I think I may attempt to start a movement! To get people eating more salads and thinking about their health. It’s not as if health movements are not a dime a dozen, but heck — what’s one more?
Recently, I began an experiment on myself — adding a salad to at least one of my meals daily, but ideally two. I have for about a week been routinely having a salad with my breakfast and/or dinner. Wha? Salad for breakfast you may ask? Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. A high protein breakfast with lots of vegetables is an excellent way to start the day. Especially if you’re trying to lose weight. Once inspired by BodyRock.tv and their eggs with broccoli breakfast, my hopefully soon to be usual breakfasts are not far off.
Yesterday, I had for breakfast, eggs fried with a little olive oil, turkey bacon and a salad. Today, after waking up later than usual and busying myself with some chores before settling down to eat, I sat down to a healthy brunch of hard boiled eggs with whole wheat crackers, a home made strawberry banana smoothie, a salad and coffee. I Tweeted as I ate, “Rest of my meal forgotten, going HAM on this salad!†Currently, my entire salad is finished but about half of my eggs and crackers, smoothie and coffee are still in their respective containers.
You see, the rationale for having salad or any vegetable for that matter be a major portion of your meal is that it will fill you up a lot faster and hopefully cause you to leave at least a little bit of your meal on your plate. And with the right about of vegetables, two salads daily can easily provide the recommended 2-3 servings and vegetables needed as part of a healthy diet. Many health experts suggest healthy meals being one-half vegetables, one-quarter protein, and one quarter carbohydrates. But we all know the average American diet consists of high levels of sugar and fat laced proteins and carbs, and only a sprig of vegetables as decoration as best.
Over the years I have learned it is making small changes, keeping up with them, and continue to add small changes that best consists developing a healthy diet and lifestyle. There is something about common sense that beats the average get thin quick diet any day. I have been a queen of instant gratification on the scale and in the mirror for a long time — but I am now much preferring instant gratification you receive from a meal full of healthy proteins and carbs and packed with vitamins and minerals.
Currently I am keeping my salads simple, a mix of iceberg and romaine lettuce and one or two other vegetables, in a medium size salad bowl I bought from one of those fancy salad places in the city. Ten dollars for a salad? No thank you! I can make them at home, a lot better tasting too! But as I continue, I will venture into more elaborate salads with lots of yummy veggies. I have this salad recipe book on my coffee table that I feel also subliminally inspired me as well.
If this is something that I continue long term and can get some other people interested as well, I may very well try to make it into something big. I already hash tagged it on my Twitter, it’s only word of mouth from there.
For the O.G. blog entry, click here.