All You Can Feed On

8 Tips For Adding Fresh Salads To Your Diet

I’ve been eating salads my entire life. Growing up, salads were a regular part of my diet. My mother had a vegetable garden in which she grew tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, green onions, swiss chard and other assorted vegetables.

When I learned I had diabetes several years ago, I also learned I had to make some pretty serious life-changing decisions about my attitudes towards food, exercise, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Adding more fresh salads to my diet was simple for me but when my fiancé learned he too had diabetes a few months ago, it didn’t come as easily. Eating fresh salads is something he is learning to do, and like most new skills, it requires mindfulness and practice. Here's how to make the transition easier.

Research The Pros 

First, learn about the benefits of adding salad to your diet. What was common sense to me is a learning experience for my fiance. Fresh, raw vegetables contain vitamins, minerals, and fiber. They are full of volume, which works for me because I like to eat larger portion sizes, with minimal calories, and salad is nearly fat free. Consider that one cup of shredded lettuce contains roughly 10 calories whereas one cup of macaroni and cheese contains nearly 400 calories.

Salads as a Meal 

As I said earlier, salads are naturally low in calories and often too low to be a meal. People don't realize that too low of anything (calories, carbs, fat, protein) is not good. The right amount of nutrients per meal is the goal.

I like to eat Personal Chef To Go prepared salads when I have salad for lunch. There is plenty of variety, and Personal Chef To Go salads include protein rich lean meats that are very low in saturated fat. Since they are all prepared complete with dressing, they fit into my lifestyle in that I'm not likely to spend any significant amount of time making salads everyday. Another benefit I’ve found with Personal Chef To Go  salads is that if I am augmenting an entrée with a salad, I can store  the meat in a sandwich bag or air-tight container and I have a ready to go, healthy,  protein snack for later!

While they are good for you, they are all delicious! The Mediterranean Chicken Salad, for example, is topped with a fantastic blend of Calamata Olives, Feta Cheese and Lemon-Oregano dressing.  Mindful eaters, diabetics and healthy lifestylers  all eat chicken as a regular part of their diet. The Mediterranean Chicken, as well as the Grilled Balsamic Dijon Chicken or the Thai-Ginger Chicken salads  are well worth having around for convenience and superior taste.

Choose Your Favorite Light and Lean Ingredients

If you are going to add salad to your healthy lifestyle, then add the vegetables you enjoy eating. Build salads with low-calorie greens, and then add other low-calorie favorites, such as multi-colored peppers, mushrooms, red onion, carrots, and cucumbers. Add flavor by topping salads with healthy cranberries and bits of chopped walnuts. I force myself to reduce or eliminate the higher-calorie and higher-fat ingredients such, as cheese, fried noodles, nuts, olives, and bacon bits.

Go Deeper and Darker Green

If you’re going to eat salad, go for maximum nutrition by using the darker and deeper-color greens, such as romaine, green leaf, spinach, arugula, and watercress. I substitute these greens for the light-colored iceberg or Bibb lettuce.

Combine Multi-Color Ingredients 

Color and appearance is important when you make a meal, so use the same thinking with salads. Different colored vegetables offer the variety of vitamins and minerals you need. Select tomatoes for vitamin C, carrots for vitamin A, and spinach for folic acid. The combinations of color are really endless. Try  to add the colors of the rainbow to your salads to ensure you eat a wide array of nutrients. Try red cabbage, radicchio, multi-colored peppers, snow peas, corn, carrots, beets and anything else appealing to you.

Get Rid of Routine

I learned from having to exercise every day that routine kills consistency. The same concept holds true for me with eating healthy. Sometimes I eat my salad at the start of a meal and sometimes at the end of a meal. Either way can help you lighten up on calories.

I've found if I begin a meal with salad, the volume it takes up in my stomach leaves less room for higher-calorie foods. Eating a salad at the end of my meal prevents me from digging into a second helping.

Make Salads a Gradual Lifestyle Change 

I learned very quickly not to set healthy lifestyle goals I can't achieve. Okay, I'm diabetic, I'm going to lose 60 lb.; I'm going to exercise an hour a day; I'm going to take a one-week class at my local hospital and learn all about nutrition; I'm going to eat salad three times a day, etc.

