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How I Learned To Love My Veggies

health8 years ago

When I made the decision to introduce a Health vertical on my blog, it definitely wasn’t because I think that my body’s perfect… nor is it anywhere near where I want it to be. Growing up, I loved candy, hated veggies and thought exercise was only for the morbidly obese. My mother probably has hundreds of stories about my disdain for anything that’s remotely healthy for me, but lemme take you through a couple of highlights (all of these anecodotes are from before I was 10, so please don’t judge too hard!):

  • If there was anything green on my plate, I’d eat around it… and promptly ask for dessert
  • I was that horribly ungrateful child who’d audibly gag whenever mushrooms came anywhere close to my mouth — killing not just my appetite, but everyone else’s at the table…
  • One time when my mom used poppyseed dressing, I complained that there were ants in my salad and refused to eat anything on my plate
  • And here’s my favorite: When I was 3, my mom’s friend came to visit us for dinner… I excused myself from the dinner table, and was found 30 minutes later behind the window curtains, halfway through with a bag of candy that I had snuck from the pantry… because apparently THAT was my idea of dinner 

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg… but being the freak of nature that I am, I was never one to gain weight, so I thought that being consciously healthy was just not something that pertained to me. As you can clearly see, I’m a fat kit at heart and my “health journey” has been more or less non-existent for most of my life. However, I feel like as I’m approaching my 30s a lot of that has had to change, and I need to do a much better job taking care of my body. So my goal of curating health and fitness content on my blog is my way of holding myself accountable to making an effort towards treating my body better, while sharing my journey and getting tips from you — with the hope that we can look back on this year TOGETHER, and see how far we’ve come!

My personal trainer always told me that physical fitness is 20% exercise and 80% diet, so when Organic Girl invited me to participate in their week-long # GetUrGreenOn challenge, I was 100% in! Besides going green for weight loss reasons, there are lots of other health benefits of including greens in your every day diet! Read on to check out 3 reasons I’ve decided to participate in the #GetUrGreenOn challenge for my health, and join the conversation in the comments below 🙂

3 Reasons To # GetUrGreenOn

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Staying hydrated helps promote the transport of nutrients to your cells and removal of toxins away from skin cells. Choosing high water content foods such as fruits and vegetables – including dark green leafy greens – can help you meet your daily water intake needs and promote optimal skin health.[/one_half]

made with Organic Girl Baby Kale!

cauliflower + kale risotto recipe

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Including greens as part of a well-balanced diet can help fight inflammation. Free radicals cause damage in your body, but including antioxidant-rich foods like green leafy vegetables protects against oxidative damage caused by free radicals, keeping you beautiful inside and out!

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Green leafy vegetables contain vitamin K, an important fat soluble vitamin that helps your body transport and utilize fat. Fat is a good thing when it comes to physical appearance, as adequate healthy fat intake promotes healthy hair, skin and nails.


 So there you have it — if you’ve ever needed any more of a reason to # GetUrGreenOn start incorporating greens into your every day, this is it! And there are so many fun ways to keep it green with Organic Girl’s great collection of 100% organic salad mixes and greens, which you can find at a store near you.

What’s your favorite way to incorporate greens into your diet? Share your tips in the comments below — I’d LOVE to read them!

 

This post was written in collaboration with Organic Girl, a product I eat regularly and have come to LOVE.
# GetUrGreenOn tips by Katie Ferraro, registered dietician, nutrition consultant, author & nutrition professor.
Thank you for supporting posts that keep Millennielle up and running!

 

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