The new year is fast approaching. Like most people, I’m sure, I’m feeling a little gross after all the holiday food. My family spent three days in Gatlinburg over Christmas. We were trying to plan something fun to celebrate my Christmas baby’s birthday. And while it is neat that there are restaurants and attractions open on Christmas Day, we probably won’t do this again. There were entirely too many people. Christmas Camping remains the best idea I’ve ever had and the only Christmas experience I really want to solidify into a tradition for my family.
Anyway, one nice thing about the three-day vacation was not having to plan or cook a single meal. This is unheard of for me. And as much as it was a treat to take a break, it was also a great time to appreciate all the time I spend on this gift to myself and my family. Providing satiating meals because they are fiber-filled, nourishing, and, for the most part, delicious (now and then, a kitchen experiment is a complete miss) – that’s a gift.
During the holidays and hustle and bustle leading up to and following, this can be a difficult gift to give oneself. For one thing, whenever I’m planning to be away, I try not to leave a fridge full of produce to rot in my refrigerator. Then, once you return home, you don’t have anything to cook, no time to properly plan or shop, and end up following however many days of gluttony with more convenience foods. Folded into all the questionable food choices throughout the past month, there’s the excessive sugar intake.
Sure, taking a hiatus from sugar would be a great New Year’s resolution. But, honestly, that doesn’t seem too likely due to the addicting stronghold it has on me at the moment. Besides, in trying to set myself up for success, I’d prefer to focus on something positive rather than negative. I would rather set goals based on things I can add to my life to enrich it rather than focus on things I should take away and abstain from. Side note: if you’re considering participating in Dry January – this is 100% worth it. I can’t even count the number of ways taking a break from booze enriches my life. But back to my New Year’s resolution…
The challenge
For three weeks, I will challenge myself to consume at least one cup of leafy green vegetables every meal! Yes, dark, leafy greens are preferred. But if I end up at a Mexican restaurant, I want to have the option of adding an avocado salad, which always comes on a bed of iceberg lettuce, and calling it a win. And if I make cabbage roll casserole in the crockpot one day, I don’t also want to make room for an arugula side salad. I’m trying to set myself up for success.
Why leafy greens are king
First and foremost, eating adequate amounts of leafy greens is a great way to ensure you have consistent healthy poops. You probably didn’t see that response coming. But regular, bulky, easy-to-pass stools are the key to a happy life. You probably need a 21-day whole-food plant-based (WFPB) challenge if you do not know what I’m talking about. That’s on my agenda as soon as I’m done breastfeeding. But for this challenge, I will focus on eating more greens. Back to why…
The Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI) ranks foods based on their relative nutrient density per calorie. This approach focuses on the micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals) rather than macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, proteins) and ranks common foods based on their health-promoting properties. By far, dark leafy green vegetables provide the most disease-fighting, immune-supporting, and protective properties of all the foods you could put on your plate. With the new year falling within the middle of cold and flu season – it’s a great time to focus on nutrient density.
Check out Dr. Fuhrman’s website for more information about how the scores were developed.
Planning to plan
It is easy to figure out ways to incorporate at least one cup of leafy greens at lunch and dinner. But breakfast is a different beast. I could make sauteed tofu with plenty of vegetables and leafy greens. However, it is challenging to meal prep in bulk, at least for me. My biggest limiting factors include skillet size and feeding my husband. I like to pack a lot of vegetables into my tofu breakfast scrambles, and my husband is a very tall, broad-shouldered, active human being who works out entirely too much and, therefore, requires entirely too many calories to stay fueled. Best case scenario: I can stretch a batch of tofu scramble for two meals for me + one for my husband. This isn’t sustainable for three whole weeks. I don’t have time to cook that much every other morning.
So, I’ll probably end up incorporating some green smoothies for breakfast. I’m not sure what else I’ll do for breakfast those days. I don’t know about you, but smoothies aren’t satisfying. I need to chew food to stave off the hunger pangs. So, maybe I’ll plan to eat oatmeal on days I add a smoothie, though I’ll have to include a scoop of protein powder in one of those to avoid an insulin spike and crash and resulting tiredness. That is to say that meal prep will be key to success in this endeavor. I look forward to sharing my progress on this challenge with you!