Monday, January 2, 2012

A Week of Fresh New Year Postts: Jenn Kicks Us Off and Inspires Us to Get Our Butts In Gear!!

Happy New Year, everyone!! As promised, this week I am featuring five fabulous guest bloggers here on Our Love Nest to kick off the New Year! Please join me in welcoming Jenn from Bliss to Bean who so graciously agreed to get our week started!  Today she talks about healthy eating, and man did I need to read her post! We have totally fallen off the wagon with the holidays, and it's time to get serious about getting some healthier things back into our kitchen! Head on over and show Jenn some love today!

Hi! I'm Jenn from Bliss to Bean.
I'm sure there are many you out there, like myself, that hope to eat healthier in the new year.
I really despise the word diet, but I do find it important to nourish our bodies properly.
I believe in everything in moderation and to not deprive ourselves of anything.
It's very easy to overindulge I am so guilty of this! {darn cookies}
So now that the holidays are winding down, I propose to be more mindful in what I'm eating.
If you check out my blog, you'll notice I do try and share a lot of different recipes.
I'm always willing to try new things out in the kitchen.
Carbs and I have a love/hate relationship.
I love them, they love my hips & thighs--DOH.
Hubby is Italian, 
so I will never be able to delete pasta from our kitchen dictionary,
but I can prepare meals that aren't so carb-a-rific!
One of my good friends Matty,
has been a hardcore cross-fit participant and also follows the Paleo Diet.
He looks abs-olutely amazing.
Seriously.
He made a promise to himself to be in the best shape 
of his life when he turned the big 3-0.
And did he make that happen or what?!
I am so proud of him being able to stick with it and really turn it into a lifestyle.
Now, he still enjoys "cheat nights" every once in awhile.
You'll see that he's part of our fantastic 4 Girls' Night, 
where we get together once a month at each of our houses and cook a dinner, 
drink wine and catch up on our lives!
I asked him to share a day in his Paleo life...
He said:
My daily routine is coffee with coconut milk creamer and some fruit in the morning.

Protein shake (which is not paleo, but I do that to build muscle after workout)

Snacking on fruit throughout the day -- apples, pears, bananas.

Lunch, salad with grilled chicken, balsamic vinaigrette.


Dinner, grilled chicken or steak (I also do turkey burgers) they are
super easy -- then roasted veggies (olive oil and seasoning) Brussels
sprouts, carrots, yams.

The main goal is avoiding anything pre-packed. And no grains or dair
y!

If you're interested in more Paleo friendly foods, Matty sent along this link too:
The thing I like best about Paleo, is the idea that nothing is processed. 
I really try to make sure my hubs and I eat a lot of fresh or whole foods.
While I cannot seem to give up dairy (cheese!) or grains completely, 
I can eliminate most of them and I am going to continue to replace
quick snacks with fresh fruits/veggies.
My husband Joe has Crohn's and ever since we've switched to a more mindful approach, 
he's been feeling SO much better sans prescription meds.
As we know, you can't just eat better,
You have to move too!
Hop on over to my blog for a post about which workouts
I will implement in twenty-twelve!
Remember, there's always a better you to be had.
How will you strive to be healthier in 2012?

**As always, please talk to your physician/dietary consultant. These are just my own opinions & research and what works for my friends and myself.**


3 comments:

Unknown said...

What a great post to help kick start the new year!

Erin Branscom said...

Love your blog! :) I became a new follower! :) Erin

Erin said...

Due to my daughter's food allergies, our diet is SO CLOSE to paleo already...I'm thinking about making the switch. Too bad bread, pasta and cheese are my three FAVORITE foods!