playing, homemade NOG, (do you like my Ball canning jar wine glass?) all of last year's notes and calendars along with new ones, and of course the boys right beside me.  Join me!

7 STEPS TO SUCCESS! 


1. Get Ready. Create your own comfy space that's inspiring and comfortable for you. Give yourself at least a couple hours of uninterrupted time. Shut off the phone and remove all distractions. This is your time, you deserve it! 

2. Identify Your "Whats" Identify an area(s) of your life that you would like to see change and/or grow for the coming year. Do you want to get serious about your health this year? Do you want to buckle down financially? Maybe you want to focus on a personal development goal.  Write down the area of life you chose and then rate yourself on a 0-10 scale where you are now. For example, 0 is not met at all, and 10 is exactly where you want to be. 

3. Describe Your 10:  You can make it a list or a descriptive paragraph. Be specific and ask yourself:  "How will I know I reached my 10? 
Example:
Health 0-10  Current score 5
What's my 10? I will know that I reached my 10 when... I feel more consistent energy throughout the day, experience restful sleep, have lost 10 lbs.  Make your goals reasonable and attainable. You don't want to set yourself up for the impossible and hurt yourself trying to get there. On the other hand, don't limit yourself. Too often people way underestimate what is possible for them. Is that you? Ask yourself: "Do I know of anyone that has started where I am and has accomplished similar results?" If they can do it, so can you! 

4. Identify Your Reasons. Once you have narrowed down a list of things you want to accomplish in the year ahead, WHY do you want that? Motivation works, but it's temporary. That is exactly why resolutions don't work. This is an important step you cannot leave out so read this carefully... 
Having great reasons will continuously pull you forward. Without them you will eventually and slowly walk back to where you started again. 

Ask yourself: What will your life look like when you reach your goal? How will it affect you? How will it benefit you? What will it mean to others in your life? What will it mean for your life? Not just this year, but forever!

Tweet! "For lasting change, know your reasons to get you through the seasons." @PegHaust 


5.  Calendar Time! Get out the calendars. I still like good ol' pen and paper. I like the planners that show the whole month with the days of the month having large squares for lots of writing space. Set a date and affirm your intention: 
By February 15, I will have released five pounds.  By May, I will be at my ideal weight of... AFFIRM: "I easily maintain a healthy lifestyle that supports me and my family."

6. Commit AND Take Action. What do you need to do?  Whose support do you need? Make a list of SIMPLE and SPECIFIC action steps to reach your goal. 


My Personal Example:

• 20 to 45 minutes of exercise: Sun, Mon, Fri, Sat mornings. 
• Take a few 1 minute meditation breaks at my desk during work.
• Hold a 30 second to 2 minute plank (yoga pose) during commercial breaks and periodically at my desk during work.
• Do a whole food cleanse to learn how to eat healthy and jump start my goal.
• Drink 1 homemade green smoothie every week day.
• Dance breaks! Great bursts of fitness while cooking and writing blogs :) 
• Drink water! Drink full glass of water before a.m. coffee and have a water bottle (with lemons) on my desk throughout the day. 

I tend to be a list maker. It works for me. But, don't get overwhelmed by your list! Chunk it down and give yourself "done by dates" and don't list too many things for one day. Also, I can't emphasis routine enough. Plan a routine and follow it. By 20-30 days you should be in the groove nicely. Anything and everything can become a routine. Make sure your routines are good for you! Repetition is key.  

7. BE FLEXIBLE! You know what they say about the best laid plans... If things go off course, that is okay! This example showed how to get started, but when you do this every year it is also time for reflection. It a time to celebrate every success large and small, and a time to assess and reassess. Look at what worked and look at what didn't. There is no failure, only feedback. Learn from what happened, test and measure and continue on.  

Try these 7 steps for any and all areas of your life: Health, fitness, finances, personal development, relationships, retirement planning, new life transitions, anywhere you want to grow. And make sure you focus on simple, doable and FUN or else you won't do it and you know it! 

Extra tip: Be aware of your stinkin thinkin; self defeating thoughts that make you want to give up (and they will show up!) "Oh, this won't work, I've tried this before, this is too hard!"  You create your experience and emotional state with your thoughts.  Like a basketball, catch those thoughts and shoot them; don't hold the ball!  

Lastly, I'll say it again, remember the why behind your wants and then you will see them come into fruition. It's not about the end result, it's about continued growth. By designing your best life, you are not only enhancing your life, you are positively affecting your loved ones and everyone around you. You are creating progress that is not only good for you, but also inevitably good for all. 

