Making Salad the Star + Get Motivated Mondays Week 3

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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!