This post is about to be super weird because there are no pictures…..I FEEL NAKED.
Here…
That’s better.
Soooo, this One a Day project.
What is it?
The goal behind it is to drink one smoothie and eat one salad every single day. Doesn’t matter what time, doesn’t matter for what meal/snack, doesn’t matter the size or ingredients. It’s simple. Just one smoothie and one salad. You could eat the smoothie for breakfast every day and the salad for lunch (which is what I plan on doing), or you could have a side salad for dinner and the smoothie as a snack at some point throughout the day. See my point? It’s super chill with just the one rule – you have to eat one of each every day.
Why did I decide to start doing this?
Basically it just promotes healthier eating when you commit to drinking a smoothie and eating a salad every day. But for me specifically, it will be perfect motivation to eat a healthier breakfast and lunch.
Breakfast = blech. Sorry all you breakfast lovers out there (which are A LOT…I’m definitely the minority here). Breakfast is by far my least favorite meal of the day. It’s not necessarily the food per se, it’s more that I would just rather jab my eye balls out than eat eggs or toast or cereal before 11 or 12. For some reason all breakfast food just sounds so unappetizing to me in the morning. But breakfast for dinner? I’m totes game for that. My brain is weird.
So what does this end up meaning for me? I either don’t eat until lunch or I eat something that’s not quite so healthy (but sounds better) for breakfast. Like cold leftover pizza. And if I hold out until lunch then a lot of the time I’ll end up eating something less nutritious because (as we have all probably experienced) when you are hungry you have way less motivation to eat healthy and way more motivation to just eat what sounds good.
So this One a Day project is the perfect way to start your morning off healthy and keep it going throughout the day. I do dislike most breakfast food (when it’s for breakfast), but I definitely don’t dislike smoothies. I loooove smoothies and never get sick of them. So if I have a motivation to actually wake up and get the 3 million ingredients out of my fridge and freezer to make a smoothie every morning, that will be a great way to start my day off right.
I was inspired to start this project because I read a blog post a few weeks ago (I don’t remember from what blog – I follow a lot of blogs), in which she talked about how she has been trying to eat a salad every single day to promote healthier eating habits. If you wrote that, comment on this post and I will link to you here!
The post is looking naked again.
Swaddled pup.
There are so many reasons why I think this One a Day project is so great.
1. The versatility that I mentioned earlier. It doesn’t matter when you eat the smoothie and salad, as long as you eat both at some point.
2. I don’t know if you are like this, but when I start my morning off healthy, I tend to keep it up throughout the rest of the day. If I start it off unhealthy then I tend to stick to that for the rest of the day.
3. It is such a great way to get a bunch of extra fruit and veggies into your diet. It’s SO easy to go through the entire day and barely eat any fruit and veggies, but this way you are guaranteed to eat a bunch of that good stuff every day. That is one thing that is awesome about smoothies, you can hide so many nutritious things in there that you might not eat throughout the day otherwise – kale, spinach, flax seeds, coconut oil, etc…
This might not be for everyone. Maybe you hate salads, or maybe you are already eating smoothies and salads every day anyway. But for me this will be a huge change in the way I eat. It’s not like I’m an unhealthy eater, but I know for a fact I am not eating enough fruits and vegetables. Egg whites and toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch – that’s already two meals gone that haven’t included any fruits and veggies!
So here is what I am going to do – over the next month I’m going to keep track of all the smoothies and salads I make and post them on here once a week or so. I am planning (at this point) on prepping all my salads a week ahead of time and keeping them in mason jars, but that might not work as well as I think – I’ve never tried it before. I prepped a bunch this morning that I will have throughout the rest of the week.
Obviously I got a little topping happy here…as you can see…whoops. But there are more greens shoved in the top than it looks like!
These salads are all a little different – I will post more about each one specifically next week once I eat all of them and can report which ones were good and which ones I would skip next time.
Ooookay fine. One more of Boone.
How long are you going to this for?
Good for trying new things, just make sure you keep a right balance :)
At this point I am going to try it for a month, but I might keep it up after that. We will see!
I love this idea and I am kind of doing something similar. I have been having a salad a day for the past couple of weeks and I just feel so much better for it.
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy recently posted…Comment on Thai Red Noodle Soup by Amie
It really does make you feel so much better!
One a day sounds like a great idea! Good luck!!!
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop recently posted…Quinoa Salad
Thanks, Kathy!
I think this is a wonderful idea! I think I’m going to try this too as I’ve been meaning to get more fruits and veggies into my diet! And I love the idea of the salads in the mason jars…I’ll be checking back here to see if they work out!
You should DEFINITELY try it if you have been trying to eat more fruits and veggies! It’s been great so far :). I’ll post an update soon!
Please do….I started today!! I actually roasted vegetables AND fruit and then tossed them with greens. Delicious! :) Again, thanks for the idea!
Yay yay yay! You have to keep me updated on how it’s going! Oh man that sounds delicious, Linda! I need that recipe :).
So far so good! Today a Pineapple yogurt smoothie for breakfast and Beet Salad for lunch! And I will be posting the Roasted Vegetable & Pear Salad on July 26th! I’ll try and remember to send you the link :) How’s it going for you??
Oh yum yum yum! I’ll check your blog on the 26th for that yummy salad. And that smoothie sounds so good too!!! It’s been going so great for me, I love it! My favorite smoothie so far has been Greek yogurt, banana, mixed berries, and spinach :). My salads aren’t as adventurous and unique as yours, though!
Haha my sister never likes breakfast either… Mainly because she is sleeping right until lunch!!
Where there ya go – it is super easy for her to skip it then!
Right now, I’m just loving those pics of your dogs. SOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE! BUT, I LOVE YOUR COMMITMENT TO THE ONE A DAY PROJECT!
Kennedy Cole| KCole’s Creative Corner recently posted…Caprese Crostini with Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Thanks, Kennedy!! I know, isn’t he just the cutest?!