Just A Little Late - Challenge #12: Add More Fruit and Veggies

My apologies for being late this week.  I have a decent excuse in the form of an allergy induced cough that has kept me up all night for the better half of this week.  No worries, though, last night I finally got a full 8 hours of sleep in!  I feel like a whole new woman now.

For Challenge #12 lets try adding a fruit AND a veggie to each of our meals.  I'm thinking this sounds more difficult than it really is, so here's some brainstorming ideas on how to make it happen.  (This is also a great way to get a little creative in the kitchen, plus a great excuse to visit your local farmer's market.)

• Add onions and green peppers to all your meat. 
• Grill some fruit on the BBQ
• Check out your local smoothie shop.  There's some great options there to get an ENTIRE serving of fruits and veggies into your day.  Some smoothies are so filling they can even substitute for a meal.
• Bring out the blender and make your own juice and smoothies.  (I love doing this)
• Mash up some bananas, mix with peanut butter, then freeze.  When you're ready to eat it tastes just like ice cream.
• Make some zucchini bread, or sweet potato fries, or add cucumbers to your sandwiches, etc.
• A new secret of mine; when making spaghetti sauce add some grated sweet potatoes.  It's a nice sweet flavor that is really subtle and good for you!

The point is to be more conscious of what you are putting in your mouth, and body.  Pay attention to the fact that we all need to be getting more of these amazing foods from mother nature into us.  Believe it or not, your body really does crave those much needed vitamins and minerals that come from nature.  Did you know that most nutritionists believe that we are all chronically malnourished?   The reason is because most of us are neglecting to add the most essential and basic foods to our diets.

Take another step in the right direction to better health this week.  Eat your fruits and veggies!

Challenge #11: Swap It Out

Hopefully you've eaten a bunch of apples this week :-)!  I did pretty well.  Probably got about 5 out of 7 apples in for the week, so I'm happy with that.  The funny thing is, though, once I start eating more apples, I start craving more apples.  Anyone else have this happen too?  If so, that's awesome!  It means your taste buds are changing and are seeking out those good for you foods more and more.

Now, we're going to take the apple a day challenge a step further.  For week #11, switch out any one of your normal 'bad' snacks for another fruit or veggie.  Drop the potato chips, the cookies, the HORRIBLE 100 calorie packs (they are SO bad for you!), the salt covered everything, the sugar coated everything else, and pick up one of those amazing fruits and/or veggies out there.

Pick up the strawberries, the blueberries, raspberries, apples!, a banana or try some cucumbers, baby carrots, celery, bell peppers.  They are all so good and so good for you!  Dip the veggies in some hummus, or try this recipe for a healthy homemade ranch dressing!  Find someway that you like to eat those foods and EAT THEM!

Get the fruits and veggies in and it will pay out 10 times better.  Trust me! 

Challenge #10: Eat An Apple A Day

I'm posting this a few days early because tomorrow we leave to go on our first family camping trip - which probably means no internet.

So really quick, this week I want you to make an effort to eat at least 1 apple a day.  This weekend, while you're out running errands and such, buy 7 apples and plan to eat them all.  The method behind this sort of 'madness' is to get more of those awesome foods into your daily plan. Apples are a great place to start.  They are portable, tasty, good for you and easy to combine with other things for added flavor.

Try apples with peanut butter, almond butter (tastes just like peanut butter), hazlenut butter (though look for one where sugar is not the first ingredient listed), apples dipped in honey flavored greek yogurt, hummus, or just a plain old fresh apple. 

When I get back from the camping trip, I want to host a little confessional of mine.  I want to let you know the things from these challenges that have stuck around for me, and the ones that I'm having a hard time working into the routines.  Remember, it's not about perfection, it's about improving.  Even if you are only doing one thing differently, better, today than you were yesterday, then you are improving.  Keep working, keep finding those small changes to a better you and it WILL make a difference.  I promise!

Have a great weekend and invest in some delicious apples!!