I Declare December The Month of Vegetables!
I’ve decided to get serious about vegetables. Along with my slothiness when it comes to exercise, I’ve been rather lackadaisical when it comes to my fruit and vegetable intake. I mean, it’s not like I’ve been eating *no* fruits and veg, but I haven’t been eating enough and I certainly haven’t been getting enough variety. I’ve been better in recent weeks, since I started making a bit of an effort to up the fruits and veggies, but I think it’s time to kick it into high gear.
Now, I know you are probably thinking, “Beth, have you forgotten that December is the month of shortbread and gingerbread cookies and egg nog and other such tasty treats?” Rest assured, I have not. I really do expect that I shall be partaking in festive goodies. But that’s all the more reason to focus on the veg! Filling up on healthy fruits and veggies will (a) make sure that I just have one tasty treat, not an entire tray, and (b) don’t feel guilty over those treats!
I do have a few specific plans in place help me be successful in this month of plant-based goodness. These include:
- planning my meals in advance, so I’m not just throwing something together quickly and forgetting the veg
- keeping stocked with cottage cheese that I can have with fruit for breakfast ((This will also help with my desire to actual eat breakfast regularly.))
- keeping stocked with some canned fruits and vegetables so that if I run out of fresh stuff, I’m not completely fruit & veg-less.
- keeping stocked with V8 juice ((Yes, I know it’s crazy high in sodium, but I like it, so I know I’ll drink it, and I have low blood pressure, so I’m not overly concerned with sodium.))
- stocking up with veggies that I know Devon also likes ((He’s picky about veggies, but does like, for example, asparagus, beets, and kale, and can tolerate squash.)), so that he’ll be inclined to make a tasty veg on the nights he makes dinner.
I’m sure I’ll come up with a few more strategies, but these should get me going.
Also, just after I posted my blog posting about using my epic fail from the November Threeway Challenge of Awesomeness as a learning experience rather than beating myself up over it, I saw this article over on Lifehacker: Want to Create a New Habit? Get Ready to Break It. It’s all about how we shouldn’t beat ourselves up if we try to create a new habit – like exercising every day – and then we don’t succeed every.single.day because it that’s just setting one’s self up for failure ((In conclusion, the Internets say I’m right! woohoo!)).
For the record, I have actually scheduled in my exercise for this week. Today I biked 11 km on the stationary bike when I got home from school; tomorrow, Thursday, & Friday I’m going to yoga; on Wednesday I have a hockey game; and Tuesday & Saturday I’ll do some biking. I shall keep you posted on how this experiment of thoughtful scheduling and veggie-focusing goes!
Image Credit: Posted by Martin Cathrae on Flickr.
Comments |10|
Tags: exercise, food, fruits, habits, health, nutrition, physical activity, planning, scheduling, vegetables
Good luck Beth! I give this to one of the classes I teach: http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Food-guides/Meal-makeovers-that-pack-more-veggies-and-fruit.aspx
And this one: https://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Cancer-Prevention/Eat-your-vegetables.aspx
I’ve increased my veggie intake by having super-healthy lunches at work. I’m lucky in that there’s a decent supermarket just a couple of blocks away from the office, so every Monday I go and stock up on things like cherry tomatoes, mini carrots, cucumber, zucchini, avocados, a red pepper etc (usually two or maybe three things per week, although the cherry tomatoes are pretty much a constant), and keep them in a nice insulated lunch bag in the fridge at work. I add some kind of protein on a rotating basis (hummus, a tub of feta, nuts, some mini cheddar cheese portions, mini tuna cans) and keep ryvitas or equivalent in my desk. I also buy some fruit and keep it on my desk – at the moment I’m rocking those teeny tiny mandarins (I bought one box for me and one box for the office snack zone). Way healthier and cheaper than buying sandwiches – and it means if I happen to have a snack or a less than healthy dinner, I don’t feel guilty about it at all!
I wish I could do that, but my office is very crowded, so taking up that much real estate in the fridge would cause me to be tarred and feathered! I have a grocery store next store as well and often if I’m not organized enough to pack my lunch, I’ll pop over there and grab a tomato and an avacado, plus a flax bun and some hummus. But it would be so much more convenient if I could do what you do!
I’m liking the idea of a box of mandarins though – I have enough room to keep them in my office and they dont’ require any refrigeration!
@Jen – Thanks for those! I’ll have to check them out!
I don’t refrigerate tomatoes or avocados at home, either, but there’s nowhere else to keep them at work! We’re very lucky with our fridge space, much less so with office and desk space! Not having a fridge would definitely mean less variety and getting bored much faster…
We’ve even gotten a second fridge since I started here (we actually repurposed an old vaccine fridge – so I put my lunch on a shelve marked “MMR shot”), and there still isn’t enough room to store more than 1 lunch per person because so many people are crammed into this office. I think they are going to start installing bunk desks pretty soon. I call top bunk!!
I would take a bunk desk on the condition that it was accessed via either a slide or a fireman’s pole.
p.s. have you tried that beer yet? Chestnut’s a vegetable, right?
I haven’t yet – was doing homework all week and I didn’t think a giant beer would be conducive to me getting my economics assignment questions correct. But given that chesnut is a vegetable, I should really get on it!
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