What’s The Best Way To Increase Antioxidant Rich Fruits In Your Health Plan
Posted on July 22, 2021 Leave a Comment
The amount of fruit depends on your age, height, physical activity, and sex. On average, adults need 1 to 2 cups of fruit daily. You can find general recommendations for daily fruit intake here.
There are no shortcuts to obtaining the nutrients (antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, and minerals) from fruit. Many fruits (blueberries, cranberries) are antioxidant-rich foods that help keep our cells, including those in our eyes, healthy.
However, some people tend to avoid fruit because of the fear of diabetes or prediabetes diagnosis, reducing their intake of necessary nutrients. And some people eat large servings of fruit, increasing their risk for high blood sugar (hyperglycemia). Therefore, to achieve a perfect balance of fruit in our health plan, we must remember that:
- Fruit contains sugar (mostly fructose).
- Too much of anything can be potentially harmful to your health.
- There is always a way to achieve something.
Some of the ways you can maintain the recommended intake of fruit for your body and eyes are by:
- Including one serving of fruit with each meal. Stick to the small to medium sizes to decrease the risk of having too much fruit at one time. Remember, the more you do something, the more it becomes second nature. So as you become more consistent with eating fruit at every meal, you’ll know something is missing when you forget your serving of fruit.
- Adding fruit to your favorite foods/snacks (i.e., fresh strawberries on cereals, ice creams, smoothies, kabobs, yogurt-parfaits, and others).
- Replacing canned toppings with homemade toppings. For example, I use 1 16 ounce bag of frozen peaches, 1/2 cup to 1 cup of Swerve, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, 1”“2 tablespoons flour to make my peach filling for peach cobbler.
- Including your favorite protein (peanut butter, cottage cheese, cheese slice, etc.) and others with an apple or other fruit for a snack. I love eating raisins with a handful of almonds or walnuts early in the morning before my cardio workout.
- Including fruits in your salads and making homemade fruit salad dressing with olive oil and Swerve.
As always, you are worth the energy, money, and time to achieve the health you deserve.
Make this lifetime great!
Timika
Do you want to know more about weathering through adversities and staying healthy? Then, sign up for my quarterly newsletters and join the community bent on healing from the inside out, reuniting with our purpose, and achieving and sustaining our best health possible.
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Who Are You Looking For?
Posted on July 21, 2021 4 Comments
When you look in the mirror, who do you see? Do you see more than a body? A color? Skin? Eyes? or compare yourself with another?
When you look in the mirror, who do you see? Your diagnosis? Singlelosis? a divorcee, or your problems, per se?
When you look in the mirror, who do you see? A spirit, eternity, unfolding consciousness, becoming oneness.Â
You are not your career, labels, opinions, and projections. Instead, you are an intentional and significant part of Creation.
Whoever you see is how you will treat thee.
Make this lifetime great!
Timika
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How Can You Include More Green Vegetables In You & Your Children’s Eye Health Plan?
Posted on July 20, 2021 Leave a Comment
As discussed in my previous blog, Which Foods Help Sustain Eye Health, vegetables play a major role in optimizing eye health. As a parent, it’s tempting to hide veggies in a multitude of recipes and not speak about the ingredients. But, I learned early on the importance of facing Truths instead of being secretive. I want our children to know what they are eating and why they are eating certain foods. Yes. I add veggies to different recipes, but I also discuss the ingredients I used to make the recipes. Sometimes I feel like I am taking the hard route. But what sustains me is the hope that I am creating an informed desire within my children to eat nutritious foods.
When Cam was still using a high chair, one day, I fed him a plate of fresh spinach served with ranch dressing, and nothing was left on the plate. Unfortunately, the judgment of our food and the desire for sweet treats often creep in, and our children (and us, too) eat everything on the plate but the veggies. When you mix in fear that our children are missing out on key nutrients, sometimes we end up forcing them to eat their veggies or avoid serving them at all.
There are so many ways we can add green vegetables to our foods. Cam continues to consume many vegetables, but our daughter keeps testing my creativity. So here are a few ways I keep vegetables in my family’s health plan.Â
1.Instead of using bread, use lettuce to make sandwich wraps. One day, I made our son a turkey pastrami lettuce wrap, and he told me the sandwich tasted better than one made with bread.
2. Kale chips. Wash and dry Kale, and caress it with Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO). Sautee on low heat in a pan until crisp. The process usually takes 10 minutes, or you can bake the Kale at 250 degrees. Flip and check every five minutes until crisp.
3. Spinach cream cheese dip. I either make it in the food processor, bake in the oven, or make stove-top. Combine eight ounces of cream cheese with 1 cup of plain yogurt. Next, Add 1/2 cup of low-fat mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese. I add garlic powder, onion powder, and a pinch of salt. Optional: Add sliced artichokes. Bake 350 for 20”“30 minutes until slightly brown on top. Serve warm with cut-up pieces of toasted bread or Simple Truth Tortilla chips. In the initial picture ( 2018) is my son eating the below spinach dip. This is the same boy who told me he doesn’t like onions and garlic. Now Cam eats many different foods with bell peppers, garlic, onions, and the like, including my breakfast burritos, lasagna (which are below), and spaghetti.
Sometimes, we have to modify tradition and focus more on nutrition. For example, you can have bacon and eggs or cereal and fruit with sautéed kale or spinach. Some other ways to include greens with meals include salads for breakfast, kale or spinach stir fry, kale or spinach quesadillas, and alternating greens (kale, spinach, swiss chard) and others with sandwiches, wraps, and others.
Often, I make almond milk, banana, spinach, and strawberry smoothie. I use approximately three cups of almond milk, 1 ripe banana, 1 cup of frozen strawberries, and a handful of fresh spinach. The riper the banana, the sweeter it is. The bananas and strawberries help blend in the spinach taste. Serve immediately.
You have heard that it can take up to 21 days to create habits. Keep trying past the 21 days. Your health and your children’s health are worth every piece of energy, money, and time. And when you make that delicious recipe with veggies, explain to your children how you incorporated delicious and healthy vegetables into your masterpiece. So often, when we change our thinking and how we share information, we create the shift we need to sustainable health!
Do you want to know more about weathering through adversities and staying healthy? Then, sign up for my quarterly newsletters and join the community bent on healing from the inside out, reuniting with our purpose, and achieving and sustaining our best health possible.
Make this lifetime great!
Timika
