December 12, 2011

eating right.



So I've had several friends ask for some healthy eating tips. So I've decided to make a post about it. Here is a long overview of me jotting down some thoughts. I'm going to attempt to make a blog post about each point, and all the little ones in-between.


Some tips that I have found that work are: Don’t let this overwhelm you.

#1 eat every 3 hours. I normally eat within a half hour of waking up and start my 3 hour clock right then. This helps me from not get very hungry and it helps me not over eat.

#2 Eat as clean as possible. Eat as many veggies as you can, and only clean meats. http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/

#3 Prepare! I have my routine when I go to the grocery store(s). I have my regular food that I buy and then stuff I buy for meals. I’ve gotten it down to where I just know what to buy. In the beginning I would take a serious shopping list.
Also, find like 2 new meals a week to make. I subscribed to vegetarian times magazine (I’m a vegetarian, so you don’t have to subscribe to this mag, but a healthy mag) and I’d find some meals that look tasty and I’d go shopping for them. Then I have the ingredients to make it and I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to make, and resulting to something unhealthy.

#4 Green smoothies! Oh, green smoothies! The best! There have been studies shown where if you blend up your greens, you get more nutrients from them. I put a basic recipe up on my blog you can read here
Don't get overwhelmed with the ingredients. You can put in there whatever you want, but it will take some practice to get the ratios right. The key is to put as much spinach and kale as you can handle. (I always do 2 handfuls of spinach and 2 stalks of kale for 2 people) And then depending on what fruit is in season, that's what I do. but I try to not put too much fruit because of the sugars. So right now I'll do a banana and a nectarine and then my frozen berries.
I normally make a full blender for my husband and me in the morning. I also like to make a full blender and have half in the morning and bring the other half in a insolated cup for lunch or something.

#5 Protein. I sometimes struggle with not getting enough protein so I have a shaker bottle and I use this proteinVitacost has the cheapest vitamins and supplements.  This protein is the cheapest for what you get.

I also get the pure protein bars at costco (cheapest) and that's something I can 
throw in my purse or something and they are a large amount of protein.

#6 Exercise. It’s just one of those things that you have to convince your mind that you want to do it, then once you’re doing it, you feel amazing. I used to go to the gym every day but it’s sometimes too much with school. I’ve started using videos and phone apps. My faves are: Jillian Michael’s “30 day shred”, Jillian’s “No more trouble Zones”, and the iPhone app “Nike Training club”. These are all things I can do in my living room and get a decent work out in without being too overwhelmed with everything else going on in my life. I’m trying to add in a good run after doing one of those workouts, but we’ll see how it goes.
Another thing, if you don’t feel like working out, which we’ve all been there, just do something. This morning I didn’t feel like an intense workout so I did 30 minutes of yoga and I felt amazing. I know this is easier said than done, but when I convince myself, I’m always glad I did.

#7 Don’t deprive yourself of treats. Treats are my weakness and if I told myself I couldn’t have ANY, well then I’d eat every sugary goodness in sight. So I allow myself a treat. When I was being really good, I would allow Saturday to be my treat day. Lately I’ve been allowing a dessert at night. Most of the time I’m ok with that and don’t beat myself up…but this semester has been stressful, so I have treats.

#8 Cleanse. This isn’t necessary for you to do right away. I know it can be overwhelming changing your entire eating habits upside down. But cleansing is so good for the body to help get rid of stored junk. If you’re interested, I have a few that you could try.

Now I'm no guru, and I continue to struggle with eating healthy daily, however I've seen results and I know what helps me to feel good. My wonderful mentor, Joline is also a wonderful resource for cleanses, raw recipes and more! Here is her blog.

Leave a comment if you would be interested in more specific posts.

Thanks!
J