Many vegetables need a very minimal steam. People who say they eat spinach (even me) eat spinach when my wife makes it because it is so lightly steamed that there is no gummy texture or dirty taste to it that many people think is the problem with spinach.

I always think you should start with fresh veggies. Canned veggies are all pretty gross so there is no need to even buy them like that.
Some veggies you can use frozen if you cannot get fresh but if possible always try to start with fresh.

Check back for SPECIFIC tips in Part THREE

Blood glucose is something that many people pay no attention to whatsoever and it is an important thing for everyone.

There are lots of hidden sugars in food and that is why we advocate FRESH REAL food like meat, fish, chicken, fruit and vegetables. It is a lot easier to figure out that fruit has sugar than to be thinking that your salad dressing may actually have as much sugar as a candy bar *gasp*

Look for some great recipes this week that will cut that sugar down and show you how to have delicious and low sugar together!!

That said, there are better options at McDonalds which i will give you some ideas here.

Instead of :Quarter Pounder with Cheese — over 500 calories

You could easily have this (at McDonalds): Asian Salad with grilled chicken 300 calories AND a honey mustard snack wrap Just those two things is a LOT OF food and is roughly the same as the quarter pounder and you probably won’t feel like you missed out on anything.

Instead of eating — Atlanta Bread Company Asiago Cheese Pasta (with over 800 calories and a day and a half worth of saturated fat! WOW)

You could have ALL OF THIS : 2 cups green beans with a pat of butter, a chicken breast, 3 cups of salad, a small lean steak, a small baked potato with fat free sour cream or yogurt, 2 tbsp lite salad dressing.

OH LOOK — that is lunch AND dinner — or you can have the pasta — and oh ya, remember that does not include the bread that they throw in there for you — like you have not had enough carbs

So seriously, come on, drink up. This is a very small thing for your body and you deserve it.

Hate plain water and just can’t get past the idea…. then flavor it up by drinking herbal tea, putting orange or lemon slices in your tea, whatever you need to make this a habit. Come on I am not asking much — it is just drinking!

Your body will thank you forever for it by being healthier!

you get the idea!

Here is a link to our shopping list!! Printable version will be available soon!

HEALTHY STUFF FOR YOUR CUPBOARD!

That does not mean that you cannot fit healthy eating into your schedule.

Having the right tools, the right staples on hand and the right preparation can make healthy eating a reality.

I will go over a few things over the next few weeks as far as what staples you should have on hand to help you eat better as well as what tools.

For today, I would like you to consider doing all or most of your vegetable chopping on one day to save time. I pick one day on the weekend and spend about an hour chopping, cutting up vegetables for snacks, dicing onions, peppers and squash for stir fry as well as roasting some chicken breasts. These can be turned into chicken tacos, sandwiches, put on salads, stirred into soup and so much more. It really helps get past just the buying of produce to the actual using of produce throughout the week.

Be sure to check out today’s recipe for Strawberry-meringue pie for only 198 calories a slice — what a nice treat to add to your recipe collection!