Ever since I became a personal trainer, I have considered myself a healthy eater. Even in times of falling of the healthy eating wagon, I've always been able to come back to eating a diet filled with fresh fruits and veggies, lean proteins and lots of water. At the beginning of this year I started limiting sugar, dairy and gluten, witnessing how less of that in my diet made me feel. FYI, it made me feel great. 

Recently I began taking a closer look at the amount of green things in my diet. I heard a man named David Wolfe explain the value of green veggies in a way that I'd never heard before. He explained that on a molecular level green things have more electrons in them, resulting in more energy as these electrons produce actual electricity. This explains why they make you feel so good. This also explains why Popeye was able to provide a a knockout punch to Bluto after consuming a can of spinach. "Oooh, wheres me spinach?" 

He also finally explained alkalinity in a way that made sense to me. Our bodies perform best in a slightly alkaline state, as opposed to an acidic state. When you eat the typical Standard American Diet, (which I love that it's referred to as SAD) filled with sugar, gluten, processed foods, coffee, dairy, meat, soda, artificial sweeteners, and so on, you are filling your body with foods that make your body acidic. A diet of this nature results in a constant lethargy, even after a full nights sleep (how I feel always), and can make fighting naughty cravings really tough. 

It was after this that I began looking at each meal and analyzing the amount of greens that I was regularly eating. I was getting them in at dinner, and most of the time at lunch, but I was not getting nearly enough to cancel out the coffee, meat, limited gluten and processed foods, and my ice cream every weekend that I was consuming regularly.  So I began to challenge myself to eat more! 

I MINT TO EAT MORE GREENS: 4 easy ways to add more greens!!

1. Add something green to every meal: 
   • Breakfast - Smoothies, Juices, Veggie Scramble (Eggs/Tofu), Spinach on a Breakfast sandwich. 
   • Lunch - Salads, Veggie Rice Bowls, Lettuce (Collard Green) Wraps, Side Salads or Broccoli instead of other sides. 
   • Dinner - Roasted Veggies (Asparagus, Brussels, Broccoli), Zucchini Noodles aka Zoodles, Adding spinach or frozen peas to any dish . 
2. Move green produce to the top shelf of your fridge. - Out of sight out of mind. 
3. Sub raw veggies for chips and crackers. - Cucumbers, Celery, Bell Peppers.
4. Make a big batch of green veggies for your week. - This is the one Im digging right now. 

Get creative, try new recipes (25 Simple Green Side Dishes), notice how they make you feel. I have found that the greens have slowly overtaken some of the other junk that tended to sneak into my diet and I have also witnessed a small, but noticeable, energy difference in the mornings. For this reason, I am sold. It's so easy being green :)