Overcoming Busy

Goals and Menu Plan Monday – More Veggies Please!!

January 18, 2010 by Marci

As a fairly active person, exercise is always in the back of my mind.  I mean, the need for exercise is always in the back of my mind. I know I need it and I do exercise – forshort periods of time.  It seems I do really well for about 2 or 3 weeks, and then I slack off back down to no exercise at all for a while.  Those in between times used to be a month or so.  Now, they are becoming months at a time with no real exercise program!  I have found myself slipping farther and farther out of shape.  I really needed a kick in the pants to get me started again and keep me accountable.  Thank goodness for Goal Gathering Monday on The Bona Fide Life.  Chele started GGM at the beginning of the year to challenge us to not only make goals for ourselves, but to hold us accountable each Monday.  It’s working for me!

My goal at first was to use my pilates reformer 3 days per week and find ways to do cardio 3 days per week.  I have used the reformer 3 days per week, but it is soooo cold here.  I haven’t gotten out to walk.  So, I have done extra squats and lunges and ab work and dance time with the kids on my off days from the reformer.  As I wrote last week, Food As Fuel, all this extra activity has me craving fresh healthy food.  That brings me to my next goal.

This is actually a goal within a goal, or it’s becoming a set of goals that work together toward the same end – health.  As I exercise more, I am craving better quality foods.  I know I need to add more fruits and veggies into my diet.  But, how do I know what a good goal is?  I just checked the site www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov.  This is a new site set up by the CDC to give their new recommendations for fruits and veggie consumption.  The five a day thing is now out and they have a little calculator that you plug in your age and activity level and it recommends a certain number of servings for you.  I am supposed to aim for 2 cups of fruits and 2.5 cups of vegetables per day.  So, there’s my new goal.

As with any goal, you have to have a plan for success.  How exactly am I going to make sure I eat at least the recommended servings of fruits and veggies each day?  I came up with these steps to help me.

1)       Meal Plan. Make weekly meal plans with recipes that contain lots of fruits and veggies.  Each Sunday, I make meal plans for the week.  I just need to adjust my recipes and find new ones that help me make my goal.

2)      Keep cut up fruits and veggies on hand. The biggest snack pitfall for most of us is convenience foods.  When we are having a sugar crash, we reach for the quickest food we can find.  It’s usually something out of a bag with no nutritional value.  If I keep healthy, fresh foods convenient, I can reach for those instead.  (Think baby carrots, cut up celery or peppers, berries, grapes)

3)      Make eating a piece of fruit part of the morning routine. While I am getting ready, I can eat an orange or apple or strawberries.  That way, I already have a serving of fruit down and a nice jumpstart to my metabolism.

4)      Increase vegetable servings at lunch. My lunches usually consist of leftovers or a pb and j while I am working on something.  I need to eat a little more consciously at lunchtime and add some quality foods.

5)      Keep the junk food out of the house. I do pretty well on this one anyway.  It is a real treat in our house to get chips or pretty much any store bought snacks.  I just need to keep that practice going.

6)      Record the actual amount of fruits and veggies I eat each day. This goes right on the calendar for now.  I am still looking for the right record sheet for just my health and nutrition goals.

I think I’ll start my steps toward success right now and post my meal plan for the week.  Of course, each day starts out with fruit!

Breakfasts

• fruit/yogurt/protein smoothies
• toasted homemade bread with natural peanut butter and honey or homemade apple butter
• whole grain cereal with berries

Lunches

• left overs
• salads
• pasta and marinara sauce
• omelets packed with veggies

Dinner

• chili (didn’t get to make it last week) with cut up fresh veggies and dip
• tacos (we pack them with beans and greens and tomatoes and avocados)
• vegetable soup and homemade bread
• chicken/vegetable stir fry with brown rice
• BBQ ribs, mashed potatoes, green beans and salad

I’ll let you know how my week goes and how well I stick to my goals.  In the meantime, what are your goals?  Do you have a plan for success?

I am linking my menu to  Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie.