“Yes, I want to healthy, but being happy is important too. I want my family to eat better, but I can’t stomach this gross stuff and now I’m setting a bad example,” says Missy
So why does healthy food taste so nasty? I mean, shouldn’t we be inclined to prefer the food that’s good for us and that will help us survive, thrive and live a healthier and happier life? Here is a little help in this area for you moms who know improving your diet is not just about looking great, but you also want to feel great and show your children a better way to eat.
We get it and love helping clients fix this specific problem – knowing what to eat to lose weight and still feel great. Listen to what Missy said last week during her nutrition consultation, “I want to eat healthier, but I’m not a big vegetable eater and I don’t buy the good yogurt. So, I tried the green smoothie drinks and they were gross, help!”
Here’s what we shared with Missy and hope it helps you, too:
- Stir in 1-2 tablespoons of a high quality strawberry-flavored protein powder nonfat plain Greek yogurt and turn it into something close to
pudding yummy-ness. Other flavors that are client favorites include pina colada, chocolate fudge and vanilla.
- Use Penzeys Spice’s Mural of Flavor on every vegetable you cook. It’s salt-free blend that let you stop dreading those vegetables and actually enjoy the taste. It’s not spicy either. Yes, you can add Ms. Dash or Trader Joe’s 21 Blend Salute, but don’t, because Penzeys Spice’s Mural of Flavor is just so much better. Sprinkle on vegetables as you steam, roast or sauté… Yes, add some salt, too, but you may not need it. [Penzeys Spice ships direct www. Penzeys.com or yes, we have a Penzeys Spice near us in Fishers, IN – address: 5345 E 82nd Street, Indianapolis]
- Every have a Fig Newton cookie? Yes! Who hasn’t’ and although they may not be your favorite cookie, that flavor is familiar. So is the taste of grass, which is what so many green smoothie, shake or drink taste like that aren’t loaded with sugar, calories, or all the fruit in your fruit basket to HIDE the taste of that green stuff – kale, spinach. However, when you add dry FIG, just one or two pieces to a concoction of healthy green vegetables, it changes things. The tasty, sweet fig adds just the right something that gives the green vegetable drink real sweetness and creamy consistency. Plus, dried figs have fewer calories and cost less and won’t go bad like all that fresh fruit you may be using to stomach those healthy green drinks.
Well, perhaps we are inclined to like nutritious food — but unhealthy food has developed a few unfair advantages. It’s engineered to taste extra good, and our taste buds are regularly conditioned by both internal and external factors to want it. External factors include advertisements where smiling, thin people doing awesome things are drinking Mountain Dew, and eating Dairy Queen, while living carefree life. Internal factors include leveraging the science of taste to engineer processed products that ignite your desire for MORE compulsive eating… In other words, it’s not your fault.
My Green Smoothie Surprise Recipe
8 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk (very cold)
1 tablespoon protein powder (whey vanilla, egg-based, or vegetable-based)
2 teaspoon fish oil (or avocado oil, promise you won’t taste it)
1 cup spinach (organic, if possible)
1 dry fig (YES!)
How to mix: In a 16oz mason jar add ingredients and then use a handheld/immersion blender until smooth. Optional: add crushed ice, use a straw
See these recipes and snack prep ideas for Greek yogurt and vegetables.