2 posts tagged “healthy”

When my back pain was horrible and then I had back surgery, I stopped eating healthy.  I swapped green smoothies and fresh veggies and fruit for comforting carbs.  Bad, bad me.  Now that I'm feeling better, it's time to get back to business.

I'm going to start slowly like last time with just a smoothie in the morning and gradually increase the good and decrease the bad.  Otherwise I'll feel like I'm being deprived of the good (bad) stuff, and it'll feel like a diet.

Tomorrow I'm stocking up on baby spinach, cucumbers, carrots, celery, and frozen berries.

I can't remember a time that I wasn't on a diet.  Until now.

This is an update to my post in January, Going sort of raw and feeling great. 

I've lost 16 pounds.  My blood pressure is down 27 points.  I'll have to wait a couple more months to check my blood sugar (A1C).

The green smoothies really got my system back to basics.  I drank a large green smoothie every morning for about a month, give or take.  I didn't change anything else I ate.  I didn't try to eat better or anything.  Then I started craving cucumbers, cantaloupe, celery, and even fish. 

Processed foods had no appeal for me.  My comfort foods had always been fast food, ice cream, chocolate, and bread.  Over the last few weeks, I can honestly say that I don't crave any of that anymore.  In fact, fast food makes me sick now.  I've tried a few times, even a grilled chicken sandwich, but there is something in it or on it that I just can't stomach now.  I'd rather have some cucumber spears with a bit of sea salt, that's a real treat.

The biggest shocker of all is that I have had 1/2 bag of M&Ms in the kitchen cupboard for about a month now.  I could have eaten a whole bag by myself in one sitting before.  Now I really don't want it.  I don't like how it makes me feel after.  I get more of an energy boost from fruit.  Carbs just drag me down. 

This is the easiest "diet" ever.  I keep 5-6 cucumbers, celery hearts, almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, cantaloupe, and baked bagel chips in the house for snacks.  That's it.  I make sure we have at least 2 fresh (or frozen) vegetables with our evening meal.  Other than that, I don't think about what I'm eating.  Every once in a while, a green smoothie calls my name, but they aren't a daily thing anymore.

Got a blender?  Try green smoothies.  They're not that bad.  A couple bananas, an apple, and a handful of baby spinach.  That's it.  Basically a couple cups of any fruit and a handful of baby spinach or parsley, and a bit of water to help blend it.  A bag of fresh baby spinach leaves will cost you $2-3, and it will last you a week.  If you give it a chance for a good couple of weeks, it can change your life.