How Your Friends Make It Easy to Be Healthy: Quitting Chips, Adding Veggies
May: Cutting Down on Chips & Adding a Fruit or Vegetable to Each Meal
This is a diary of the healthy lifestyle goals that my son, Chris, and I are making together each month…
Chris’ Experience
Chris is a busy actor in New York. He’s always working and travelling around the big city. Since he is not home much, he has to find food on the run. He was finding himself eating a whole bag of chips at a time. It was something that he could easily pick up while passing stores when he got hungry but had no time for a meal. In May, he decided he had to stop eating so many chips!
I had often noticed that I was not getting the five or more fruits and vegetables that we are supposed to have every day. I decided that now was the time to do something about that.
After a couple of weeks, Chris said he was having a hard time avoiding the chips. He said he would get a bag of pretzels, but he didn’t think that was a healthy substitute. I didn’t agree. I said that pretzels are a healthy substitute and so are corn chips (but not Fritos!) He was laughing, though, about eating the entire bag of pretzels. I said he could get snack bag sizes or take a large bag of pretzels home and divide it into sandwich bags himself. He laughed that he’d never make it home without eating the whole big bag before getting there! So he agreed to stock up on snack-sized bags of pretzels.
My Experience
Adding a fruit or vegetable to each meal seemed like an easy thing to do. Sometimes I fell behind, and then I would have a salad for dinner to make up for it. I found that I really did have to stock up on fresh produce and prepare it so that it was available when I needed it. This called for more trips to the market, which I had been putting off because of being short on time. Adding fruits and vegetables to a meal is filling, so it reduces the need for large portions of the main dish. It also replaces unhealthy choices such as french fries or chips. And, the fresh and natural flavors taste delicious! So I felt healthy and happy about this improvement in my diet.
I was sitting down to have my husband’s special vegetarian spaghetti sauce one day, when I noticed how good it looked with the tomato and cucumber on the side. I also had a dip and a glass of wine with it. It was so yummy!
I often have oatmeal for breakfast. One morning, I loaded my oatmeal up with so many fruits – cooked, fresh and dried – that looking at this picture of it could make one wonder “where is the oatmeal?”
Oatmeal with cooked apples, fresh strawberries, dried cherries, berries and nuts
Doesn’t it make you hungry for a diet filled with fruits and vegetables?
To be continued…
How about you? What are your diet downfalls? I highly recommend playing “Let’s Make a Deal” with a friend or family member. Let us know if you do!
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Thanks 🙂
Angie
Okay these pictures are breathtaking. I’m going to try them both.
Ah, Russell created his own special recipe for vegetarian spaghetti sauce that is out of this world! It’s his secret sauce. You are going to luck out, though. Since you work with me, I’ll bring you a dish for lunch after Russ makes his next batch!
Russell’s spaghetti sauce is out of this world, but it’s his secret recipe. Watch soon for a homemade lasagna, though, that’s the bomb! I’ll be posting the recipe soon!