An easy way to enforce new habits is to add them to your daily routine without taking out your old habits.
For example, I used to love a bottle of Mountain Dew for breakfast. I truly did not need this very high-calorie soda for breakfast but I dreaded a glass of orange juice, milk or even water. I wanted the caffeine. I knew I had to make a change but honestly, I was really stubborn about giving up my soda.
The solution: I added in a drink prior to my soda. If you would believe, I chose tea and not the decaffeinated kind. My body started to adapt to having the right amount of energy just off a cup of tea and I didn’t need the morning soda. I also took the time to question my motivation and want for making the change. I really had to think about it. Do I really need the calories? Do I want to have the down after my caffeine runs out? Eventually, my taste buds started to adapt and I preferred tea over soda!
Another area that I had to improve in was eating greens.
We all know green foods are filled with nutrient vitamins and minerals, but some people still struggle with getting enough greens into their diets. When I first started to cook, I fell in love with the simple method of steaming in the microwave, but to be honest, I got bored. There are only so many mixed vegetables, peas and green beans that I would want to eat frozen!
The solution: Make the greens damn delicious and add them to your plate! Yup, it’s that simple.
I would improve on the freshness and add in-season vegetables (GREEN) to my diet. If I was going to make a vegetable anyways, why not make it fresh and delicious? To be honest, my family wasn’t too keen on missing out on some frozen corn, so I would still throw in a bag and make another veggie side. Eventually, I was able to reduce drastically the number of frozen sides and replace them with delicious green sides! I am a proud mama to say, they now love fresh greens.
I’m taking the plunge here and giving you one of the most NOT requested green recipes…Brussels sprouts. I love these babies and so does my family. Trust me, they weren’t keen trying them but have never complained since.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups, fresh Brussels sprouts
- 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbs maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon gluten free mustard
- pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line parchment paper on a baking sheet
In a small bowl, combine oil, syrup, mustard, garlic and salt
Mix in Brussels sprouts and spread over pan
Cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring every ten minutes
So, good.
Instead of taking away a veggie at the table, add this recipe. Let them say, “NO!” but ask them to take a bite. See if they can add greens to their diet just like you are adding them to yours!
Day 3 of our 30 Day Healthy Challenge is to add greens to your diet!
Do you have any methods of adding greens to your diet?
This post is sponsored by all delicious green veggies everywhere!