#I HATE BEING A PICKY EATER!!!! i hope this veggie powder helps me get my shit together.

[fandaniel]

spending money on something that long term will make me healthier

[enjoyyoursundays]

With the whole “new year, new me,” business that comes along with the new year, I thought I would throw some ideas your way and give you a little peak into my everyday healthy eating tips! I know eating healthy can be expensive but I feel like knowing when to splurge on certain things and also knowing when to loosen the reigns with yourself are vital to success in the kitchen.

When I tend to cook, I always end up cooking something healthy. Even if its pasta, I’ll throw a veggie in the sauce or have veggie/whole grain pasta. It’s the smallest changes that make the biggest difference. There are certain things that I don’t believe in which are taking supplements, (besides protein if I don’t plan to eat enough that day or something) taking multivitamins because I’m not at the age yet where I’m in need of them, its usually geared toward someone who needs extra joint support or just an extra boost of health, and the biggest thing I’m against: cleansing. If you think draining your body of “toxins” is going to magically make you healthy then I suggest you look more into it. Sweat out your toxins in the gym, everything in moderation and eat your veggies, simple as that.

Now, I am no where near a professional and I have no training in discussing this topic besides one college class about nutrition that I don’t remember anything from #college. 

Anyway, here are my fav healthy tips/things I implement in my everyday routine:

Drink your fruits and veggies! Something that I do everyday is make a smoothie. I usually don’t switch it up very much because it’s SO GOOD. Look for the recipe at the bottom! Now, if you’re like me and can’t eat fruit just by itself more than once a day, meaning for example, you can’t have an orange for breakfast and then a banana later and a handful of grapes. I don’t know if that makes sense but I would rather drink my fruits and veggies and then add them additionally to my food throughout the day instead of eating them by themselves.

Eat a hearty breakfast…. EVERY DAY. I know a lot of people who will not even eat breakfast or just have a small piece of fruit. Breakfast is what you need to fuel your day and it should always be your biggest meal of the day. It’s easy for me because the morning is my favorite time of day and I love to cook breakfast foods like my beloved breakfast tacos.

Switch out your grains. This one has always been tough for me. But tbh no matter what fad diet bs (and they are bs) that I hear about, I could never live comfortably without bread and pasta. That being said, I try and switch out white rice for brown, regular pasta for whole wheat or veggie (they have some weird ones at trader joes like black bean, which was disgusting, but if you’re curious about other pastas, thats your place!) and whole grain bread instead of white or sourdough. Believe it or not, eating this stuff is not detrimental if eaten in moderation, which brings me to my next point…

Moderation is key. It doesn’t matter the health kick that I’m on, I will not skip out on life to meet a calorie count. If I have a family gathering and we’re eating hearty lasagna and bread, I’m not going to load up on salad and feel like I’m missing out. I’ve tried to do this in the past and every time I do, I find myself longing for bad food throughout the night or whenever, instead of enjoying the company I’m with. Now, I’m not saying let the gate open and run wild in a field of cupcakes BUT, I am saying you need to stop being so hard on yourself. Unless you have a strict goal or timeline of what you want your body to look like or you’re happiest when you eat clean then DO YOU. You guys, this post is not meant to attack those that live a strict diet lifestyle. I’m talking to those of you that try and implement healthier habits into your day to day. Also, I’m telling you more about myself and my own personal habits. Back to moderation, having a burger once in a while and a slice of pizza is O K A Y. Its when fast food is consumed everyday or when you go most days without anything green entering your system, then it becomes a problem. There is a very fine line and it takes a while to find it, yes, I’m still searching for mine.

Eat food that you actually like. Do not try and force down healthy food if it’s the worst thing that you’ve ever had. If you’re a picky eater, try foods every now and again cooked in different ways and you might be surprised. For example, I think broccoli is satan on earth in my mouth when its not cooked. It doesn’t matter how much ranch I put on it, I absolutely hate it. But, when it’s steamed or baked, it’s my favorite vegetable. My point is, don’t force feed yourself healthy food because you’ll never adjust to a habit of eating that way. You should enjoy what’s in front of you rather than dreading what you’re about to ingest.

