The Most Common Excuse

What excuse do you use for not eating healthy?  Time?  Money?  Work?  Lack of support?

The most common excuse I hear when people do not want to lose weight is that it costs more to eat healthy. 

Consider this:

Cancer is not an easy or inexpensive disease to treat.  People can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on treatments and procedures.  Other diseases such as diabetes are ones you are stuck with for the rest of your life.  Digestive issues can be miserable to deal with.  Some diseases cannot even be diagnosed unless a thousand tests are run which exhausts the body and the pocketbook.  I have several older relatives who spend over $800 a MONTH on prescription medications for high blood pressure, diabetes, pain, ulcers, cancer, etc.  And think of the side effects!!!  Headaches, diarrhea, high blood pressure, constipation, ulcers, higher risk for some cancers...  these are all side effects I hear about on TV commercials for medications.  Is it worth it?????

I cannot guarantee that disease will not crop up in our lives, even if we eat healthy.  I have a very good friend who's mother ate healthy almost every day of her life and she still ended up with cancer.  BUT, if we can eat healthy and help reduce the chances for cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc, isn't that worth it?  If we can eat healthy and reduce the risk (and completely get rid of the risk in some cases) for the need for some medications, isn't it worth it?

I found this article in the USA Today that really highlights some great points!!

1.  The five categories of food that were evaluated in this article in the order of least expensive to most expensive:  grains, dairy, vegetables, fruit, protein and less healthy foods.

2.  Consider your portion sizes.  A serving size of potato chips costs much more than a portion size of carrots and you will feel more full and satisfied!

3.  Proteins tend to be more expensive, such as chicken or fish, but eggs and beans are also sources of protein that is much cheaper. 

4.  The reason fruits and vegetables are higher in price is because we need more servings of them per day!! 

5.  In each of the food groups listed above, there are expensive items and inexpensive items.  If you always buy the most expensive, most exotic fruits, OF COURSE they will put a dent in your wallet. 

6.  Most people only allocate about 20-25% of their food budget towards fruits and vegetables.  The government suggests closer to 40%. 

Another great place that you can cut back is through what you drink!!  If you cut down on the soda, that will add up a lot!!  Even diet sodas that are horrible for you add a lot to your budget.  Try drinking water or iced tea with all your meals.  You can add lemon or cucumber or berries to your water or tea to make a nice refreshing treat that is not mundane. 

While I was doing the research for this blog post, I really evaluated my own grocery bill.  I spend on average about $80 every two weeks for Mike and I.  This usually includes some meat (chicken, pork chops, ground beef, steak), some almond milk, regular milk, healthy snacks for me, a few unhealthy snacks for Mike, and all kinds of veggies and fruits that I put into my shakes in the morning or salads at lunch or dinner.  I already have spices at home so I rarely need to buy those.  That totals about $160 a month for groceries from the store.  Then I look at my Shakeology and because I'm a Team Beachbody Coach, my Shakeology is only about $97 a month.  My entire grocery bill is a little over $260 a month for both Mike and I.  Now, if Mike ever decided to start drinking Shakeology, our bill would go up to about $360 a month. 

Eating clean is not really hard on the budget if you just look at what you're spending your budget on.  It can be harder on your creative brain cells though because it does take some thought to come up with food that is clean, not processed, healthy and NOT BORING, right? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a challenge for you:

Do some research and come up with three dinners that you can cook this week that are CLEAN. The Eat Clean Diet website has some awesome recipes.  Give three of them a try.  See how you feel and how your pocket book feels.  If you shop smart and eat smart, you will achieve great results both in how your body feels and how your budget feels!!

Weekly Meal Prep- Does it help????

I mentioned in another blog the importance of planning ahead.  When I am traveling and know I will be on the road, I plan ahead by making sure I have access to a refrigerator and/ or microwave and that there is a grocery store or Wal Mart near by.  That's the easy part.  What comes after that though???

When I find out that there is a Wal Mart or grocery store nearby, I plan out exactly what I will be eating for the week:  breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Then I make a grocery list.  I also decide which ONE night I will either eat out or order room service (depending on the hotel).  

This week, I will be in Bowling Green, KY.  It's only about 2 hours away from me, so I will be able to drive there.  Which MEANS, YAY!! I get to take almost everything with me.  

Breakfasts are easy:  Shakeology!  I already cut up the cherries I will blend with it and I will buy bananas when I get there.  I will take with me my PB2 and Shakeology.  

Lunches are a bit more challenging as I need something to take with me as I don't have time to go out and grab something to eat in between sessions.  This week, I plan on buying cut up lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, and radishes.  I'll take with me some balsamic spray dressing (10 sprays= 10 calories!!).  I will buy some turkey lunch meat (sliced from the deli if possible) for my protein.  I'll also buy some Greek yogurt for a mid-morning protein snack and some apples.  That should take care of my lunches.

