Can you believe we're in week eight already? I certainly can't.
So how did getting your shoes off in the house go? Again, we're already really good at it. We were in Florida for the challenge and out of our normal routine, yet I noticed we all took our shoes off at the door. Amazing what a habit it has become.
We're heading back to WA tomorrow, so on my clean list this week is to get in the mud room and organize it a bit. I need to go through the girls' shoes and get the worn out/grown out ones out to the donation/trash bin. I also need to have the carpets cleaned in the next few weeks. I normally do it April and October to keep things looking fresh in the house.
On to week eight: Eat your veggies!
The challenge it to ensure you are eating 4-6 servings of veg per day. And not just any vegetables will do, fibrous vegetables are what we're looking for here. Although starchy vegetables are still vegetables, most of them lack the powerhouse punch that the fibrous vegetables have. Starchy veggies tend to be higher in calories and are digested more quickly than their fibrous cousins.
We already eat a lot of fruits and vegetables in our house, but looking back over my food journal (remember that challenge), I'm really not focusing on eating the vegetables I need to be eating. That will start to change when we get back to our home. Here's my game plan for the week:
1. Experiment: Try a new vegetable every week. This one will be a bit hard for me because I've pretty much tried everything available I can think of. Sounds like the perfect excuse for a farmer's market trip to me.
2. Snacks: Have pre-cut veggies on hand. I'm really good about stocking the fruit bowl with apples, oranges, and bananas, but haven't done so good keeping the fridge stocked with grab and go veggies. Good veggies for snacks are those that hold their crispness and include cherry tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, carrots, and celery.
3. Find Alternatives When Necessary: fresh is best, but frozen is good when it's not in season. Man I'm in trouble on this one. I am queen of the canned veggies because they are just sooooo easy to fix. Over the next few weeks, we'll be eating down our pantry and I will be replacing the canned with self-prepared frozen veggies. I've already started on this when I found green beans, spinach, and yellow squash on sale and in season. I'll continue this as good veggies become available through our co-op, farmer's market, and even our own garden.
Okay, so that's it... 4 - 6 1/2 cup servings of veggies per day (up that to a full cup if it's a leafy vegetable). Try a CSA, visit a farmer's market, or just take stock of what you have at your local grocery store. You'll be glad you did!
Other resources:
Adding more vegetables: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/TenTips/DGTipsheet2AddMoreVegetables.pdf
More Matters!: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/
The book we're following: http://www.amazon.com/52-Small-Changes-Healthier-ebook/dp/B0056J4ER0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325722556&sr=1-1
Jenn's blog: http://thewoogies.blogspot.com/search/label/52%20Small%20Changes