While I did accomplish many of those personal goals, and even more, I failed when I tried to do them overnight. I failed again when I gave myself a week, and again when I gave myself a month. I finally succeeded when I gave myself a year and took daily baby steps to achieve my long-term goals.

When it come to adding salad to your healthy lifestyle, here is the #1 roadblock to overcome:

You don’t want to take the time to make salad.

Actually, this was my only real excuse and here's how I overcame it. I keep Personal Chef To Go salads and an ample supply of low-maintenance salad fixings in my fridge. You can buy the pre-washed bags of lettuce mixes and buy vegetables that don’t need to be chopped, such as baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms and pre-chopped fresh vegetables are readily available at most supermarkets and grocery stores.

When I make salad, I make enough to carry me through a few meals and throw it all together in a giant bowl with an air tight lid. I also store individual servings in tightly sealed plastic containers so I can bring them with me. Often, when I open my fridge looking for a snack, I just grab a salad.

Dress For Less 

When I was a younger adult, I'd eat salads for fun, and usually only when I went to a restaurant with a salad bar. I didn't care what the salad was made of--just pile on the creamy blue cheese dressing so high I can't see anything green. Obviously, the calories and fat in a salad quickly rise if you load on creamy-rich salad dressings.

Personal Chef To Go keeps their salads low in calories by making low calorie and lowfat dressings included with each salad.  I can make my own, but I rarely  do because the temptation to cheat is too much for me. I also like to have many different dressings to avoid the routine of the same salad every day.

If you like to make your own salad dressings, make a large batch and keep it in a jar in the refrigerator. Use a healthy liquid vegetable or olive oil and mix this with flavorful vinegar or fresh lemons, limes, or oranges.

Personal Chef To Go wishes you the best of luck with your healthy lifestyle!

A Little Father's Day History

Every year on the third Sunday of June, we spend the day paying tribute to our fathers. Celebrated in many countries worldwide, the day is meant to honor and recognize the important contributions and even sacrifices that fathers make on a daily basis. The date may be different in some countries, but the sentiment is the same.

However, this holiday was not always on the calendar. The history of Father's Day is actually quite interesting and touching. Throughout history, there have been different stories about people paying tribute to their fathers, but the official concept of a special day actually started in the United States in the 1900s. In 1909, a young woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd was listening to a Mother's Day sermon at her church in Spokane, Washington. 

Since she had been raised by her father after her mother had passed away, she was struck by the fact that, although mothers had a special day, the same could not be said for fathers. Her father had selflessly raised her and her five other siblings on his own after her mother had died at an early age. She had an unending amount of respect, love, and admiration for her father, who had also served in the Civil War.

Sonora felt that fathers were just as deserving of a special day of recognition as mothers were. She approached her minister about having a special service dedicated to fathers. The following year, the first Father's Day service took place in her church on June 19th. 

In 1924, the third Sunday in June was proclaimed by President Calvin Coolidge as Father's Day nationwide. The date has been celebrated ever since, and was permanently signed into public law by President Nixon in 1972. Just as was the case with Sonora, we now all celebrate this day in recognition of the love and gratitude that we have for our fathers.

There are many traditions surrounding the day that you might not be aware of. For instance, the tradition of wearing a rose on Father's Day was started by young members of the YMCA in Spokane, Washington. On June 19, 1910, these young men attended church wearing roses, with a red rose signifying a living father and a white rose paying tribute to one who was deceased.

For some reason, it took much more effort to firmly establish Father's Day as a holiday than it had taken to establish Mother's Day. People of the time seemed to see it as just another way to add a commercialized holiday to the calendar. It actually took several attempts to get the date formally recognized. However, today it is hard to imagine not having such an important holiday as Father's Day.

Just as is the case with Mother's Day, we often celebrate the day by doing something special for our fathers. Although there is certainly nothing wrong with giving your Dad a beautiful bouquet of flowers, it is far more likely that we give him a more traditionally male-oriented gift. Neckties are an extremely common gift, as are tools and electronics. 

