The Day I Was Born With Cankles

Well, that was quite a big day in American history.  October 12, 1981… my birthday and coincidentally, also the day I was born with cankles. Yes, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have cankles… always have, always will. When I was in college, I was a lot heavier than I am now.  (I think it might have been brought on by the 4 AM trips to the sorority kitchen to take down three bowls of mac and cheese, or perhaps the seven nights a week of drinking that led to my mac and cheese chowdowns. Who could say for certain?) However, when I was in college, I used to call my cankles “wankles” because I’d joke they were “waist ankles”… or the same size as my waist.  I thought my “wankles” were the reason I looked fat.   Now looking back, I want to say, “Ummm.. hello?  How about you focus on not living like a foie gras duck and stuffing every available thing into you mouth. And while your at it, get movin’ lazy bones.” My point is, it wasn’t my wankle-cankles that were making me look fat, it was my unhealthy lifestyle, and in turn my big fat ass.

Now, that I’ve slowly fooled myself into thinking exercise can be fun, I still have my cankles.  But, I also have a strong fit bod (did I just write that?), and a little case of the cankles is not going to overshadow that.  People notice that I can do 10 plyo push-ups or that I don’t give up on the burpees challenges.  I don’t think most zone in on the canks.  I think that everyone has their “sore spot”. But letting it define you, or hold you back from your true potential is such a disservice. No one will notice that one problem area if you’re fit and confident and healthy. Don’t trick yourself into thinking your cankles make you fat.  It’s the soda.  Naw’ Mean?

Tonight, I wanted to make an easy peasy dish, so I could kick-up my cankles and relax after boot camp’s “Thursday Thunder” session (ouch).  For these kind of days, nothing beats the magical powers of the Crockpot.  I tried the Pinterest favorite – Three Ingredient Mexican Shredded Chicken and it was a big success.  My house smells like a mexican cantina (minus the vomit and tequila) and dinner was put together in under ten minutes. Score one for the home team!

Shredded Chicken Tacos:

Ingredients:

• 6 chicken breasts
• 1 jar of salsa (16 oz.)
• 1 package of taco seasoning mix

For tacos:

• low carb/low calorie corn or flour tortillas (I’m a flour girl myself)
• chopped avocado
• shredded lettuce
• light sour cream
• light mexican cheese

Directions:

Dump all the ingredients (minus the taco ingredients) in the Crockpot and give it a hard stir to make sure the seasoning has mixed in. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. When done, the chicken should shred easily when stirred with a fork.

When ready to serve, steam or heat tortillas and top with anything your heart desires!

Bonus Points: This makes a lot of chicken.  Use the leftovers for Chicken Tortilla Soup or freeze for later. Leftovers are THE BEST “fast food”

Come back tomorrow for a new series I’m starting – Feel Good Friday!