How to Eat More Vegetables

August 30th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (7 Comments)

Once upon a time I always ate processed, snacky type foods like Kashi crackers, pretzels or frozen, baked french fries as my “side” at lunch.  While those are certainly better than some foods and are of course OK once in a while – one of the best habits I ever created for myself was learning to automatically put vegetables on my plate instead.

A pile of steamed veggies, vegetable sticks, a side salad – I don’t even miss crackers or pretzels anymore and don’t feel like I’m depriving myself either.

We’ve gotten a slew of peaches from the CSA share in recent weeks – more peaches than we can eat.

Or really, more peaches than I am currently in the mood to eat.

Don’t get me wrong – summer peaches are fabulous. But frankly, I am peached out. I’ve thrown enough Peach Pits into our compost pile this month to change my zip code to 90210.

Cast of 90210

(it’s possible I had a poster of Luke Perry hanging on my bedroom wall from approximately 1992 until 1994…)

I Cut Up a Cantaloupe Today

August 16th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (6 Comments)

See?

Cut Up a Cantaloupe

While slicing up that there cantaloupe I got to thinking about Natalia Rose’s line from the The Raw Food Detox Diet about fruit:

Eat it alone or leave it alone.

Food combining rules say you should eat only eat fruit on empty stomach because when mixed with other foods, it can lead to fermentation, stomach pains and gas.  As I understand it, it has to do with the enzymes that are released to digest fruit vs. what’s released to digest other foods.

Dressed to Clean

August 6th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (1 Comments)

It’s Saturday morning.

It’s been a long week.

Translation: I’m cleaning today.

But first!  I need to say good morning to my cup of coffee, my laptop, Barbie and a Fashion Fairy Tale Easy Reader, dress up shoes that should not be on the table in the first place, a broken slinky and a pink knit snake named Hissy that are all about to be trudged back upstairs to the playroom in a moment here.

Coffee First

Get Motivated

When it comes to getting motivated to clean house, getting dressed to clean is an amazing trick.

Days Like This

July 30th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (4 Comments)

Yeah, there’ll be days like this.  Mom was right.

Cucumber Slices on Eyes

(why yes, that cucumber did come from the CSA share. thank you for noticing.)

Your Thoughts are Very Powerful

We all inevitably have times in our lives when we’re feeling less than stellar.  The next time you’re laying there with cucumber slices on your eyes because you’ve had a tough day – consider the fact that the thoughts that you think and the emotions that you feel are very closely tied.

Have you ever been somewhere completely harmless but are feeling just dreadful?

Have Salad – Will Travel

July 27th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (Comments Off on Have Salad – Will Travel)

We just returned from a child-free vacation/mini-adventure.  Our travel itinerary included a wedding, an Ironman, plus two additional carefree days with zero parental responsibilities and a bunch of down time thanks to the generosity and support of some very loving and caring family members.

(did you hear the tires squealing as we tore ass out of the driveway before anyone could change their mind?)

So I’m back!  And here today with a few healthy travel tips before my brood returns and life returns to “normal”.

Pack Your Own Food

Preparing food from home can save you time, money and unknown food options while on the road.

A clean refrigerator feels really good.

A Clean Fridge

Like a sneeze, only better.

I just cleaned out my fridge (and I just sneezed). It wasn’t even that bad (the fridge), but I can’t deny that it looks and feels pretty amazing now that I’m done. Putting away groceries was an extremely pleasurable, mind blowing, out-of-body experience.

(ok, I admit it.  I’m trying to make this post climactic.)

Congrats New York!

July 8th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (1 Comments)

I don’t know about you, but the recently released 2011 Obesity Report bums me out.  In fact, it downright scares me.

Clearly, there is something wrong with the way America eats.  I’m left shaking my head and wondering “what on earth are we going to do?”

We can tell people about the dangers of processed junk and frankenfoods until we are blue in the face, but ultimately – nobody changes until they are personally motivated and ready to do so.  No matter how much you’d love to see dietary habits of the nation, your family or your friends change, it is of course up to each of us to decide for ourselves what we’re going to eat and put into our bodies.

Sometimes eating better is more about what you don’t buy as compared to what you do buy.  One trick to making healthier food choices more frequently is to simply stop buying unhealthy foods in first place.  That might sound painfully obvious or maybe it feels absolutely impossible – but if you can manage to leave these foods at the store, it works like a charm for a few reasons:

1. It’s much easier to resist temptation at the grocery store.

Especially if you eat before you shop.

The Company You Keep

June 19th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (7 Comments)

Have you ever heard that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with?

Cobbs Hill

I slept late yesterday and inadvertently missed the run with my neighborhood running group.  No biggie – instead I hopped on my bike and went out for a solo ride when I got up.  (See my little bike shadow up there?)  These totally perfect, it’s-almost-summer mornings have been impossible to resist lately.