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Health Starts Here – Week 1 Recap

Good Morning!

I hope y’all had a great weekend, mine was pretty eventful.

WEEKEND RE-CAP

Nick got into town Friday night and we went and had dinner with some friends of ours.  On Saturday, we were both up early getting my car to his dad’s shop for some work.  They were going to try and fix some of the problems I found out about, but unfortunately, it’s time for a new car. 

fix-my-car

I continued to cry a little on Saturday.  This has been such a wonderful car and when I get a new car, you can expect a good-bye post!  I’m so thankful for his loyalty throughout the past 7 years!  This has been the first major problem I’ve ever had with it.  So after they tried a few things, Nick and I started looking at cars.  I know I want a car with excellent gas mileage because I drive A LOT!  We stopped by the Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, and Chevy dealerships in our area.  I didn’t leave with a car, but I left with an idea of what I want.  I’ve spent the weekend thinking it through and working out my budget.  I’ll be talking to them again today and we’ll see what happens with that.  Once we were done & I was personally exhausted from car shopping, we got ready for dinner with some of my friends from High School.  Yes, I still get together with a large group of my highschool friends when everyone is in town.  There were a lot of new people since I haven’t been able to see everyone in a long time.   A lot of girlfriends/boyfriends & wives/husbands.  It was fun though and I loved seeing my best friend, Patty, and her husband while they were in town for a short while.  We left early so I could go to Whole Foods for dinner.  They have this awesome special called 4 for 4, but I tend to say “Where’s my 4×4?” when I talk about it.  You pick 4 of the “Health Starts Here” Approved options for only $4!

4-for-4-kevita

The mango & black-eyed pea option you see were pretty spicy with jalepeno’s, but I loved that added flavor!  I also got garlicky kale & a white bean and spinach salad.  I love these because I don’t have to eat them all, I’m eating the leftovers today for lunch!  After we finished at Whole Foods, we went to Patty’s in-law’s to spend more time with them!  We were there til after midnight which is way past my usual bed time, but that quality time was well worth it with these two.

Sunday, Nick helped me work out some more options on getting a new car and I wrote out a new budget.  Then we took the boat out.  I didn’t snag any good pictures.  The water was perfect though and the weather was nice!  We enjoyed our time out there, but boating exhausts my body!  Also, I never smell as bad as I do when I get done boating.  It’s disgusting!  We rounded out our weekend by having dinner with Nick’s family. 

HEALTH STARTS HERE – WEEK 1 “PLANT THE SEEDS OF SUCCESS!”

It has officially been one week since I started the Health Starts Here Challenge! Last week at our first meeting, we discussed planting the seeds of success and I got some great ideas on recipes & quick meals.  The points were (1) Planning is Key (2) Stocking (3) Cooking (4) Avoiding Waste.  I always take away some great points from these weekly meetings.  For planning, we talked about finding common ingredients throughout the week so you can re-use a lot of your groceries.  This is really difficult for me.  Create a meal plan to stick by.  Stock your pantry with some basics: Beans, Rice, Vegetable Stock, Grains, & especially spices!  With this diet, food can turn out bland if you don’t diligently incorporate spices and flavor!  Whole Foods provides great cooking demos on their website and we watched a few of those for part 3, Cooking.  Lastly, we discussed avoiding waste.  You can do this by planning so you incorporate all of your groceries throughout the week, but I also learned that you should not put banana, avocado, or apple next to other foods.  They let off gases that spoil the food it’s around.  This was a huge take-away point for me!

I love how Mary Lindsey, our healthy eating specialist, has something for us to try each week.  We had a lot of questions at Orientation about dairy products, so she let us sample non-dairy milk.  My favorite was the Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.

milk-tasting

One other take-away from our session last Monday night was “Starting late is better than never starting!” which is obvious, but a reminder that is always nice to hear again & again.  It can also apply to a wide variety of areas in life.  Our next session is tonight at 6pm.  I might not be able to make it due to my car situation, but Mary Lindsey sends great re-cap e-mails so if I find something unique I’ll be sure to share it!

I’ll be completely honest, this challenge has proven to be difficult at times.  I did really great during the week at work & home, but when Nick got in town and my car died and we were out and about a lot, I had to make a few “cheats” throughout the weekend, but I tried to stay healthy during it.  I didn’t splurge on a hamburger & french fries or anything like that, but I did have a few exceptions – mostly with oil because if you go out somewhere, everyone cooks with oil.  I’m back on track today though and I’m determined to stay on track throughout the rest of the week!