It doesn't get better than that.

Have a wonderful time and please feel free to contact me. I would love to hear about your dreams and goals! 

 
Peg Haust-Arliss, LCSW-R
Therapist, Coach, Author

Get a free excerpt from my book: Anxiety Breakthrough at my website! PegHaust.com

 

About That Life Plan...

Last night my husband and I watched The Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon. It's about an affair between a politician and a ballerina affected by mysterious forces keeping them apart. A romantic "you and me against the world" tale.  Two lovers apparently not meant to be together, it doesn't fit the plan.  A determined team of sharply dressed fedora wearing men, the Adjustment Bureau, attempt to keep the couple apart to assure that they both stay on their chosen path. This proves challenging at best for them. Think about the challenges you have faced to stay on track. Are these challenges coincidences? Not according to this story line.  It's actually the "Adjustment Bureau" hard at work. They will make you late for meetings, miss important calls, delay you at the airport, whatever they have to do. They will even erase your brain if they have to! They allow us to believe we have free will, and they may even give us a chance for a predetermined life, but they are pretty certain that we will manage to screw that up big time!  

The Adjustment Bureau was a fun movie AND it made me think about my past. Just how much has been free will and how much has been Divine Intervention? 

Hmm, I ponder....

Age 12: I KNEW I was supposed to marry John Travolta.  As any typical star obsessed tween, I prayed... Please God, Vinny Barbarino is the only boy for me!  My best friend and I planned our bus trip to Englewood, NJ to introduce ourselves to his mother!  Crazy little girls! But as destiny would have it, not the bus trip, nor the wedding were in the cards.  Okay, a little more seriously, what about my dreams of being a rock star hair stylist?  Surely, that's not too much to ask for! I worked hard, put myself through cosmetology school, but again, was it a coincidence that I could not cut hair to save my life? Another failure, another dream shattered. So it seemed. Animals, that's it! I am determined to work for a shelter or vet. THAT is the chosen path. But, even that didn't last for "some reason." I can easily go into a rant about wasted years, wasted time. Why did I have to waste six years in a painful relationship? Why did I have a public speaking fear that prevented me for YEARS from pursuing my dream of becoming a therapist and a panic disorder that made it so hard to accomplish?  Wasted time and unnecessary pain.  OR, right on time and right on Purpose.  Looking back, I now see that the most painful and most seemingly meaningless events have been the most important to my life.  For instance, when I first saw my future husband on an empty crossroad, both of us stopped at the traffic light. It's 4 am, dark, cold and wintery. I'm driving still in my PJs and feeling really blah.  For a brief second, my state changed as I wondered who he was. Two days later he unexpectedly shows up at a home town pub on what just happened to be my birthday.  Really?  Or, surfing some channels, I just happened to land on an infomercial by some guy talking about how life is absolutely in our hands and the power and possibility in each and every one of us.  Defying my usual "think it through very thoroughly" strategy and instead, taking unflinching inspired action, I ordered my first product by Tony Robbins.  Because of that (fateful decision?), my personal and career development grew. I found wonderful personal and professional connections. 

I wanted to become a therapist in the first place in response to a  painful relationship. The childhood public speaking fear later turned panic disorder lead to my current specialization in anxiety and resulted in the privilege of helping so many others struggling too.

Little things, big things, and all those seemingly "bad" things. Those experiences have tested, challenged and stretched me. But, I realized strength I did not know and have blessings too many to count. 

What about you? I bet you have a few examples yourself! 

As we near the end of 2014, I hope you are creating your goals and dreams for 2015. Do I have a plan?  Me without a plan? Not happening. Yes, I have a plan! A well defined, goal directed, manageable, well controlled course of action. A plan in the grand scheme of things, a direction for my life. I got it all figured out, 2015 here I come!  But, I wonder what the boys of the black fedoras will have to say about it. I will stick to my plan, I will test and measure the progress of those plans. I will refine and sometimes redefine those plans. And, I will also welcome a date with Destiny.  

Shine bright,
 Peg

Questions about me or my services? I would love to hear from you!

Connect with me on FB and Twitter!

Peg Haust-Arliss, LCSW-R 

Holistic Psychotherapist, Anxiety Specialist and Life Strategist 

Visit my website and grab your free Stress and Anxiety Toolkit! 

