Week 5 of our 8 Week Healthy Habit Challenge

Wow, we are halfway through our challenge, hope you are making progress – I am sure your are! By now, you should be eating breakfast every day, drinking non-sugar drinks, and limiting processed foods.

This week we are going to start putting a healthy eating plan together. Review your food record from Week 1 and count the average number of fruits and vegetable servings you ate each day. How did you do?

Vegetables and fruit are high in fiber and nutrients and low in calories. Fill up on these foods so you won’t be hungry for higher-fat foods. Strive for 3-5 servings of vegetables and 2-4 servings of fruit each day. To get the needed 5-9 servings combined, try these helpful hints:

·       Choose darker salad greens such as red leaf or spinach, which have more nutrients than iceberg.

·       Cut up vegetables and serve with hummus as a wholesome snack.

·       Add stir-fry dishes to your menu.

·       Make a vegetarian pizza with lots of tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms – or any vegetable that you like!

·       Have a vegetable omelet or frittata for breakfast.

This week’s challenge – Serve more fruits and vegetables.

Eat 1 serving of fruit with breakfast, have a piece of fruit after a workout, or between lunch and dinner as a snack. Fill up on vegetables at lunch with a large salad.

Food Group Color:  Green

Foods that are green in color contain lutein, indoles, sulforaphane, zeaxanthin, phenethyl isothiocyanate, monoterpenes. They help to lower the risk breast, prostate, lung and other cancers; promote eye health; help build strong bones; boost immunity.

Foods to try: Green apples, avocados, green grapes, green pears, honeydew, limes, kiwi, spinach, broccoli, broccoli rabe, kale, swiss chard, asparagus, artichokes, bok choy cabbage, green bell peppers, cucumbers, string beans, peas.

Fitness Challenge

Beginners: Continue your interval-walking program. Walk at a fast pace for 30 sec, or 1-2 blocks, then recover at a slower pace for a min. Repeat this cycle during your walk. Walk 5 days a week, 2 sessions with interval walking for 30 minutes, 2 fast past walking sessions at 40 minutes and 1 session at 60 minutes. Begin to incorporate light weights (dumbbells) or resistance bands into your training. Weight train 2x a week. Pick 1 exercise for each body part, do 1 set of each, for 10 reps.

Example: Back: Dumbbell rows, Chest: Chest press (or pushup), Legs: Squats holding dumbbells, Shoulder: Overhead shoulder presses, Biceps: Dumbbell Curls, Triceps: Triceps Extensions

Advanced:  Try adding a heavy weight session to your workout each week. Pick a weight that will only allow you to perform 6 reps.