30 Days to Wellness Challenge Day 15: Eating Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables

We are at Day 15, the half way point!  Pats on the back, all around!  The onset of summer means that seasonal fruits and veggies make their welcome appearance at the grocery store.  Of course, in this modern world that we live in, it is possible to get apples from South Africa in the depths of winter and avocados from Chile all year round.  However, nothing beats locally grown seasonal produce.  I used to eat lots of fruits and veggies but I got lazy and, more and more, junk food starting making an appearance.  My palate became accustomed to the sensory overload of all the salt, sugar and seasonings and a piece of fruit, once so delicious to me, seemed pallid and boring.  I do find that if I stay away from the junk food, my palate undergoes a "cleanse" and is able to detect the subtle nuances of fresh fruits and vegetables once again.  So, I want to consciously focus more on wholesome foods in my diet again.

Come back as we move in to the last half of the Challenge!

LBH 30 Days to Wellness Challenge Day 14: Bolthouse Farms Red Goodness Smoothie

How did the decluttering go?  I have been decluttering in spurts since the beginning of the year but took a bit of a break after going through my clothes.  It is good to make myself get back on the decluttering track and not let the break go on for too long.  Now, we are on Day 14 of the Wellness Challenge.  On Day 1 of the Challenge, I wrote about trying out green smoothies for the first time here.  I liked it so much that I decided to branch out a bit and try out Bolthouse Farms Red Goodness smoothie.  Who knew there was such a thing as a red smoothie?  It has the juice of cherries, cranberries, peaches and pomegranates amongst other things and is delicious.  I used to eat a lot of fruit but, for some reason, slacked off.  This gives me a quick dose of fruity goodness.  Come back for Day 15 where we will be at the half way point.  Woohoo!

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LBH Weekly Roundup: 30 Day Wellness Challenge Days Three and Four Drink More Water and Swapping Out Sugary Snacks

The small, actionable task for Day 3 that I have set for myself is to drink more water.  I used to drink a lot of water on a daily basis.  Then, somehow, I stopped.  I realized that the only fluids I drink on the regular now is green tea or Earl Grey, cranberry juice (that I cut with water) and the occasional fizzy drink.  Oh, how I love a cold fizzy drink on a hot Summer day!  But this is not good enough.  Fruit juice comes laden with a lot of sugar and I put sugar in my Earl Grey.  So I need to get back to drinking water.  To make it easier for me, I find that adding lots of ice cubes and a slice of lime or lemon helps a lot (yes, I am such a child that way).  Drinking more water doesn't require $100 yoga pants or buy-in from other people around you.  The point is that it is easy to do, although possibly not for me who stopped drinking straight water a long time ago. I am basically going from 0 to 60 in a flash but I know it is better for me.

The small actionable task for Day Four is to decrease the amount of sugary snacks that I reach for.  There was a time when I did not have a sweet tooth.  Then I set up house with Monsieur who has an enormous sweet tooth.  Giant bowls of ice cream after every meal became de rigueur.  Believe me when I say that when I suggested eliminating ice cream, ice cream bars, chocolate covered ice cream bars etc (you get the picture) after dinner at the very least, it was like I had set off WWIII.  So we compromised.  He can continue to stock the freezer with all manner of frozen goodies and if I want to have one, I will, and, if I don't, then I won't and he won't take me opting out as an insult.  Again it is about making it easy instead of trying to do a complete 180 on a dime.  I am not cutting out sugar entirely but trying to decrease it.  I do find that doing a one to one switch makes it a lot easier as it doesn't feel like deprivation has suddenly become the order of the day.  Dates are really sweet and assuage that craving for sweetness.  Strawberries are in season right now and are a delicious snack.  

Stay tuned for Day 5!  Are you following along?  How is it going for you?

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The Road To Wellness and Slow Living Begins With One Step: 30 Day Wellness Challenge Day One Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness Smoothie

I had always imagined that the road to slow or simple living would be easy.  First, I started decluttering.  Let me just say here that I have been decluttering since at least the beginning of the year and I am still not done.  Decluttering brings up all sorts of emotional issues which may delay or hinder the process.  Then other areas of one's life comes under scrutiny.  What one puts in to one's mouth, the people one surrounds oneself with and how one spends one's time get parsed on a microscopic level.  And if one lives with other people there may be a lot of negotiating going on.  One may be negotiating how to redefine the home or living space and even how relationships are conducted.  It can seem incredibly overwhelming.  So I decided that I had to go back to basics.  I would do just one thing a day that would bring me back to center.  It didn't have to be a huge grand gesture like chucking everything and going backpacking around the world.  After all, who of us can do that?  Most of us have bills to pay, responsibilities to uphold and children to raise.  And it had to be something that didn't require buy-in from the entire family (although it would be great if they did join in).  But doing one actionable step every day, day by day, no matter how small, I figured I could do.

  

I used to joke about green smoothies.  "It's swamp water!" I cried gleefully.  But my health issues had plateaued.  I wasn't getting worse but I wasn't getting better either.  I needed a kickstart in the right direction. So, much to Monsieur's amazement, I came home with a bottle of emerald green sludge.  And you know what?  It tastes great!  It would take me 10 minutes to type out all the ingredients but there is stuff in there such as Nova Scotia dulse which I would never have thought to add in to a homemade version.  This is why, as a newbie in the green smoothie arena, I decided to purchase a bottle from Bolthouse Farms, rather than attempting to make my own.  I knew it would be a huge time crunch to go to various grocery and health food stores to gather all the ingredients.  For example, I don't have the faintest idea where to go to find barley grass, let alone Nova Scotia dulse.  More to the point, it had to taste good for me to continue with it.  Now, knowing that it tastes eminently palatable, I will be able to down a glass of this on a regular basis.  Day by day, it will become a habit that infuses me with goodness.  And each time I do it, I am reminding myself that I am being respectful of me, that I am worthy and that I am coming back to center.  And tomorrow I will pick some other step to take.  And all these incremental steps, strung together will guide me towards a new horizon.  So, any suggestions on what my next step should be?  I need running buddies to tow me across the finish line.  And if you want to join in, leave a comment telling me what small or large thing you did to move you along the path to wellness.  Or use #30days2wellnesslbh on Instagram.

If you have any green smoothie or healthy smoothie recipes, please let me know!

This is not a sponsored post.