Thursday, April 28, 2016

May Healthier Eating Challenge




I am trying to eat better. My 3 main meals are usually sort of healthy, unless I’m really lazy and just eat snacks. And I pick at way too much crap in-between meals. So I was reading about changing habits and one suggestion was to make small but sustainable changes, publicly announce what you want to do, and invite others to join. There’s something about being more accountable when you do things as a group.

So, I am officially inviting you to my May Healthier Eating Challenge.

Here’s the challenge (mostly stolen from some website I no longer remember):

  1. Pick one small healthy change to make a week (see some suggestions below).
  2. On Sunday, May 1st, post a comment here or on your blog that you are joining the challenge, and tell everyone what your change is for that week.
  3. At the end of each week share how you did.  Did you do 5+ days of your change? Yay! Tell everyone about it. If not, share that too. We will all be supportive.
  4. Pick another change to make the next week, but also continue your first change. By the end of the four weeks, you should have four solid changes if all goes well. If you weren’t successful, just continue the same change (or pick a different one if you didn’t like that one) and try again,

Small Healthy Eating Changes

What changes should you make? Here are some ideas for small changes.

  1. Add one more vegetable to your dinner.
  2. Add fruit to breakfast.
  3. Give up soda
  4. Have a healthy snack for when you feel like snacking (carrots, grapes, nuts, banana, raisins).
  5. Use a smaller plate for smaller portions
  6. Change a white grain to a whole grain.
  7. Have a V8 While You Cook
  8. Find a healthy breakfast recipe and try it
  9. Pick a healthy recipe and cook 2-3 days’ worth of it
  10. Eat yogurt everyday.
  11. Eat a vegan meal each day.
  12. Pick a healthier protein for one meal (lean meats, plant-based protein).
  13. Eat no fried foods.
  14. Replace sweets with fruit.
  15. No liquid calories before/after  lunch (tea, water, black coffee OK).
  16. Drink more water (set your goal yourself).
  17. Eat slowly and mindfully for one meal a day.
  18. Eat whole food instead of prepared food for one meal a day.
  19. Eat a salad every day.
  20. Drink tea every day.
  21. Discover a new food.
  22. Add more fiber to your diet (vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, lentils).
  23. Cook dinner without using oil or added fat.

You get the idea. Feel free to make up your own healthy changes and share them to give others some ideas.

I hope you will join me on Sunday. I need all the help I can get.

5 comments:

  1. My new job has not allowed me time to read blogs very often. This evening I thought I could do a little catching up and the first blog post I read was this one. I think it is a sign from God to take heed and eat better. I'm not sure I will be able to come back on Sunday night so I will say now that I am going to try to have a salad with every lunch or dinner to increase my greens intake. Good luck! I will try to check back to see how you're doing.

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  2. This is grand. I'll see you on Sunday. :-)

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  3. I have been on a mission since going to the doc for my physical... Probably won't be back until Monday - but count me in...

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  4. I'm in too:) I have already been making drastic changes as I suffer from several auto-immune diseases and they only accumulate, or so I am told. However, ever since Easter I have been having trouble with chocolate and sugar, so I will think about which I will give up and see you on Sunday:) It will be lovely to have company.

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  5. Oh, how badly I need this! It's not that I eat badly, but it's more that I eat inconsistently. I'll commit to cutting out at least one restaurant and fast food meal every week.

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