I have a challenge for you....

I was thinking about the small things people can do to begin changing their eating habits to become healthier. I think starting slow was the key for me, and can be for others as well. So my challenge for the week to my readers who DO want to make the change is this: Cut out all soda for a week. Go for two weeks if you can. 

Weigh yourself before the challenge begins, and then at the end of the week(s) and see if you notice a change. (Tip: Weigh yourself in the morning before eating breakfast when your body is empty.) If you can't cut out all soda, then try at least cutting your consumption down. Replace when you would have soda with water or unsweetened ice tea. If you add a slice of lemon it sweetens our drink naturally AND gives you some benefit of the citrus. If you can't do unsweetened ice tea try ordering unsweetened and adding sugar packets. Add no more than 5 packets. (there are 10 packets per 1 can of soda. Source: http://www.onecanofsoda.com/) 


This will do 2 things for you. It will cut your sugar intake in half AND you will be adding the flavonoids of the tea to your diet which is healthy for your body. Both black tea and green tea is good for you. If you buy an ice tea, check the grams of sugar in it. (some are sugar free) 4o grams of sugar are what is in a typical can of soda. So the goal is to cut down on the sugar, while increasing the health benefits of what you are putting in your body. I make my tea by heating water and brewing 1 cup of decaffeinated tea and 1 cup of caffeinated tea and pouring them together to cool in the fridge. I add ice and lemon before drinking. Thankfully most fast food places do offer an unsweetened ice tea. (I had some at Wendy's yesterday.) When ordering unsweetened tea in restaurants be aware not all will taste good. Default to water if this happens to you. And keep trying! As we all know, some restaurants are better at some things than others. 


I haven't had a soda in months and I really don't miss it any more. Whenever I got tempted in the past I would just think about what little nutritional value it had for me, (none other than being a liquid) and I would make another choice. FMI about the health benefits of tea check this article out: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/tea-types-and-their-health-benefits  Cutting back on soda or phasing it out completely is just one way you can eat healthier. Then once you get the ball rolling the rest will come too.

My scale said 108.4 this morning. I swear on my whole families life I am not even trying to lose weight at this point! I am just as surprised as you are. And before anyone freaks at that number I am only 5'1". I am also still eating a LOT of food! (including the occasional fast food meal and cookies) I do still have a bit of the "Mummy Tummy" from birthing 2 kids. It is finally going away! I never thought I would see that happen. Eating healthy just works. Trust me, if I can do it anyone can!!!

Eat well!

I'm still eating!!

Yes I am still here. Sorry about the lag between posts. Life has just been so busy! Add that to battling some allergies and my "spare time" (ha ha) where I feel like doing more than just reading has just been very rare. Check out my new "look". When I can, I wear the mask because it cuts down on the coughing drastically. I can't get in to see the pulmonary specialist until the end of the month. Until then I am on a cough medicine that works but works best if I can take a dose that prevents me from being able to drive. Yeah, not helpful.

My husband and I went to a local well known restaurant in the area a few weeks ago. It is FABULOUS! It is called Primo and they specialize in home grown herbs, vegetables, eggs and they even raise their own pigs and ducks for the dinner table. They are a great example of healthy eating done well AND being as green as possible. I am convinced that you can NOT have a bad meal there! Here is their website: www.primorestaurant.com  Here are a few photos of just part of our fabulous meal. I had the duck and it came with a side of beets. Add beets to new foods tried for me list. Interestingly it tasted familiar and I did like them. The duck was perfection.

Because I know the co-owner Price (as a client of the vet hospital I work at)
he was kind enough to send out an extra course of a linguine dyed with squid ink. It also had cuttle fish and squid pieces along with chik peas and assorted vegetables. It was amazing! A very spicy dish for me as I am not used to eating much spicy foods. I am super proud of myself for eating it since once upon a time I wouldn't have even tried a dish like that.

This is one of the desserts we tried. It is a rhubarb crostata. Also amazing. Everything we had was wonderful. We sat near a window and it was incredible watching the chefs gather herbs and then take them back to the kitchen to use. You can't get fresher than that!

We also had a going away dinner for one of my co-workers since I last posted. I tried Fiddlehead pizza and it was fabulous.

I love this time of year because of all the fresh berries. I try to eat blueberries every day but I am making exceptions for strawberries when I can.

Can't get fresh berries where you are? A great second choice is homemade berry Jams. I am spoiled by a grandmother that makes her own and shares with the family.

It looks like my new maintained weight is still changing. The scale this morning said 110.2lbs. I admit I was surprised. With the cough I haven't been able to walk or exercise at all so I am happy that the eating well has continued to work. I do find I cheat a little more during "the week of the beast". I am ok with that. I still try to make healthier choices, homemade cookies vs store bought for instance. Check out the blog by a girl in the UK about her school lunches. http://neverseconds.blogspot.com  I love it. My son and I watched the documentary "Supersize Me" recently. I'm glad my kids are picking up on our message that healthy eating is important. I really wish I had learned the lesson earlier and could have been doing better by them when they were younger. It really is true, when you know better you do better. Happy eating!