Get Serious About Your Happiness

I think of myself as a happy person.  Now, I don't mean I'm happy all the time.  It's not that I never feel sad, frustrated, angry, hurt, scared, insecure......of course not. We need them all! Emotion is life and the good feeling ones come with the not so good feeling ones. I do believe, however, that we are meant to be happy and that it's necessary. With happiness at our core, we can pursue our true purpose in this life. So it's important and it makes sense to get serious about happiness. I suggest you decide to OWN it and drive that emotion into your core!

But how? How do you make happiness your "go to" emotion despite the dramas and traumas that we have all experienced and will inevitably continue to experience?  One way I have found is to hold happiness as one of my highest values. Most of us don't typically identify happiness as a value. We may identify family, friends, God, a strong work ethic, money, time for ourselves or contribution as values just to name a few. But, how these values show up in our lives, I believe, is directly related first, to the emotional states we value. So, if we don't highly value a great quality state of emotion like happiness or gratitude how can all those other values I mentioned be experienced positively and to their highest potential? I don't believe they can.

"There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion." Carl Jung

Here are come common happiness blockers. Really, they are just stories we tell ourselves don't buy them!
 Do you ever think or believe:

 "If I allow myself to be happy something bad will happen. If something bad happens I'll be devastated, it's better to be prepared."  (And I will prepare by worrying)

 "If I allow myself to feel and show happiness others might take advantage of me, or I might not be respected." (Happiness means weakness)

"I can't feel happy when everywhere I look people are so sad and struggling I would feel terribly guilty.  (Happiness is selfish)  

 We feel what we focus on, our experience of life is determined by the meaning we give things and the emotional states we choose to value.

There is so much we cannot choose in this life; so much we  have no control over. We cannot control what others do or say, we cannot control what they think of us or not think of us. We cannot control the all too real tragedy's that happen to people every day. BUT, we can 100% control the meanings we give all things, people, situations and events. We can choose our perceptions and our thoughts which ultimately create how we feel.  If we choose to value happiness, gratitude, joy, and peace (just to name a few) as our primary emotional values just think how that could impact all the other aspects of our lives, and the other great values we hold. It's a completely different world!  It's Freedom! the greatest value of all right? 

Happiness and gratitude: You need it, you deserve it, without it you won't grow or contribute to your true potential.   

  
It's holiday time again. I am always amazed how fast time flies. I always say that life is too short AND too long to feel stressed and unhappy all the time. Life is too good because it is! Where there is bad there is always good, where there is dark there is always light. What do you have to be happy about right now? What might you be taking for granted? The smallest things are most often the best things. What do you need to remember to feel happy and grateful? Dreading the family gathering? Shift that focus to what you can appreciate about the situation and the people. Don't leave anything out.

Right now, in this moment, see it, hear it, it's Thanksgiving, so smell it and taste it too!  NOW feel it! Got it? Feeling it?
I knew it; nothing bad happened! Now just do THAT feeling over and over and over.......  
You Got This!
Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for YOU!!! 

Shine bright,
 Peg

Questions about me or my services? I would love to hear from you!

Connect with me on FB and Twitter!

Peg Haust-Arliss, LCSW-R 

Holistic Psychotherapist, Anxiety Specialist and Life Strategist 

Visit my website and grab your free Stress and Anxiety Toolkit! 

Secure Online Services in the Virtual Office!

 
I am happy to announce that I am now a provider of online therapy/coaching sessions.  Online sessions are becoming more and more popular and accessible. 

Are you a busy professional, parent, or student?
Are you struggling with anxiety that makes it difficult to drive?                         
Do you have a long commute to work or school?
Do you ever get stuck home because of the weather? 

MY Virtual Office May Be a Good Fit For You!

Did you know that online therapy sessions can be just as effective as face-to-face office sessions according to recent research?

I provide HIPAA compliant online therapy/coaching using a Secure Client Portal.  Enjoy the flexibility of scheduling sessions without leaving the comfort of your home. This option is available to my clients in New York State. So, whether you live locally or in Long Island or anywhere upstate or down, I am available to help!

This is a great option for college students living on campus, and for those times when the weather gets rough, and we New Yorkers know how that goes!! 

I love online therapy sessions because it saves you time and money and is super convenient. You save time and gas not having to commute to an office or leave home if you are snowed in or the kids are home from school. 

Questions about me or my services? I would love to hear from you! 

Connect with me on FB and Twitter!

Peg Haust-Arliss, LCSW-R 

Holistic Psychotherapist, Anxiety Specialist and Life Strategist 

 

Visit my website and grab your free report and free 6 part audio training Series!