Saving Marshmallows

Do you ever wonder how we survived as children with all the garbage we ate? 😆 I'm talking pop tarts, pop rocks, ring pops....why was everything about pop? But eating all that sugar and processed goodness wasn't all for nothing. In fact, today I'm going to share with you today a lesson I learned from one of my favorite childhood cereals.

And that cereal is Lucky Charms. I loved Lucky Charms growing up. I mean, it's pretty hard not to when it's filled with sugar, fun shapes, and colors galore. Oh, and don't forget the funny little leprechaun man.

The thing that always confused me about this leprechaun character is he was always talking about how magical and wonderful his cereal was right? So why then was he always running away from the kids that desired what he had? If it was so magical after all, wouldn't he want to share it with everyone else?

Obviously when I was a kid, my focus was just eating the cereal and getting out the door to go to school. But as an adult and life coach, it's only natural that I make an analogy for a vital life lesson using a childhood cereal. 😆

The 50/50 of Life If you're not familiar with lucky charms cereal, it is basically consisted of two main parts. There are the regular oats and then there are the marshmallows. So the oats are plain in color and no fun shapes. There was nothing really special about them. They were the (dare I say) "nutritional" part of the cereal.

Now the marshmallows on the other hand, these were the fun part of the cereal that everyone cared about. That's all the leprechaun and the kids chasing him cared about too. The marshmallows were full of sugar (basically food coloring and sugar), super colorful, and all different shapes like stars, hearts, and moons. Looking at the oats to marshmallow ratio, there were definitely more oats. If the cereal was just oats, kids wouldn't like it as much, but the marshmallows really were the selling point. And they couldn't just have this cereal be only the marshmallows, otherwise there wouldn't be any nutritional value.

Marshmallows Now or Later? There were techniques to eating this cereal. You had a couple of options. You could just eat the spoonfuls of marshmallows and oats together in one bite, or you could eat them separately. I figured this part out early on. I discovered that if I ate all the marshmallows first, then I would be left to suffer the rest of my breakfast experience with this soggy, plain oats mixture. So then what I started doing instead was eating the oats first. This allowed me to get through the less-than-exciting part of eating this cereal and then I could enjoy the goodness of my sacrifice of having the delicious marshmallows one by one all the way until the end.

Now you might be asking what this has to do with anything coaching or meal planning related. Well the lesson that I'm drawing from this experience I had growing up is this: Sometimes in life it makes sense to save the marshmallows until last. We have to do what is good and nutritional for us first, so we can truly enjoy the goodness after.

Just like this cereal, life has two parts. The good and bad, the great and not-so-great. We don't get to just have all marshmallows. That's what makes the whole thing come together. Without the oats, we don't appreciate the marshmallows as much. They balance each other out and give the other meaning and contrast. One serves to be pleasure, the other nutrition (I know it's a stretch but it's enough to make this analogy relevant).

Oats Now or Later? Often when we are thinking about cooking or meal planning or doing what's necessary to get the results we want in our lives, we want to try and find "shortcuts" or ways to only experience the good stuff- the "marshmallows".

But that can be a problem. If you just order takeout multiple times a week because you believe it is "easier" than meal planning, you will end up overspending and not eating within your values and "eating the oats later".

If you "eat the oats" first by taking 10-15 minutes of meal planning once a week, then you can enjoy the "marshmallows" of cruising through the week having everything you need for your meals.

So the next time you are asking yourself if trying to skip the discomfort to rush to your result, I want you to ask yourself if you're really getting what you desire. Are you experiencing the short term pleasure but then still stuck with those oats after? What if you saved the marshmallows until last? Delayed that gratification for the best part of the cereal until last?

There are days that meal planning feels really hard to do. I might be tired or just don't feel like doing it. But I remind myself what the discomfort of following through will bring. I'll get to enjoy the ease and flow of having my meals all ready to go for the week ahead. I know I won't have to run to the grocery store multiple times because I don't have ingredients I thought I had. I'll be eating foods in line with my values and health goals. I won't be spending more time and money and energy in the grocery store than needed.

There are days I really don't feel like cooking. I'll tell myself, I'll just order out or eat some snack food. But then I remind myself that preparing food means I'll not let those ingredients go to waste, the food will be more wholesome and cheaper than anything I would order out, and I'll get to listen to my favorite podcast or show on Netflix while cooking the meal.

When I don't feel like cleaning and would rather leave the dishes until tomorrow, I remind myself that I'll appreciate the marshmallows of having a clean kitchen when I wake up the next day.

Get on the Fast Track to Success Now if you're ready to "eat those oats" and have the meal planning system of your dreams, I've got your back. Not only do I have all the tools you need for the "how-to's" of meal planning, but I will get you on the fast-track to success with the most important part of meal planning (or any goal for that matter)- MANAGING YOUR MIND. If you're ready to get started, head over to katiewredecoaching.com or check out the link in the description. I can't wait for you to let this work change your life.

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