It's Your Choice

We create our own reality with every choice we make.

Sometimes we make choices we regret. I know I’ve made a few like…

In college when I chose to go to a concert 8 hours away the night before my Astronomy final. Not a shining moment.

Or, when I fell hard for the lead guitarist playing at a hotel bar…. don’t fall for a traveling musician girls….just don’t. Stupid choice.

Or, when I took a weekend road trip to Boston with a group of friends, which was a fun choice but, then I drove back on Sunday night on 0 hours of sleep for work the next day. Definitely not a good decision.

We are all human and sometimes we make ridiculous choices but, we can learn from those not so good choices and make a better one at the next opportunity (wish I would have gotten that memo before I bought that concert ticket…… ).  Many people  who are trying to eat healthier and lose weight forget this though. They feel like once they make one unhealthy decision during the day, the rest of their day is shot to hell. They just continue making unhealthy food choices. “Why not?” they think “I’ve already failed today.”   Truth is one bad choice doesn’t have to ruin your whole day!

You’ll know when you’re ready to choose to clean up your eating.  Until then,  keep flirting with it,  flirting is fun!   Often times flirting leads to a long term relationship…

10 Choices You Can Make to Flirt With Healthy Eating!

Eat sprouted grain bread (Ezekiel bread is delicious)  instead of wheat bread.

Gradually add greens to your fruit smoothies.

Chop up some kale and put it in the bottom of your soup bowl. Doesn’t matter if its cheesy soup right now, your body will still appreciate it.

Add a big salad to one meal, even if the meal is a frozen burrito and a bottle of wine.

Substitute all white pasta with whole grain pasta or quinoa pasta.

Start drinking water with at least two of your daily meals.

Use olive oil or coconut oil instead of other vegetable oils.

Use real butter instead of margarine or other butter substitutes.

Substitute ground turkey for ground beef.

Use fresh berries in place of  sweetened jam or jelly.

As I always say though, no one diet is good for everyone, so some of these ideas won’t be right for you but, some will.  You just have to experiment to find what fuels you and makes you feel fabulous.

Eventually, with all of these small changes, your body will start craving the good stuff. You will no longer just be flirting with a healthy life; you will be in a full on relationship with it!   One day you’ll be walking down the street and say ” Oh my gosh I want a kale salad with walnuts and dried cranberries right now!” and,  when that happens ,here is a recipe you can make to satisfy that craving. xo

Crunchy Kale Salad with Walnuts and Pecorino

Ingredients

4 cups finely julienned kale, cleaned and stems removed

2 cups finely julienned radicchio, cleaned and core removed

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 lemon, juiced and 1 teaspoon zest

½ cup shaved Pecorino Romano, plus extra for garnish

¼ cup dried currants

2 tablespoons finely sliced fresh basil

kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

½ cup toasted walnuts

Directions

Toss the kale and radicchio with about half of the oil, lemon juice and zest in a large glass mixing bowl and let stand about 2 minutes. Add the Pecorino, currants, basil and the remaining oil, lemon juice and zest, mix thoroughly, season with salt and pepper, set aside.

Fold in the walnuts just before serving and top the salad with a pile of Pecorino.  Enjoy!