Fruits are your friends

Did you know that, according to the Harvard School of Public Health, the average American consumes just 3 servings of fruits and vegetables per day? I think that's being generous too! The intake of fruits and vegetables is the most important factor in reducing the likelihood of diseases like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

Here are some simple ways to add more fruits and veggies into your diet:

1. Top your cereal or oatmeal with berries and include another fruit (like kiwi or grapefruit) on the side.

2. For your mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack, include some type of fruit along with a protein source. For example, have an apple with a handful of cashews or have a banana with peanut butter (yum!).

3. If you make your own salad at lunch, top it with additional veggies like bell peppers and cucumbers.

4. Always include a vegetable with your dinner. Make it green when you can, but veggies such as carrots will do as well. At our house, we are so used to having green vegetables on our plates at dinner that it seems weird even with we do have those orange carrots!

5. When possible, get a side of veggies when you are out for dinner. I know, I know... fries are so yummy when you are out at a restaurant. I'm not saying don't ever get fries (sweet potato are my favorite!). But you'd be amazed at some of the good, fresh options available when it comes to sides of veggies like broccoli, asparagus, and grilled zucchini.

So evaluate your intake of these foods that nature is giving us. Keep track of how much produce you consume in a week and then go ahead and add more. Unlike the processed junk that fills our grocery stores, your body knows exactly what to do with fruits and veggies and you will feel better because of it!

Recipes!

So I've had many people ask, "Karin, now that you don't eat meat, what exactly do you eat?"

And then when I tell people I have almost cut out dairy, they are flabbergasted! Well, here's the deal with the dairy. I eat as vegan as possible at home, with the exception of the occasional egg or mozzarella cheese stick. When we eat out, I will get food that has cheese on it (or some type of milk-based sauce) but occasionally I ask for no cheese. Anyway, making the switch to a vegetarian diet can be intimidating, especially when you have certain meat recipes you've followed for your entire adult cooking life. Fear not! Somehow my family has survived for a year on healthy, plant-based dishes.

This is one of my favorites from Sandra Lee. It is a black bean burger that tastes very yummy and doesn't take long to prepare. The recipe does call for one egg (which I've used) but I've also used an egg substitute (called Ener-G) and you can't even tell the difference! Here's the link:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/black-bean-burgers-recipe/index.html

I top these burgers with half an avocado and some salsa. Yum! Then, on the side, I make a veggie like broccoli or asparagus (anything green will do) and fresh sweet potato fries. For the fries, simply cut up an uncooked sweet potato into fry-like strips, put a little olive oil on top with some salt and pepper and then bake them in the oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. So good!

Your Comfort Zone

Today I stepped out of my comfort zone, and I feel great!

I've done a number of sprint triathlons over the past four years, but today was my first long course race. Sprint races are typically made of a 500 meter swim, 11 to 13 mile bike, and a 5K run. Long courses are approximately double that distance, give or take. The sprint triathlons were becoming comfortable to the point that I was actually placing in some of them. Today it was time to move on and try something new.

Ultimately, the swim is what moved me out of my comfort zone today. In the past, I dreaded the swim and couldn't wait to get on my bike and, more so, to the run. So when I stepped out of the water after swimming almost 1000 meters feeling fantastic I knew I had overcome a major mental obstacle. The bike and run definitely pushed me to my limits (as it was really hot here today) but I made sure to enjoy the journey, taking in the beautiful farms I passed and appreciating the encouraging fans cheering us up a big hill.

There are always challenges in life, sometimes every day. Personal success comes when you change your mind and decide to have a positive attitude about those challenges. Sure, that mile long hill was no fun on a bike that was having gear trouble, but I decided to enjoy it nonetheless. Taking the step to move beyond what you are used to will help you grow as a person. I don't even know what my race results are yet (I didn't wear a watch), but I feel like my own personal hero. Choose to do something healthy for yourself today, and maybe something that makes you take that extra step out of your comfort zone!

Go ahead, ruin my barbeque

As previously mentioned, I am currently reading The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. As I journey through this book, I want to share some of the facts I find particularly interesting about the importance of reducing and eliminating our meat intake. I apologize if this ruins anyone's weekend BBQ plans but I found that the following quote from her book is something we don't often think about. It has to do with our digestive tract not being designed to handle meat consumption.

"A carnivore's intestines are only about 6 feet long, because meat isn't meant to hang out in the gut forever. Our intestines are 20 feet long; when we eat meat, it takes a full 72 hours to pass through us. That's 3 days, and your body, my friend, is 98.6 degrees inside! It's like having steak sit out in the hot sun for 3 days straight. Eventually it will start to rot and putrefy. And that's what's happening inside of you." (page 21 of The Kind Diet)

Mmmmm... burger anyone?

An anniversary

It's been almost a year since I decided to become vegetarian and honestly, I can't believe it. Sure there have been a couple times when I did not stick with it. During a particularly stressful time earlier in the year I felt like I needed comfort food and at that time, a cheese steak and my mom's ground beef spaghetti sauce did the trick. But eventually I got back on track and have been meat-free ever since.

Like so many things in life, becoming vegetarian (or even simply deciding to eat in a healthier way) is a process. I just started reading Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet and she talks about her journey toward becoming vegan. She stresses that it is important to do what is best for you; some people can make the change overnight while others must work toward it gradually. While going vegetarian was practically an overnight thing, adopting a vegan lifestyle is proving to be more gradual. Because of everything I've been reading about the benefits of eliminating meat and dairy, I am committed to making the change. However, I am learning to be easy on myself if I cave in and have some dairy ice cream now and then (oh, DQ cookie dough blizzard, why are you so yummy?).

As with any positive commitment you undertake, view change as a process and a journey. Some days you will feel like a superhero, other days not so much. The important thing to remember is to be aware and do the best you can!

Setting the Example

When you become a parent, your whole perspective on life changes. After you get through the initial phase of figuring out your baby, you suddenly realize that you are responsible for a life and you are your child's first teacher and role model.

I've been thinking about this topic a lot lately. In the realm of food, when our children see us eating healthy food, they will want to eat healthy food (even if it takes a picky toddler what seems like a million times to eat it!). The other day, I was eating a salad, and Chris asked for a piece of lettuce. He's a great eater but I wasn't sure if he would like the texture of the leaf. He ate it right up and I was happy to share more with him. I'm convinced that his desire to eat this salad was partly because he sees me eating it a lot.

I feel like it is so important to set the example for our children that it is important to think about what we are eating. So often, "family" meals are not eaten together at all but in front of the TV or computer. I love talking to Chris about how certain foods are going to make us big and strong and then seeing him flex his muscles and eat his beans!

Of course, we also need to set the example that it's okay to not eat perfectly (or be perfect--come on American parents, settle down! our kids are going to turn out alright!) all the time. Treats are good every now and then. If we can shoot for eating healthy foods 80 to 90 percent of the time, we will be okay.

(PS--While I am still doing the long course triathlon in a week, the marathon is out. I just plain old didn't want to train for it right now. So I added one more triathlon in September... Oh and me and coffee are back together, in case you're keeping track. :)