1 Week down, 3 more to go!

  • What did you do this weekend?
  • Share your favorite healthy eating tip!

Health Starts Here Orientation

When I arrived back home from Houston, I immediately headed to Whole Foods for my Orientation into the 28-day Healthy Eating Challenge called Health Starts Here.  It is based on 4 pillars of healthy eating as opposed to the food pyramid that I grew up with.  I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I signed up for the challenge.

They had green folders for all the participants that came with a ton of useful information!

health-starts-here-packet

We got two handbooks – Bulk Basics & Healthy Eating.  The bulk basics book goes through all the bulk items you can purchase such as beans, nuts,  seeds, & more.  It teaches you how to cook them and what they’re best used for.  I’m really looking forward to using more dried beans and preparing them fresh.

The Healthy Eating Handbook talks about the 4 pillars of health:

  • Focus on Whole Foods
  • Eat Plant-Strong
  • Choose Healthy Fats
  • Consider Nutrient Density

It also goes over some simple ways to make quick meals such as breakfast bowls, smoothies, & mighty bowls of goodness.  I’m excited to try my hand at some unique creations using the tips they provide.

One thing I was surprised about during the orientation was learning that meat was optional and that you are not allowed dairy or eggs.  Being a vegetarian, the meat will not be an issue, of course, but when I learned about the dairy & eggs, I quickly realized that I’m about to test out an almost vegan diet.  There may be one or two exceptions that I’m not thinking of at the moment, but basically I’m going vegan.

One tip that I learned was how to determine how much sodium was too much.  I’ve gotten to really enjoy quick microwavable meals for lunch – specifically the vegetarian or vegan lasagna’s.  I know they’re not good for me because of the sodium intake and I don’t eat them everyday, but I do indulge probably once a week.  You do not want to eat something that has more sodium than calories.  For example, if you read a label that has 200 calories, but over 700mg of sodium, that’s WAY TO MUCH!  I immediately started reading labels after the orientation.  I was excited to find a vegan lasagna made by Whole Foods (365 brand) that had less sodium than calories – I quickly bought that.

One thing I’m looking forward to is testing out new recipes.  I haven’t done much cooking at my parents, but I have a feeling that’s all about to change with this new challenge.  Whole Foods has a ton of recipes on their website created by the chefs that work for them.  You can do an advanced search that only includes “Health Starts Here” approved recipes.  I’ve already found some that I’m dying to try!

I don’t think I’ll be deprived.  It’s not about being “strict” – It’s about choosing foods to fuel your body and foods that are good for you.  Also, the healthy eating specialist, Mary Lindsey, is going to label all the items in Whole Foods that are Health Starts Here approved to make it easier on us!

What you can expect over the next month:  I’ll be documenting my progress as well as the recipes I use and any changes I’d make to the recipes (based on my preferred taste & number
of servings).  I plan on taking measurements at the start and documenting my progress as well as taking pictures of my face.  I’ve been breaking out  a lot lately and I’m interested to see how my face clears up with a healthy whole foods lifestyle.

Please feel free to ask questions throughout the challenge!  Some other aspects I’m looking forward to are the weekly meet-ups where we’ll learn about Bulk Basics & Plant-Strong Cooking.  We’re also doing a “Bonus Meetup” with a local running store for a group run/walk with tips from the pros!

I’m so proud of my Mississippi community for taking this step to better health!  They had to cap our registration at 80 and are not accepting any more participants for this particular challenge!  Due to the involvement though, I’m sure we’ll have another one soon after!  If you’re not in the Central Mississippi area, Whole Foods does this program at all of their stores, so try to join a challenge in your local area.

  • Have you done the Health Starts Here Challenge with Whole Foods?
  • Would you consider doing the Health Starts Here Challenge?
  • Take a look at the Whole Foods recipe website – is there a particular recipe you’d like to see me try and share my opinions on?  Remember to make it vegetarian & Health Starts Here approved.

I’m off to go plan my meals and seek out some more recipes!  The challenge starts Monday, July 28th!  Guess I should finish off these hot chips before then.

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