It’s okay not to eat meat for your protein. This is for my non-vegan/vegetarian friends. I used to only base my meals around a meat. It took me a long time to realize I don’t need to have it every meal. There is a lot of protein to be found in other sources and while I do eat meat, I love making vegan recipes and stripping down typical recipes to be healthier. I hear a lot that a good tip is to make one day a week a vegetarian/vegan day and I have been doing it recently. I honestly haven’t really noticed a difference but I love trying new recipes and challenging myself.

Drink your damn water. I think this is the most obvious and we all know we need to drink a lot of water but I think this one is not only the most important tip but the most impactful. I definitely feel it when I don’t drink enough water. I rely SO heavily on my hydroflask to get my daily serving of water. I usually drink two servings in my 40 OZ bottle and then drink two glasses at home. This has made a huge difference in my skin, my energy and it helps with cleaning out all your toxins instead of a harmful cleanse.

Now, I wanted to give you guys a brief peak into what I typically eat in a day and how I balance things out + extra tips!

Breakfast:

-2 egg whites

-handful of spinach

-1 piece of turkey bacon

-green bell pepper in my eggs, about 2 tablespoons

-about 2 tablespoons of cut up white onion

-1 slice whole grain toast

-handful of fruit (usually blueberries)

-teaspoon unsalted almond butter on toast

-1 tablespoon of trader joe’s super seed blend on toast

Snack:

-Nut butter filled cliff bar (coconut almond butter flavor)

Lunch:

I would like to say that I make lunch everyday but its definitely the meal I eat out the most. Most days I go to Grill Hut and get chicken, rice, salad and pita bread and it’s my favorite lunch. But, if I make it at home I’ll usually have something like this:

-1/2 cup steamed broccoli

-Veggie patty

-romain lettuce (to wrap veggie patty)

-handful of mixed nuts

-sautéed sweet potatoes ( cooked in coconut oil and seasoned with thyme, garlic powder and paprika.)

Snack:

-Always one of my smoothies which is:

1 tangerine

1 banana

1/2 cup frozen strawberries

handful frozen spinach

a little less than a handful of frozen peas

1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon coconut oil

fill halfway with water

Dinner:

-If you know my family, you know that we eat chicken, rice and salad for dinner almost every night (fitting that I eat it for lunch too…) so that’s what I’m going to list here:

-1 grilled chicken breast

-Brown rice, a little over 1/2 a serving

-Roasted veggies, usually broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and onion

-Salad, I like mine without dressing most of the time, about a cup of spinach

After dinner snack:

-usually always dangerous but I have a GIANT sweet tooth so I usually keep my favorite cookies on deck. They’re the Trader Joe’s gluten free chocolate chip cookies and I am clearly not gluten free but they are SO tasty. It doesn’t make it healthier by being gluten free necessarily but I just like the taste of them! If I don’t have those handy, I’ll also have a couple pieces of dark chocolate or honestly just drink a cup of tea (peppermint of course) and it keeps me full enough for bed time to where I don’t feel starving going to sleep.

Total Calories: 

2,379.

Macronutrients:

Carbs- 43% Fats- 37% Protein-20%

This is obviously a rough estimate of what I eat everyday because its never the same but everything I’ve listed is common in my days so this is pretty accurate! (this is based off of a 2,000 calorie a day diet, I also used the Fitbit app to figure this out for reference.)

  I hope this was helpful to you! The only change that can come to your healthy habits starts with you and you only. However, with some help on the way, slowly I think your potential will surface and be used fully. This is not to bash anyone or their eating habits, its only here to encourage you if you feel in need of a change. Or if you’re just curious about what I eat/ think is healthy. I would like to say that I eat perfect everyday and I love my body because of it but I’ll be straight: it’s something I have to work at everyday. Over time, I’ve cumulated habits that I’m proud of and I’m hoping to only continue that in this new year! Regardless of your body or eating habits- you’re all beautiful. You’re all loved.

XOXO,

New year, same beautiful you.

    OUTFIT DETAILS: leggings- Fabletics. top & sports bra- Forever 21. Shoes-Nike. Also wearing a Fitbit Blaze.

Healthy Habits With the whole "new year, new me," business that comes along with the new year, I thought I would throw some ideas your way and give you a little peak into my everyday healthy eating tips!