I’ve become that person! You know, the one who posts on Instagram, what she cooks and eats. I didn’t really get it until I began eating healthier. The food looks more delicious and is naturally more photogenic because of the colorful array on the plate.
But, in all seriousness, I do love to look at beautiful photography and I also love to eat. In my early 20s, I ate crappy food. There’s just no other way to say it. Coffee all day and a coke with a meal. Typically, I would skip breakfast, be famished by lunch and gobble down a sandwich or frozen microwavable food product, if you can call it that, or a bag of chips. I went through a period where I ate a Payday candy bar every afternoon for a boost. And then dinner usually consisted of pizza or pasta.
I thought because I was slim that I didn’t need to “worry” about what I ate. That I could eat whatever I wanted, not understanding the damage I was doing to the interior of my body. I rarely drank water, under the impression that the water in the coffee was sufficient, but I was also loading up my coffee with sugar.
Anyway, fruits and vegetables were not part of my regular diet. Nor was exercise and movement. I also smoked. Yes, I did. Close to a pack a day. Not proud of it, but hey I grew up in a family where smoking had gone on for generations. I really didn’t stand a chance (although I have met people who never smoked because of that). The smoking was a terribly hard habit to kick, which I’ll address another time, but it went on far too long. I quit the pack a day habit while still in my 20s, thankfully, and before I started a family.
Have you heard the term “Rainbow on Your Plate”? It basically means you want to add more color to your plate. Less white, more rainbow. Because anytime you’re eating a colorful array of vegetables, you’re naturally eating healthier. It’s a simple step in the right direction. Your body will love you for this.
And if you’re not keen on chewing a lot of spinach and kale, consider blending and juicing. One of my favorite morning smoothie recipes is this:
1 handful of spinach
1/2 cup of kale
1/2 banana
1 tablespoon of Flax seeds
1 tablespoon of Chia seeds
1 1/2 cups of almond milk
I use the Magic Bullet Blender and it has a to-go cup so it’s portable. A great drive-to-work companion.
So if you want to make a subtle shift, start by incorporating one or two colorful veggies into your diet. Stir fry them with Olive Oil, add a little salt & pepper and enjoy the flavors. Visit a local Farmers Market, eat seasonal or join a CSA. That’s truly how I started – a little at a time.
Come over to my Facebook page for daily posts and message me on Facebook to chat about additional ways to make these small shifts.
