I hope you all had a great weekend. I love spring, everything is so fresh and new and it just makes me want to be better and eat better!
I recently finished a 3 day juice fast and real food has never tasted SO amazing!! Along with design I love food. (I mean really who doesn't) But in my world it's like ratatouille and I am always looking for ways to eat healthier. I also love trying out and swapping new recipes and recently had a party where the theme was salads, it was a hit! A friend was there and a few weeks later asked me to speak for our local women's group on healthy living tips. I thought you guys would like a few of the tips I used...
First off. I am not an expert or perfect. And I don’t pretend to be. The tips that I will share with you today are not things that I do all the time but they are what I strive to do and be.
Meal planning-
Plan meals for a week. Just planning dinners for the week takes a huge weight off your shoulders. The average family only eats about 6-7 different dinners over a month and then repeats them. Use some family favorites or expand on your meals..A great place for new recipes is trade some with friends, pinterest and even the library.
Trash the bad food in your pantry-
After the holidays we have chips and cookies and brownies and just “yucky” foods. TRASH THEM. And I would add don’t buy them again! Think about what food you are providing in the home. Stop buying junk for your bodies.
4.2 grams of sugar are equal to one teaspoon of sugar. How much sugar is in what YOU are eating or drinking?
Commit to not eating out...At the very least lessening it-
If you think you can’t do it for all 7 days, start with something doable – say, “I will not eat out 4 days a week.” Or one day a week. Every little bit helps.
Get your indentured servants working for you....become friends with your crockpot or make and freeze meals ahead of time.
Replace certain foods in your house with healthier options-
For example, replace your white rice with brown rice. Replace your white flour pasta with whole wheat pasta. Replace your white bread with 100% whole wheat bread. Small changes like that can go a LONG way.
Fact: did you know that some food labels says just “wheat flour” instead of “Whole Wheat Flour” Make sure it says WHOLE in front of it.
Go meatless-one day or one meal a week
Meat takes a lot of work from your body to digest. Give your body a break sometimes! :)
A good meal for this is to make stir-fry dishes.Do all your prep work beforehand. Cut up the veggies a day or 2 before… or even in the afternoon after the kids come home from school. It just cuts down on the prep time when it’s actually dinnertime. It allows you not to be overwhelmed when you have some of the work done.
What are the two biggest deficits in the American diet?
#1 Enzymes
help in all our body functions, including digestion. Digestive enzymes help us break down food so we can process our food.
#2 Overall plant fiber
Because fiber is removed from processed or refined foods Americans eat an average of only 5-10 grams of it per day and the USRDA recommends 25-30grams.
Get that plumbing moving and eat food with more fiber, it sure tastes better than Metamucil!
Here’s a success secret of people who have lost 30 lbs., on average, and kept it off, according to a study published in the medical journal Obesity:
They find healthy foods they like and stick to them.
They “automate” one meal daily so that it’s not a struggle.
What do I choose???
I choose Green Smoothies
Every day, you KNOW what one meal will be: a quart of green smoothie (and any other healthy foods, if you need more calories, for playing sports). I usually have mine for lunch!
A quart of green smoothie a day
(12-15 servings of raw greens and fruit) about 200 calories
It takes 10 minutes a day and is one of the highest and best use of your time and best changes you can do for your health. massive amount of nutrition in a green smoothie. lowest calorie- highest value of macronutrient foods (vitamins, minerals, enzymes... the good stuff)
People what to eat right but they don’t know how anymore. We have lost track of what good nutrition is. Most of us can’t look to our mothers and grandmothers on how to cook
Doing this one habit will provide you with better digestion, weight loss and more energy. Try it for 30 days and see how it makes you feel.
A few of my favorite sites, books, and movies
Books In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Movies (currently on Netflix)
Forks over Knives
Food Matters
Hungry for Change
The Engine 2 Diet
Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead
Do you have a favorite meal? Do you love salads like I do? Or do you have a big sweet tooth? Shhh so do I! ;)
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