Goin' green

I know that a lot of people are panicking about the warmer weather and the inevitable swimsuit season (guilty as charged!) and are working full force to get healthy, lose weight, and get in shape. While I am certainly no expert on the matter, I would like to share a few of our good habits, in hopes that I can help someone else make small changes (that make a big difference), too!

My secret weapon: Making veggies more readily available. By doing this, we encourage ourselves to snack more on veggies and less on other things, and we also use more veggies in things that we cook.

When we bring our veggies home from the grocery store, the very first thing we do is wash it all and chop it all up. With the exception, of course, of things like tomatoes that don't do so hot being chopped up and staying good. I chop them up in large, snackable chunks, but I make sure that they are small enough that I can add them to pastas, rice, soups, and salads easily.

Once the veggies are all chopped up, I put each veggie in it's own separate, clear plastic container so that when I open the fridge, I see all those beautiful veggies looking back at me! We got some really cheap, really great food savers at Ikea that have been amazing to have around! When I'm making dinner, I say, "Ok - let's veggie this up" and I just grab handfuls of whatever looks the best and throw it in with what we are eating and - voila! Instant deliciousness.

It's a huge life saver for the mornings, too when we are packing our lunches and snacks for the day. (Being healthy makes me hungry). We get a smaller little tupperware container, grab a little of each of whatever sounds best at the time, another little container of hummus, and off we go. Today I opted for bell peppers, celery, and broccoli with roasted red pepper hummus. Delish!

My friend is looking into vegetarianism and asked for a few suggestions. We started this board on Pinterest to share vegetarian friendly ideas and recipes...so far so good! If you have any suggestions or contributions, I am always looking for new ways to use all these delicious veggies!

I know it's a very small step of a very long journey, but I know that if we keep up all of our good habits, we will look better and feel better in no time! :)