I will go out to dinner on Thursday night.  Probably eat something at the hotel restaurant, such as salmon or steak, maybe grilled chicken with some grilled zucchini.  That sounds tasty.  Other dinners will include items similar to my lunch.  Lots of veggies, salads, and maybe some microwavable fish if I can find some.  

What is the benefit of planning ahead?  By planning ahead, I am able to stay on track and focused.  I know exactly what I'm eating, no matter where I am.  It's definitely worth the hour or two I spend planning on a Sunday evening.  

Dried Fruit- Sulfites

Dried fruit can be pricey in the grocery store and sometimes loaded with extra sugar and additives that you don't need to be giving your body.  A lot of dried fruit has sulfites in it, which is a preservative that can cause allergies and other concerns with different bodily systems, such as dermatological, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular problems.  People with asthma are intolerant to sulfites.  (I used this article as my source of information...  other good information included if you are interested in further reading.)

Instead of ingesting sulfites in your dried fruit, try making them at home!!!!   

I found this excellent way to make dried banana chips!!!  I absolutely love anything banana! 

Heat oven to 200 degrees. Slice bananas into thin chips and drizzle with lemon juice. Place on greased baking sheet and bake for 2 hours, turn and bake an additional 1.5 hours. As the chips cool they will firm up into a crisp chip! 

Great to snack on their own, added to trail mixes, or used as toppings in oatmeal or cereal.

I will be trying this banana recipe VERY soon!!!

This article gives a great step by step process on how to effectively dry whatever fruit you want.  Leave a comment here if you've given this a try!!  I'll update you when I've had a chance to give it a try.

It's all in the COLOR!!!!

Do you ever wonder why certain foods are certain colors???????  Well, here's the 4-1-1 on what the colors mean and how they affect your nutrition choices!!

Orange and yellow foods- apricots, cantaloupe, grapefruit, mango, papaya, peaches, oranges, pineapple, lemons, tangerines, yellow peppers, pumpkin, butternut squash, and carrots

The color comes from carotenoids, which helps boost your immune system, help you maintain sharper vision, and lower your risk of cancer.

 

Red foods- red berries, red grapefruit, watermelon, red apples, red peppers, pomegranates, beets, radicchio, red cabbage, and tomatoes

The color in red foods comes from Lycopene and Anthocyanins.  These boost heart health, increase memory capacity, keep your urinary tract clean, and lowers risk for some cancers.

Green foods- green apples, honeydew melon, green grapes, kiwi, lime, pears, avocado, asparagus, arugula, artichokes, broccoli, broccoli rabe, kale, collard greens, green peppers, green beans, lettuce, cucumbers, spinach, zucchini, and green cabbage

These foods contain lutein and indoles, which help to maintain bone strength and eye health, as well as provides many minerals and vitamins.

Blue and purple foods- blackberries, blueberries, plums, grapes, raisins, eggplant, purple potatoes, and purple asparagus

These help keep you looking younger by providing anthocyanins and phenolics to your body.

Brown and White foods- bananas, dates, cauliflower, garlic, onion, mushrooms, ginger, parsnips, potatoes, shallots, and turnips

These contain phytonutrient allicin, which has been known to help reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHALLENGE:

For dinner one night this week, try to eat food from each of the categories above!!  Take a picture and post it so we can see!!!

Make the Time!!!!! Fruits and Veggies

Yesterday I posted about making time for you.  Put whatever you need to get done on the calendar:  workouts, date with the husband or wife, time with kids, power hours.

So, what about the things we need to make time for that can't be put on the calendar...  such as making the time to eat fruits and veggies!!!!!!!!!

Fruits and veggies are such an important part of your diet.  They provide tons of natural vitamins and minerals that your body cannot generate on its own or you can get anywhere else.  They help to clean your system out to renew it and they give you energy that you might not normally have.

So how do you find time to prepare fruits and veggies?

1.  Buy bags of pre-washed veggies or pre-cut fruits so you can toss them into a salad on a moment's notice or use as snacks.

2.  Grapes and blueberries are delicious frozen!!  They make a great treat.  Keep them in your freezer all the time and you'll have a QUICK, handy snack.

3.  In the mood for soup?  Make a rather large batch of vegetable soup on the weekend (crock pots are great for this!!!!).  Freeze your leftovers so you have a fast lunch or dinner when you're in a hurry!!

4.  Keep fruit in a basket on your desk at work.  Bring in five pieces of fruit on Monday and as you go through the week, eat one for a snack every day.  The fruit in the basket looks pretty and you'll eat more of it when it's in your line of sight!!

5.  Spread some peanut butter on an apple or a banana for a high protein snack.

6.  Take a half hour every weekend to cut up some fruits and veggies to have in containers for the week.  Every day, just grab your container from the refrigerator and you're on your way!!