Going Green This Spring

Are you as excited as I am? Spring is on the horizon. That warmer breeze is in the air, the grass is starting to green, and the Bluebonnets in Texas are beginning to bloom. It’s a refreshing time of year when things come to life all around us. How about your diet though? Is it stale? As we begin the host month of March Madness and St. Patrick’s Day, I want to encourage you to “Go Green” by consuming more greens in the form of fruits and vegetables to freshen up your health routine. 

I wonder if many of us actually know how many servings of fruits and vegetables we are supposed to be eating on a daily basis. A sedentary person should be consuming 7-13 servings, and anyone who exercises one hour or more per day needs 16-18 servings daily.  That’s overwhelming, isn’t it? But fruits and vegetables are critical to good health. In fact, both the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society recommend eating more fruits and vegetables as a way to help prevent heart disease and cancer. So let’s talk about some simpler ways to Go Green and get healthier this spring.  

The first thing you can do is establish a good morning routine. Our family starts each day with a nutrition-packed smoothie. We blend together almond milk, various fruits, our favorite Juice Plus+ Complete protein drink mix, and a handful (or more) of greens. Spinach is an excellent addition because it doesn’t alter the flavor of your drink at all. If you can add kale too, you’ll really up your nutritional game since it is one of the most nutritionally dense vegetables you can consume. Be aware that spinach and kale may alter the color, and just remember that taste is more important than looks. While your drink may not always be visually appealing, it’s a great way to get a healthy start to your day. Something else worth knowing is that kale and spinach contain more calcium that your body will absorb than any typical calcium supplement. Food is truly medicine is so many incredible ways. 

Obviously salads are another option to add more greens to your diet. They are especially helpful to stay on track when eating out since almost all restaurants have some kind of salad option. I just encourage you to get the dressing on the side and use it minimally since that’s where the fat and calories tend to be greatest. An easy way to also choose a salad while eating at home is by joining a Salad in a Jar event. They’re easy events to start up in a community and encourage healthier eating. If you think about it, the main reason we avoid eating salad is the prep process. Shopping, chopping and cleaning up can make them a lot of work. Salad in a Jar takes that away and provides healthy meals all week long, literally at your fingertips. Each attendee chops and preps one or two salad ingredients and brings them along to share. The group then travels an assembly line of all the ingredients to pack their lunches for the week. It’s such a great way to put healthier options at your fingertips and encourage better eating habits within a community. 

There are many other tricks you can use to get more greens in your diet. We like to throw greens in soups, chili, casserole dishes and even eggs. When eating pasta, you can opt for a pesto sauce and zucchini noodles to make it greener and healthier. Have you noticed that some restaurants, especially fancier burger joints, are offering a lettuce wrap option to replace the bun? Make that simple switch at home too. Various lettuce leaves can easily be used in lieu of tortillas for wraps or tacos. Crispy kale chips are a great substitution for potato chips and are simple to make at home. If pizza is for dinner, throw a salad on top for a fun meal to

eat. You can also add a layer of spinach purée beneath the pizza sauce for another dose of green. Chocolate desserts like brownies are an easy place to hide greens and make desserts a bit healthier. Then there is my favorite…guacamole. Plus, if you use broccoli, cucumbers, or celery instead of chips, you’re going even greener. As you can see, the options are endless. The great thing is by making just a handful of these adjustments, you can move much closer to your recommended daily intake of fruits & vegetables. The website www.healthylivingrevolution.com has free healthy cookbooks I recommend with plant-based recipes. You can also visit www.wholefoodforlife.net to find our favorite protein drink mix, Juice Plus+ Complete. Trust me, if a burger-eating girl from Nebraska can evolve to a mostly plant-based diet…you can too! Try some of these tricks and let me know how they work out. You can reach me anytime on Instagram, Facebook, or [email protected]. Happy, healthier, and greener eating, friends!