I always love asking this question - What if it was easy? We don’t realize how much time we spend making things hard. We worry about things before we even start. We put things off because we think they are going to take too much time + effort.
Of course, as it turns out, most things are easier than we think.
Welcome to The LIFT
Let me know you were here by liking this post, leaving a comment + sharing it with your friends! If you haven’t subscribed, click the “Subscribe Now” button below for a weekly pick me up. A new issue comes out every Sunday + will be delivered right to your inbox. You can read previous issues here.
ALL THE FIXIN’S
Last Sunday, I recorded some videos from our kitchen to share on my new Instagram page. I threw the videos together in a short reel + shared how we make a big salad every week. It was a big hit, so I thought I’d share it here with you.
If I had any clue it was going to catch fire like it did, I would have done things a little differently. But, hey, it’s a work in progress. I’m learning.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
If you watch the video, you can see that this is a very simple task.
Make a big salad.
Split it up into five Mason jars.
Stick them in the fridge.
Voila! Fresh-cut veggies for the whole week!
My husband + I have been doing this for so long that I forget how powerful this practice is for us.
Of course, what you don’t see in the video is the behind-the-scenes.
You have to buy the veggies + chop the veggies. It IS a chore. But, we’ve done it for so long that it’s become much easier.
We don’t talk about it, procrastinate about it or make a ‘thing’ of it. We just do it.
Every Sunday, no matter what is going on, we make sure we get our salad made.
Of course, these are not the only fruits + veggies we eat all week. We plan our meals out, too. This is just one step that helps make it easy to get extra veggies into our bodies throughout the week.
According to the CDC, only 1 in 10 adults consume enough fruits + vegetables every day. Are you the one? Or are you one of the nine?
Adult women need at least 1½ cups of fruit and 2½ cups of vegetables each day.
It’s pretty interesting because most of us know that eating a diet rich in fruits + vegetables can help reduce the risk of many leading causes of illness + death (cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, obesity).
You know that, right? So, why is it so hard to do?
For some people, yes, it’s a matter of access. I totally understand this + it’s something we need to work on. But, I challenge you to look at your reasons.
Somewhere, somehow, we must not truly believe that food can make a difference or eating fruits + veggies would be the norm, not the anomaly.
It literally can add years to your life - not to mention, healthy years.
The best part is that the benefits are not just those that happen way down the line. You can actually FEEL the benefits in your body in a very short period of time. Your digestive system works better. Less bloating. More energy. Mental clarity. Better sleep.
For women in perimenopause or menopause, more fruits + veggies reduces just about EVERY symptom from hot flashes to brain fog to weight gain.
It sounds too good to be true, right? But, you know it’s not. We’ve all had the experience of how good we feel when we clean up our diets for a few weeks. You feel lighter. You feel good.
If making a big salad before the week begins will help you get more veggies into your life, I am all about it.
Here are some tips for getting started.
MY TIPS:
Keep it simple. Don’t complicate it. Don’t overthink it. Just do it.
Start slow. Don’t try to go from 0 to 10 vegetables. Your gut needs some time. Take it slow. Start with some mixed greens. Add some fresh herbs. Then slowly add one vegetable every week.
Don’t overdo it. You don’t have to start with 5 jars. Start with one. If you run out on Wednesday, well, GOOD for you! Next week, make two. Etc.
Loose lids. If you use mason jars for storage, don’t screw the lids on super tight. It will stay fresh that way for the week. If the lids are too tight, it can go funky fast.
Fresh or Frozen. Frozen fruits + veggies are good, too. I know it’s hard to buy fresh stuff when you live alone. If you have a store nearby where you can buy veggies individually or by the handful (like a farmer’s market or a health food store), go there. Yes, it might cost more, but you will waste less.
Have fun with it. We make salad time as fun as we can. We play upbeat music. We don’t complain. Instead, we enjoy the smell of the fresh vegetables as we chop + feel grateful to have such luxury in our lives.
Take a break. Pro tip: We make our salad on Sunday + make enough to last Monday through Friday. We don’t follow the same routines on the weekend. It’s good to mix things up + take routine breaks.
Be mindful. It’s important to realize that health is not JUST food. You can eat the healthiest food on the planet, but if you are irritated, stressed or rushed, you are not fully absorbing or benefiting from that food. We can dig more into that in a future post.
The point is that anything you can do to make eating more fruits + veggies a daily practice. The norm. Auto-pilot. Top priority. Is worthy of your time + effort.
Why not start today?
YOUR MISSION:
This week, I challenge you. Eat one more cup of vegetables. You can do it! Leave a comment + commit! I will cheer you on!
RESOURCES:
Subscribe to The LIFT + follow my Instagram page for more tips.
READ: Chew slowly, keep moving and eat 30 plants a week: 12 rules for gut health | The Guardian
READ: Only 1 in 10 Adults Get Enough Fruits or Vegetables | CDC
IN SUMMARY:
We act like eating healthy is hard + cumbersome. That’s because we’ve gotten so attached to convenience foods that we don’t even realize how skewed our perception is. If you slow down just a bit. Focus on fueling yourself with more nutrients (not from a jar or bottle, but from real food). And, don’t make it hard. Let it be easy. You will reap SO many benefits. I can’t wait to hear all about it!
Meanwhile, if you’d like some more tips, download my free Menopause Relief guide + follow me during the week @itMayBeMenopause.
Meanwhile - you can read thru the archives here. And, please reach out to me anytime!
Email: karen@itmaybemenopause.com
Instagram: @itmaybemenopause
I love this!! I'm experimenting with it this week. 32 ounce mason jars seem like a lot. Is this too much for one person?
I live what I like to call a "European life", in that I reside in a teeny-tiny place with a dorm-sized (uh, "European style") fridge that I upgraded to the version with the dorm-sized microwave freezer on top of it (when I first moved in, I had what I called a "vodka cubby" which would freeze the entire fridge if I wanted to make ice...I went without ice until the upgrade). When I moved in 10 years ago, it changed how I shop, what I eat, what will fit, so it's a different prep. Frozen fruit and veg are required when I'm going through a smoothie phase. If I want a salads, I have to rethink what else I can buy for the week/what will fit. I make bone broth each week, which means my "beverage bar" in the door is taken over by those mason jars. It's an endless game of Tetris. But YES, healthy eating is doable no matter what your sitch. The NYT released an article earlier this month on the effect process foods have on our mental health (link below). We need to have this dicussion more, and remove it from "diet culture". It's health care. And when we think about how much time we spend dreading something, we could've already accomplished it and realized it wasn't half bad. Thanks, Karen. xo https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/04/well/eat/ultraprocessed-food-mental-health.html