Alright, I don't have the charts ready because I was just too busy being sick this week. So just keep track of your points somewhere for now. I hope the water drinking and walking went well!This week I wanted to focus on eating better - and mostly on eating enough of the good stuff. We are supposed to get 5+ servings of fruits & veggies daily. This has always been way hard for me. Maybe because 5 servings just seems like a lot when I don't eat that much throughout the day...yet somehow I can get 5 sweets in a day without blinking an eye. =)
"These plant foods can do many things to boost good health, including:
- Reduce the risk of some cancers
- Beat the signs of aging
- Improve memory
- Promote heart health
- Enhance the immune system
One way to incorporate fruits and veggies into your diet is to have them as snacks. If you can do one thing [to improve your health], concentrate on getting fruits and veggies...They are low in calories and high in nutrients.
...baby carrots and cut-up produce make tasty, convenient munchies. Other healthful snacks include low-fat yogurt and nuts (in moderation).
The best time to snack is when you are hungry between meals...But beware: Cravings could easily be mistaken for hunger cues, especially for people who are dieting." - webmd.com
Not only is eating FRESH fruits & veggies better for you than the canned/frozen stuff when possible - it's usually cheaper too. If fresh isn't readily available, go for the frozen - canned always has a lot more sodium than necessary for those veggies.When I'm regularly working out I find I crave fruits & veggies as snacks a lot more, and I really don't care for the sweets as much - always an added plus!
Ry grew up on home grown garden produce & now I've become what I used to call a "food snob" as well. Fresh veggies just can't be beat! Pretty soon it will be time for us to freeze corn again - this is something we do every year & we have frozen corn to eat all year long - and it tastes just like it's off the cob. And it is super cheap! For the two of us we just do 13 ears of corn - boil for a couple of minutes, place directly into cold water, cut off the cob, and place in freezer ziplock bags. Super easy & tasty. Then to eat - open bag, defrost in microwave 2-3 min, place in bowl with a little water & salt & pepper, heat for 2-3 minutes.
Anyone else have suggestions on how to get your 5 servings in a day!? I really want this BOOK - it is by Jerry Seinfeld's wife & has great recipes of how to sneak in those veggies without anyone knowing. I've heard the recipes are really tasty!
Challenge - keep drinking your water & going on walks! But on top of that, try your best to get 5 servings of fruits & veggies in each day.
POINTS...WATER: 5 points/day completed. WALKS: 5 points/day you met your personal goal. FRUITS & VEGGIES: 1 point for each serving/day. So right now you can get a total of 15 points a day for doing all 3 things perfectly = 105/week. They'll start to add up here real fast!
Also start to keep track of any extra physical activity you are doing - hiking, biking, swimming, etc - these activities will give you bonus points.
Personal Confession: I fell short this week for sure. I got a fever & strep throat. So...I wasn't going on 30 minute walks everyday - but I was trying to drink a lot!
6 comments:
hey Barb this is something that I think a lot about throughout the day. I've found a lot of good ways to get my servings. I always have a banana in my whole grain cereal in the morning. Smoothies are a great way to get all your fruit servings in one drink. a handful of strawberries, a banana, 100% apple juice, ice and sherbet ice cream if you want. That is your entire fruit serving for the day. You can use peaches, cantelope anything really, I haven't tried putting apples into my smoothies yet, that might not be good. A great idea is frozen berries (rasp, blue, straw) are around $3.00 a bag and are great in smoothies, during winter when a lot of the fruit is out of season. Whenever I make recipes that call for veggies, I alway put more veggies than what it calls for and you'd be suprised how much veggies you can get just in dinner.
A good way to get your water is get a 24 oz water bottle and drink one when you wake up and one around lunch and one around dinner time. I've been doing this for a year and have worked up to 100 oz a day and my entire life has changed as a result. I very rarely have allergies anymore. I can tell the difference between hunger and thirst. I can tell when my body is low on water, just by my mood. It's pretty cool and so essential. Considering you're body is mostly water, if you're starving your body of water every day of your life, you are putting it into immense stress every single day. After time that stress will not bode well for you. The general rule of how much water you should drink if 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water a day. So if someone weights 150 lbs. Their minimum amount is 75 oz a day, but 100 oz is optimum.
Say Barbara, did we start this point system on Friday or Saturday last week?
Signed, Mom, the point grabber, Farmer
Kim! I love all the ideas - thanks so much for your input! Any reason to have daily smoothies works for me. =) Hope St. Louis is good!
Mom - I'd say Saturday probably...
(I am raising my hand again)
Barbara, can we have Saturday off?
Or is this a seven day a week, try to make yourself healthy, trim and fit?
(my hand is still up) . . . . .
signed, a trouble maker
I love this new challenge. I need to go buy some fruit...
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