Keri Glassman of Nutritious Life is hosting a 7 Day Challenge: Eat Your Greens! I'm participating and I want to get as many of my readers to participate too! Now that I'm Nutritious Life Certified, I know how important it is to "Eat Empowered", one of the 8 pillars of health she teaches. Too many of us aren't getting enough healthy greens in our diet EVERY DAY, (I'm even guilty of this sometimes!) so we are going to make it a HEALTHY HABIT over the next week... starting April 1st... Are you ready to get your greens on!?
YOUR 7 DAY EAT YOUR GREENS CHALLENGE:
For one week, add in any green veggie to at least one meal every day. That's it! Easy enough, right? I'll be around on social media sharing ideas with you on how to sneak more greens in! I want to see your ideas! ...because there's a prize!!
Prize Alert: Post your progress on social media. Show me the most creative way you're getting your greens and whoever posts the most creative will win a bottle of Life's Abundance Greens Blend! Tag @happywifestyle, make sure your account isn't private so I can see it, tag your friends, and use the hashtags #GetYourGreens and #HWSGreensChallenge
Day 1: Get Organized
Head to the store, peruse the produce, load up on greens (at least three varieties!) and plan for the week. Broccoli rabe, kale, spinach, green beans… the options are plentiful! Decide when and how you’re going to incorporate your greens. Spinach breakfast scramble anyone? Broccoli rabe chips (yep, kale you’ve had your chip glory)? Sautéed green beans with toasted walnuts as side to dinner? Write it down, and be sure to get greens in at least one time today!
Day 2: Keep it Simple
Review your plan and do some prep for the week. Chop kale for your go-to salad, wash and chop broccoli for dinner. If you’re saying, “time, yeah, right” then order a side salad when ordering in, and remember that bagged, pre-washed organic lettuce is a life savior.
Day 3: Recipe Research
Research delicious, new, simple recipes to try. Find a new instagram account to follow, crack open an old cookbook, or post something on social to get your peops to inspire you with ideas. New to the greens juice craze, or looking for an easier way to sip your greens? Try the new Greens Blend that Keri developed! Just add one scoop into a glass of water and boom, check greens off your to-do list for the day.
Day 4: Branch Out
Today, take it up a notch and experiment with a new type of green – try kalettes for your salad, or collards to wrap your sammie, broccoli rabe in your scramble, brussel sprouts for a dinner side dish, or endive as your hummus dipper.
Day 5: Ditch the Rice
Replace a starchy side dish with a green side dish. If you’re eating out, ask for double greens instead of greens and a starch. This is personal fave of mine. A great way to get in a whole lotta greens and an even better way to ditch refined, often fat and sodium laden starchy foods that are doing your body a whole lotta nothing!
Day 6: Flavor Fun
Season your greens! Experiment with new flavors – try oregano, chili pepper, garlic, rosemary, onion, salt and pepper, and lemon. Or toss some heart healthy nuts on top!
Day 7: Go All Out
Challenge yourself as the week ends by incorporating a serving of greens into every meal for the day. Yep, every meal.
You did it! Congratulations on packing in your greens. I bet you feel good about it don’t you? Tap into that feeling and keep it up! Dandelion greens, anyone?
Why You Should Challenge Yourself to Eat More Greens:
- Greens Fight Disease. Green veggies offer a powerful dose of fiber, vitamins and minerals including antioxidants and phytochemicals, which have been shown to lower cholesterol, prevent heart disease and may help reduce the risk of cancer. The carotenoids in leafy greens act as antioxidants, slowing free radical damage.
- Be Like Popeye. 1 cup of spinach has more than 1000% of your daily recommendation of vitamin K (strong bones!) and almost 300% your recommendation of vitamin A (20/20 vision anyone?).
- Fill Up Til You’re Full. Leafy greens have a high water volume, which helps you stay hydrated. One study showed subjects’ metabolic rate increased 30% within 10 minutes after drinking 17 ounces of water. Their high fiber content not only leaves you feeling full for longer, it also helps keep things moving in the GI tract.
- Amp Your Weight Loss. All veggies offer multiple nutrients for very few calories, aiding in weight loss efforts. When it comes to greens, the more the merrier!
- Boost your brain. One study found women who ate the most leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables had brains that were 1 to 2 years “younger” in performance than those who ate fewer. Yep, eating more greens is a no-brainer. Sorry, had to.
- Promote Skin Health. Phytochemicals and antioxidants in green veggies can help protect your skin against UV damage by countering free radicals in your body to lessen the deterioration of skin’s vital components like collagen and elastin. Say hello to greens and say hello to gorgeous skin. You may just pay a few less visits to your derm.
- Get to Know Your Greens. Try to choose nutrient dense dark, leafy greens such as kale or spinach over less nutritious options such as iceberg lettuce. Iceberg is for beginners.
- Ditch the Dressings. Don’t drench or fry your greens in dressings or oils. What a shame it would be to lose all of the natural nutritional power, right? No mucking up your gorgeous veggies.
- There’s No Such Thing as Too Much. Never worry about consuming too many greens. More is better, as long as you’re controlling the added fat, such as olive oil.
- Sip Green. While you’re embracing your green veggies, add a cup or two of green tea a day to keep up with the theme! You’ll get an extra kick of antioxidants. Not feeling tea? Try Life’s Abundance Berry Flavored Greens Blend. It tastes amazing.
NOTE: The USDA considers a serving of greens either 1 cup raw or ½ cup cooked, but I want you to get at least this much in at every meal, hopefully more! A salad for example could be 2 cups and your side with dinner could be 1.5 cups!
- This challenge was designed by Keri Glassman of Nutritious Life.
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