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!!

Challenge #9: Eat Breakfast!!

It's time to make time for the most important meal of the day!  Get your body, your brain, and your mood off to a great start with a healthy breakfast.  (Yes, it must be healthy! McDonald's drive thru does NOT count!)

Eating breakfast is like making sure your gas tank is on FULL at the very start of the day.  Your body can run better all day long on a full gas tank right from the start.

Cereals low in sugar are a good quick option.  But so is a banana and yogurt, a smoothie (my personal fav!), granola, eggs (hard boiled for portability), oatmeal, fruit, nuts, whole grain toast with all fruit preservatives or peanut butter.  Seriously, there are so many options!  Stop making excuses and make it happen!

Here's an article I found that discusses the benefits of eating breakfast:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/lose-weight-eat-breakfast

I have a personal story to go along with this breakfast eating challenge.  A few weeks ago, the hubster and I decided to try and overhaul our diets.  Not to drag him through the mud, but he'd fully admit his needed a bit more overhauling than mine.  For example, he never ate breakfast.  In fact, he wouldn't eat until about 2:00 in the afternoon.  By then his body was literally in starvation mode, which leads to all kinds of stresses on the body - as in, it's so bad for you (said with love). 

Well, when we started this new diet overhaul I decided that in order to add more fruits and veggies into my diet I would start making smoothies for both of us to have at breakfast, or even as our breakfast (some of these smoothies are very filling!).  In a few weeks time, the hubster lost 5 pounds by ADDING a meal to his day!! I promise you, not much else changed in his diet (hey- it's baby steps for us too, right?!)  So there you go - eat breakfast!