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Last week, we talked about drinking our water. How’d you all do? Are you getting plenty of water in? I discovered that I was already drinking my 64 oz, for sure…..but I keep forgetting to measure how much above 64 oz. My sister told me, that we need more than 1/2 of your body weight in ounces and there’s a calculator on the About.com website here. I’m not sure if the amount it is saying I need sounds reasonable to me, but regardless, I will continue to try to drink more, more, more water. I keep telling myself, “I will think more clearly if I drink my water”. LOL Whatever motivation it takes, right?!
Today, I want to talk about salads. Yes, more green stuff! My mom is a pro at making sure to have salads often. We went to the 12 Steps to Whole Foods class together where we learned in more detail about salad. It is Step 2 of the course. I’m pretty sure that my mom had this step down pretty good before she went. She has ALWAYS been good at serving up a good salad with lots of variety. I, on the other hand, have not been very good about it at all. I do enjoy it though when we have it. I have a hard time spending the money on it. I’ve been known to let the lettuce go bad because I forgot I had it or I let it sit at the back of my fridge where it freezes and then I don’t want to eat it (of course then I can put it in my smoothies). This week, though, I am going to be conscientious about trying to get a big salad in every day.
Salad tips:
- Cut up your vegetables for the week in advance. Put them in easy to grab containers so you can find them quickly when you’re ready for them (as pictured above). I tend to choose not to have salad when I’m in a hurry, but this way, that won’t be a concern. Tonight, we cut up our vegetables and it’s nice to know we have enough for more meals! It may not last me a whole week, but it will be a lot easier to grab for it when we’re ready!
- Choose lots of different colors of vegetables to make your salad more interesting and more diverse in the vitamins and minerals you’re getting.
- “Cook up some dried beans and freeze them to put over your salads as well. Take a baggie out in the morning and they’ll be ready for use in your salad by dinner time.” – 12 Steps to Whole Foods
- Remember, the paler the greens, the fewer nutrients there are. Spinach leaves are a much more nutritious alternative to iceberg lettuce. The Family Nutrition Book
- Try to fill your plate with 1/2 or more of salad and the rest of it, the rest of the meal.
- “If you frequently eat green salads, you’ll likely have higher blood levels of a host of powerful antioxidants (vitamin C and E, folic acid, lycopene, and alpha- and beta-carotene,) especially if your salad includes some raw vegetables. Antioxidants are substances that help protect the body from damage caused by harmful molecules called free radicals.” – quoted from WebMd
- “Studies have shown that eating a low-calorie first course, like a green salad of 150 calories or less, enhances satiety (feelings of fullness) and reduces the total number of calories eaten during the meal” – quoted from WebMD
Do you have any salad tips? Please feel share them with me in the comments below!
What kinds of posts can I link up?
- Recipes that help you focus on eating more healthy. (smoothies, raw, low carb, etc.)
- A weekly success story
- Any tips that help you to lose weight
- Ways that you changed your health for the better
- Anything that has to do with healthy living and/or eating.
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