KICKSTARTING HEALTHY EATING

It's a lifelong project for me. Every so often I change things up to improve my eating habits. So, you know those people who want to show you their vacation photos? Haha, so here I'm sharing my food photos and how I get myself going on a new program! I hope in doing so I'm helping keep myself inspired and giving you some ideas to spice up your meals!

GET ORGANIZED

Purge unhealthy foods from my cupboards.

Make vegetables a main ingredient of every meal.

Choose a food plan. I'm enrolled in the OptimizeMe Nutrition eight-week master class and following their #800gChallenge and protein guidelines.

I'm tracking my food on My Fitness Pal.

GET INSPIRED

Looking for inspiration, I take photos or screen shots of food.

I saw someone post this, searched online and found this recipe - it's easy and absolutely delicious!

Now it's a new staple for lunches or entertaining.

Here's one I'm going to try next - saw it at a buffet lunch. Mango, avocado, tomatoes, and more.

Or these roasted vegetables.

GET ORGANIZED

Stocking up on healthy foods, I start at the grocery.

Planning a few meals ahead, I'm sure to have ingredients on hand.

Cooking extra makes for nice leftovers for lunch.

Prep food (like cutting up veggies) makes opening up my refrigerator so inviting and meals prep easier.

MEALS - EAT WELL

Protein and vegetables are my priority at every meal.

Breakfast

For smoothies, I add fresh or frozen vegetables (frozen cauliflower rice, greens, etc.), protein powder, and fruit for sweetness.

I fill omelets with vegetables.

Lunch

Lunchtime changed for me back when I lost a lot of weight in my early 60's. Ever since then, I try to make lunch a special occasion on most days. I try to sit down and enjoy the meal. I use trays, placemats to make an attractive place setting. I pick a nice location - outside if I can. I had to teach myself to take time to prepare and eat the mid-day meal. It's become pretty efficient when done as a habit.

Leftover chicken.

Avocado toast

Tuna two ways.

Leftover chicken tenders

Fast protein, chicken or other sausages...

Dinner

I subscribe to a few blogs to keep new ideas coming in. It only takes a few minutes a week to glance through them for ideas. Here's some I like, Epicurious, Love and Lemons, bon appetit and NYT Cooking.

Here's a few sample meals.

Vegetarian open face tacos with beans as a base. I love adding toasted pepitas (sunflower seeds).

Frozen shrimp makes a quick meal. Here's pepitas again on heirloom tomatoes with a little lemon squeeze and olive oil.

Seasonal food makes all the difference . . . heirloom tomatoes, peaches, basil, and burrata spread on some toasted ciabatta bread.

EATING ADVENTURES

We've planned eating adventures with friends, specifically to try something new and healthy.

Here's the blog post I wrote about the Salmon Grain Bowl.

Our next adventure was this delicious Salad Nicoise prepared by the same friend, Cathy! The rare tuna was outside my comfort zone and I ended up loving it as well as the whole traditional salad..

Here my next door neighbor, Bev, is demonstrating her vegetarian pizza. The dough recipe is simple, can be made a few hours ahead, add olive oil, salt, then layers of vegetables...onions, artichokes, cherry tomatoes, olives or whatever topped with mozzarella cheese and then cooked in their bar-b-que grill which gets hotter than the oven. Thin, crisp crust. Delicious.

SNACKS

When I know I'll be gone during lunchtime, I pack a lunch or snack.

I love the convenience of store-bought guacamole or hummus to dip vegetables.

Having hard boiled eggs on hand and those cut up vegetables make packing a lunch really easy.

Roasted vegetables make a great snack. Toss them with a little olive oil and salt and bake in a hot oven.

FRIENDS' FOR DINNER

I often volunteer to bring the appetizer as I know I eat nervously when I first arrive. A platter with lots of vegetables makes a great choice.

DRINK LOTS OF WATER - REMINDER to SELF

Drinking adequate water can make all the difference. Room temperature water is ideal but if making it cold tastes better, do that. I store some bottles in refrigerator for a quick grab and go.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I hope these photos and ideas spice up your healthy meals prep and that, most of all, it inspires you to eat more vegetables!

#800gChallenge, #eatyourvegetables, #healthymeals, #myfitnesspal, #mealprep