Treating Dad to a special dinner and a Father's Day card are also popular ways to commemorate the day. Nobody is left out on Father's Day, since Dads are always just as happy with a homemade card drawn by a five-year-old as they are with an expensive gift. A picnic lunch or barbeque in the back yard is also just as welcome as a dinner at a fancy expensive restaurant.

One of the reasons Father's Day is so much fun is that there is no right or wrong way to celebrate it. Since no two fathers are exactly the same, no two families celebrate the day in exactly the same way. The day provides the perfect opportunity for children to spend some time with their father, doing something that he really enjoys. Fun activities for the day could include a visit to the park, a sporting event, or a family cookout in the back yard. 

You can just about bet that if you give Dad the gift of Personal Chef To Go that he will share the wealth with those he loves the most. Top the meal off with his favorite luscious dessert and you can guarantee that Dad will enjoy his special day.

After years of celebrating Father's Day, it is safe to say that there was no need back in the 1900s for people to worry about the day becoming only a commercialized event. Because, as anyone who is lucky enough to have their father still with them can tell you, what really matters most is showing him how much you really care.

Vacation: Time To Indulge?

Soon school will be out. For some that means throwing all caution to the wind and packing the car with chips, pizza, sweets and high-sugar drinks to enjoy while away from the stressors of daily living. Vacation to this populace means blow-out eating, committing to doing "nothing" and consequently seeing bigger numbers on the scale when the relaxing is over.
 
For others, it means packing the bicycles, running shoes, hiking boots, camping gear and all the high-tech gadgets to keep track of the distances and altitudes accomplished each day. Convenient, packable nutrition for this population supports high-energy demands, and foods to graze on may include trail mix, power bars, "fuel-injected" replacement drinks and hydratable meals. Oftentimes, coming home after a vacation that's physically demanding turns into eating larger meals to make up for lost calories and satisfaction missed while eating around a campfire.
 
What does vacation mean to you and what are the nutritional consequences? If you are one to easily derail from a healthy eating plan when routines and circumstances change, how long does it take you to get back on track and lose those holiday pounds? Is it worth it in the long run?
 
Staying Committed
One of the biggest struggles of maintaining a healthy lifestyle eating plan is to stay committed when away from home or if schedules change. For some, one meal eaten out or even one dessert can set them up for failure. In my nutrition practice, I know that when patients cancel or don't show for a visit, it's because they have derailed from their plan, usually due to circumstances they have not prepared for.
 
Practice Conscious Eating
Conscious eating starts with the decision to stay focused and committed no matter what the circumstances. The consequences of this type of thinking mean ideal weight, endless energy, feeling good about yourself plus the many physiological rewards your body experiences such as healthy cholesterol and blood sugar levels and balanced hormones.
 
Don't Make Excuses
Remember, excuses are just that, and once you allow yourself to mindlessly and uncontrollably indulge, it typically means being behind the "8" ball yet again. And how many times have you lost that same 15-25 pounds?
 
Work At It
The bottom line--in order to reap the benefits of ideal health and weight, you have to work at it. There is no magic pill or quick weight-loss plan on the market that works long term. And it starts with a plan that will set you up for success.
 
Healthy Living is a two part concept.

1.  One being the aspect of "eating to live," or making choices because of the nutritional value obtained from the foods you pick.

2.  The other is the psychological aspect, or "living to eat."

In other words, what is your relationship to food? Are you the type that turns to food if you've had an emotional day or are bored? If so, then there is some work to be done in regard to how you view and use food.
 
Healthy Choices Made Easy
Making healthy choices even in today's busy, hectic, fast-paced world is doable, especially with the help of Personal Chef To Go, where ready-made meals can be part of your strategy to stay on target with your eating plan. Customized meals to meet your daily life, vacation or holiday needs delivered right to your door--no matter where that may be.
 
Be Prepared
Don't get off track because you haven't prepared. Personal Chef To Go meals are conveniently packed to travel with you or eat right at home. The handy, reusable cooler that your food arrives in is great to take along with you when you are on-the-go. Visit Personal Chef To Go and make your healthy choices today.