Your Salad: Shaken or Stirred?

Salads, YAY!  Smoothies, YAY!  Healthier eating, YIPPEE, YAY, YAY! 

Starting with the basics!
  I, personally, am going to concentrate on green salads for this Salad-A-Day challenge in order to combat jaw muscle atrophy.

I recently issued a challenge to my facebook friends because I was appalled at how my consumption of fresh produce has declined lately.  I was staring at the big ol’ bag of baby spinach and the fresh strawberries in the fridge and fondly recalled the days when those staples were not doomed to be thrown into the trash due to neglect.  In fact, in the not-so-distant past, such super foods often needed to be replenished between weekly shopping trips because they were appropriately and promptly devoured. 



I still plan on remaining very friendly with my smoothie "salads".
This one is unsweetened almond milk,protein powder, fresh spinach, frozen blueberries and strawberries.  Shut UP!

Well, when it took me a mere 5 or so minutes to whip up a delectable salad, I realized I missed being the salad-eating fool I used to be!

Was it more effort than I wanted to put forth?  Frankly, yes.  I am just that lazy.

Was it worth the effort that I grudgingly put forth?  More than yes!

The salad was delicious, refreshing, surprisingly satisfying and I felt so proud of myself for fueling my body properly.  I realized that it is incredibly empowering to have the means and ability to decide how I nourish my body.  Thankfully, I am currently disease-free with no food intolerances/allergies.  Even though I live in a harsh, barren desert, in this modern, free(ish) country I have access to an amazing amount of healthy foods.  I would be grossly remiss if I squandered this prime time of my life by indulging in habits that would only likely shorten my window of opportunity to suck the juice (organic and all-natural, of course) out of this earthly journey!

I am so ready for the week!

So I did what all sensible people do when faced with a personal angst issue:  I promptly revealed it on facebook and I’m truly glad I did!  So many of my friends immediately responded and are stepping up to this challenge with me.  I’m already feeling much more motivated and accountable.  Honestly, I doubt that I will perfectly achieve eating a salad every single day until July 4^th.  But… what if I do?  What if I screw it up by having a crappy week down the line but get back on the bandwagon ASAP and finish the challenge with a 90% success rate?  Or 80%?  Or, heck, even 50%?  Will I have benefitted by seeing it through and not giving up?  Heck to the yes!

Doesn't this just look so much yummier than a burger and fries, or double fudge brownies, or a fresh donut right out of the cooking oil, still warm with the glaze melting into a glossy sheen that is so light and fluffy that it kinda just disintegrates in your mouth like a perfect manifestation of a sinful confection.
Oh... uh... what was I saying?  Yeah, green salads... yummiest things on earth.  Yumm-o!

If you are a green smoothie king/queen, change it up by tossing in a fresh salad here and there. If the thought of grazing on one more grass clipping makes you want to stab a fork in your eye, throw a combo of produce into the blender and slurp away!

So - shaken, tossed, chopped or blended – just get some more fresh produce down that gullet of yours every single day that you can until the day you die… or until July 4.  Whichever comes last.