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Last week I told you all about my plan to get into great shape for the wedding by doing a lot more yoga. This week, it’s all about greens.
Mmm… kale.
While I’m a pretty healthy eater in general, I definitely do not eat an optimal amount of greens (kale, spinach, collard greens…etc). My idea of optimal is probably about 50% of what I consume, and I don’t come ANYWHERE near that.
In fact, I’m actually one of those people that don’t really like vegetables. Since I started eating vegan about 90% of the time I’ve found it a lot easier to eat lots of veggies because I’ve come across so many really flavourful recipes, but I still do not eat enough greens.
I’m a big fan of taking baby steps when it comes to improving my health, so in order to improve my intake of greens I’ve come up with two baby steps.
1) I’m going to buy one green juice a week. I’ve tried a few in Toronto and so far the one Urban Herbivore makes is my favourite. I’d love to make my own juices, but as I’d don’t currently own a juicer, that’s not an option at the moment.
2) I’m going to make one giant salad every week for a lunch or dinner. Here’s where I get a lot of my inspiration for really nourishing meal sized salads.
As you can see these are definitely baby steps and I certainly hope to quickly increase the amount of giant salads I eat. However, I’m pretty happy with these goals because they are both so easy and doable. Healthy body, here I come! (Yes, I realize that was a ridiculous sentence.)
What baby steps are you taking to improve your health/fitness before your wedding?
I wish I liked that stuff. I can never talk myself into eating that leafy green stuff. I try it and I just don’t like it. Good luck!
Mmmmmm. Big salad. No baby steps here - I lost a lot of weight since February by reducing my calories and exercising 5 times a week!
Eating leafy greens is so hard! I love salads and all, but I get sick of them so quickly, and they don’t keep me full for very long. As for the green juices, well let’s just say that I think they taste like grass, you are far more dedicated than me.
I LOVE salad-I eat it with every meal. it’s a pretty easy habit to get into and when you don’t have a salad you will really miss it. Most of the time I don’t do anything fancy-lettuce,oil vineger, salt pepper and some parm cheese. But I also like to use apples, blueberries,strawberries, avacados (the best in the salad) onions-it’s fun to get creative!
I also have a good recipe for an avacado shake-I’ll see if I can find it! They taste really good-I swear!
I’ve started taking a multivitamin. I like Rainbow Light brand, as it doesn’t make me queasy. And I’m trying to work in more salad eating too!
Try making a smoothie and throw in a couple handfuls of spinach– I promise you can’t taste it! I usually do a banana (helps make it thick and creamy), 1/2 c. of milk (I don’t really measure), two big handfuls of spinach, and ice. Sometimes I’ll add a spoonful of peanut butter or some other fruits as well. Sounds gross, but it is YUMMY and an easy way to get in more greens. Here is a website with some recipes: http://greenmonstermovement.com/?page_id=39 (P.S. I promise I have nothing to do with this website… just passing it along because I think it’s tasty!)
I don’t eat nearly as many greens as I should either. I really commend you on your goal. Also, if you like kale, it’s great in a sausage and potato soup. It really is.
Saute some swiss chard in a little olive oil with onions and garlic. (Do the onions first with the chard stems til they’re soft, then the garlic briefly, then throw the chard leaves in and cook til they wilt, maybe 5 minutes more.) YUMMY!
I’ve been making myself buy at least 2 servings of fruit per trip to the grocery store. I NEVER eat fruit, it goes bad so quickly and is hard to transport so by doing this I’m actually introducing fruit into my diet.
Mine baby steps have been trying to work out more. I was a big vegetable eater pre-wedding festivities, so that was not a problem. However, now I have also given up all meat except fish and that has really decreased my fat intake.
Fellow vegan here! Do you ever make yourself smoothies? I have a mediocre blender and make myself a smoothie a few times a week (usually frozen bananas and berries or some other fruit I have on hand). I also throw a handful of spinach or kale in there too and I swear, you can’t tell. It’s a great way to get a few more greens in without sitting down to a big salad!
LOVE the green stuff! Mr P and I get a weekly veggie box delivered and it is so much fun figuring out new and imaginative things to make with our veggies. Pre-wedding I was completely against trying to lose any weight- funny but true. I just wasn’t going to put any pressure on myself. I actually actively avoided it 
I am avoiding the stress of losing weight pre-wedding however I always like to try being more healthy. We try to have salad every other night with dinner.. try different dressing, add different kinds of veggies sometimes, plus when you add fruit or nuts it makes it both interesting & also good for you still! I love adding almonds, raisins, sunflower seeds to min!
@ktisthatbees: I’ve definitely had some disgusting ones, but I actually almost really like the one I mentioned in the post.
@Ms Scrabble: Mr. K actually makes them for me most mornings. That’s a great tip and I’m definitely going to try that.
(This may come out as a horrible example and seem domineering or demeaning, but really he’s doing it out of support for me and the goals I’ve set…) My FI has set up the “pilates challenge” for me. I have to do at least 30 min of pilates (I have a DVD at home), 5 days a week. At 2 weeks I’ll get a reward, and at a month I’ll get a reward. He’s still figuring out how to shake things up after 1 month. In the meantime, he’s started doing the 100 pushup and 200 situp challenge. He’s been doing it about 2-3 weeks and is already feeling/seeing a difference in how he looks!
Alongside trying to get more active I’ve also started using http://www.caloriecount.com to track my food/calorie/nutrition intake. I lost about 30lbs on it 2 years ago but then slacked off and gained about half back. I’m back on track again now though, and combined with the exercise, hope to be in good shape when my wedding comes around next March.
As for greens, I’m not that bad about it. In summers especially I like making big salads for lunch. My FI’s never been a big salad guy, though. However, we recently discovered that it seems to be just that he doesn’t like the crunchier lettuces (iceberg, romaine), but softer, wilty leaves like spring mix or spinach are OK. He even had a salad for dinner last week. We were both very excited!
And good grief that was a long reply! Sorry!
Mmmm… I could eat salads 3x a day if I could afford Urban Herbivore that often. Their salads and sandwiches are the best!
I came over to comment that you should try green smoothies but it looks like some of the ladies beat me to the punch! SO let me just add my 2¢ that they really are delicious and you really can’t taste the greens. I’ve gone overboard at times with proportions and you still can’t taste the greens but the fruit isn’t quite as sweet as you’d probably like. Mmmmm.
@Laura: @Ms Scrabble: Adding kale and spinach to our smoothies has been a great success. Thanks so much for suggesting it!
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Mrs. Knitting, Toronto Age and Occupation: 24, Student Recruitment Assistant Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Neuroscience PhD Candidate Engagement Date: October 2009 Wedding Date: December 2010 Venue: University of Toronto Faculty Club About Me: I'm a pearl wearing, etiquette book reading Toronto girl who loves cooking and baking, museums, charm bracelets, and collecting books on Jackie Kennedy (a lot). I've been known to spend Sunday mornings at the antique market, Wednesday evenings at sister sushi dinners, and any bit of spare time reading. After six and a half years of many late night walks, watching DVDs together in bed, travelling to places like New York, and Tobermory, doing Sudokus together on the couch, lots of Indian food, the occasional yoga class, moving in together and so much more, Mr. Knitting and I are planning a cozy Christmasy (it's a word!), vintage wedding in Toronto complete with many DIY projects (eek!) and lots of help from our amazing group of family and friends.
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