I believe that “beauty” is more than what we put on our skin, it is also affected by what we put into our bodies! Thus my “beauty blog” will include a health and fitness aspect too! Listen, bottom line is … You get out of your body what you put in. If you drink a ton of sugary drinks ( ice teas, juices, sodas) you may fall victim to acne, wavering weight issues and be at a higher risk for Diabetes. If you drink lots of water and consume preservative free and fresh foods ( Fruits, veggies, hormone free meats) you will see your skin improve, your energy levels sky rocket and you will decrease the amount off time you spend sick.
It’s sad to think how much food has changed since we were little and our parents passed on their eating habits to us. It use to be that you ate the 7 food groups ( or food pyramid) and colors of the rainbow and all was fine and dandy. Now, it’s so much more than that! After sifting through years of fad diets and quick tricks to reach my “target weight” I’ve realized my health is more than just a number.
About 3 years ago I met with fitness and nutrition guru, Brook Eneas, to discuss a life style change I knew I needed. Since I thought I was already eating pretty clean , Eneas had me track my current dietary habits via the “Livestrong” app on my phone. After about a week, we met again to go through my food log line by line. Not only was I lacking vital nutrients ( which I am now taking a multi vitamin, vitamin C and B-complex as well as a wheat grass supplement to help with my irregularity) I was consuming foods I THOUGHT were healthy. Things like fat free milk (that are enhanced with hormones and pasteurized), and lean cuisens (which are full of sodium and preservatives) I was about to cut all of my favorite foods out of my diet … or so i thought!
Over the next few months I decided to get a little creative. While Eneas taught me to shop on the outside of the grocery store to avoid many of the preservative rich foods that make us hold weight , I wasn’t ready to give up on tacos, pastas and pizzas for good. lol So I set out to create healthy versions of these foods I could enjoy on a normal basis. First up was pasta! After a little research I realized I could sub pasta for zucchini and a veggie shredder. I also learned that you can make pizza crust out of quinoa or cauliflower! It was these simple changes that would allow me to have the best of BOTH worlds!
Today l want to share some simple swaps for one of my favorite meals… Tacos. First lets trade ground beef for lean ground turkey and instead of traditional taco mix, which is loaded with sodium, let’s grab a Mrs Dash Taco mix from the spice isle. (Ps Mrs Dash’s -no sodium spices may change your life but thats a whole other blog ;) ) Now lets exchange the sour cream for greek yogurt. Finally, kill those hard taco shells and replace then with a romain lettuce wrap. Then load that puppy up with all the veggies, beans and avocado you like!
