Salad for Lunch

Now that I have mastered my healthy Oatmeal breakfast, I will take on lunch. I am committing to eating a salad everyday for lunch. Research has shown that leafy greens are most highly associated with longevity and are the most nutrient packed foods available to us. So why not make it a staple of my daily diet?

Salads can be made with many different ingredients and there are hundreds of salad combinations out there. The salad that I will be eating everyday for lunch this week will be one particular salad I love. My good friends Andrea and Amber introduced me to this salad and I have enjoyed it ever since.

You start by placing two big handfuls of spinach leaves in a bowl. Add 8 strawberries.




Add a few mandarin oranges.




Add a handful of chopped red onions and 2 TBSP of feta cheese.




Top with 2 TBSP of dressing.




This is the important part. I know in the past, I probably have used WAY more than 2 TBSP of dressing. This is where a salad can become really bad for you. So I actually measured 2 TBSP. It was more than enough dressing to coat the salad. The dressing I used for this salad was Krafts Raspberry Vinaigrette made with extra virgin olive oil. In 2 TBSP there are 60 calories and 4 grams of fat...not bad!

Besides the spinach and fruit in this salad, the olive oil has its own health benefits. Olive oil is considered so good for you because of its high content of "good fat" and antioxidants. Extra virgin olive oil is best for you because it is the least processed and is from the first pressing of the olives.

Fighting and preventing heart disease and colon cancer are just two of the many benefits olive oil has to offer. The recommended serving of olive oil per day is 2 TBSP.

Toss and serve.




Looking at this beautiful salad, it screams, "I am delicious" and "I am healthy". And to even top that off, I can rest assured that salads also provide many health benefits including:

• Increased fiber
• Lowers cholesterol
• Feel fuller so eat less
• Antioxidants
• Cancer fighting
• Helps you consume the recommended serving of fruits and vegetables

*So for 1 week, I will eat this salad everyday for lunch and I will revisit this topic and let you know how it makes me feel.

After 1 week I plan on continuing to eat a salad for lunch everyday but I will vary the ingredients. Any good salad recipes out there?

Bon Appetit!

Oatmeal for Breakfast

I am exploring my options as far as ways to start the day. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast. I am not a morning person, so having a good breakfast seems to make everything okay.

Besides helping me out of a half conscious state in the morning, breakfast has health benefits, including weight control and improved performance.

Studies show that eating a healthy breakfast can help give you:

• A more nutritionally complete diet
• Improved concentration and performance
• More strength and endurance to engage in physical activity
• Lower cholesterol levels
  

These all seem to line up with my healthy living quest. So a healthy breakfast is how I will start my day. I have decided on Oatmeal. Not the kind that comes in the little packages and different flavors. Those are extremely high in sugar...not to mention extremely high in flavor.



I will be having some good old fashion plain Quaker Oats. Remember I am trying to eat most things as close to its natural state as possible.

Preparation goes as follows:

Boil 1/2 cup of water
Stir in 3/4 cup of oats
Boil on medium for 1 minute



Since plain oatmeal is extremely bland I added blueberries. I also added one scoop of vanilla protein powder. I read in a study that women who added a source of protein to their breakfast lost more weight than those who didn't. I am hoping with the protein and the oatmeal, I feel full longer.

Besides keeping me full longer, I found many benefits to eating oatmeal. These benefits include:

• Good source of fiber
• Cancer fighting
• Reduces cholesterol
• Good source of vitamin E, zinc, selenium, copper, iron, manganese and magnesium
• Good source of protein

I love that I found a breakfast that is so satisfying and tasty and at the same time is so good for me! So here's to eating breakfast and oatmeal!

*I will revisit this breakfast choice in one week and see how it has made me feel.

Water

As my first attempt at healthy living, water is now my beverage of choice. I purchased a 1L bottle of water and am going to try...no start again, I am going to drink 2.5 of these bottles per day.

How much water are you supposed to drink per day?

After researching this very question, I found many different approaches and yes, it is possible to drink TOO much water. The three answers I found most useful were the following:

1. Replace the liquids you lose. Everyday we lose approximately 1.5 liters of fluids in urine. 1 liter of fluids in our breath, yes breath, bowel movements and sweat. So to replace these fluids we lose, we should drink about 2 liters of water, getting the remaining .5 liters from foods we eat.

2. 8/8 Drink 8 8 oz. glasses of water per day. There is no scientific reasoning to this answer but I guess it just sounds good. Kind of like, "An apple a day...".

3. The Institute of Medicine recommends 2.2 liters of water per day for women.

I will go with number three.

What do I hope for by consuming this amount of water every day?

Well, I read that one of the big symptoms of dehydration is fatigue. So, first I hope for more energy. I also hope that it will curb my appetite. A lot of times, I am sure I grab a snack when really I am just thirsty. Also, at meal times, I should feel more full with water as part of my meal. Other positive affects I am hoping for will be less puffiness and better skin. As part of my overall health, my body will benefit from this more than I probably will every know.

Below is what my fluid intake per day has been lately. Coffee in the morning, 1-2 diet cokes throughout the day and beer or wine at night. The labels and packaging are lovely but after I took this picture and looked at it, I realized how far from natural these products look. Water is the obvious choice for healthier living.



Now, I am NOT going to give up these fabulous fluids all together. That would be too extreme. Remember, this is an attempt at healthier living. I will reduce my daily coffee intake, for now, to 1-2 cups, my diet coke servings to 1 can and my alcoholic intake to 1 beer or 1 BIG glass of red wine.

I will revisit this topic in one week and let you know how this commitment has made me feel.

Now I must go, I have to pee.