Here are 2 small easy dietary changes you can make, starting TODAY that will improve the overall quality of your diet and therefore your health. I thought I’d share this tips since we are nearing the end of the January Health Challenge and based on feedback to an email I sent, we will continue in February. The gals are appreciating the accountability and the support that they are receiving in our Facebook group. I love the community that is building and seeing people share what works for them with those who ask for help!
- Swap your yogurt choice to OIKOS Triple 0. A few years ago, I thought that eating a yogurt for breakfast or a snack was a nice healthy choice. However, my yogurt of choice was full of calories, fat and sugar, not to mention artificial flavors and colors. I tried switching to “lite” yogurts but I really didn’t like consuming artificial sweeteners. Two years ago I switched to Fage plain Greek yogurt. I do NOT eat plain yogurt plain. It tastes too much like sour cream and I do NOT like sour cream! I dressed it up by adding fresh berries and my homemade stevia blend. That was great, but not always an easy-to-grab option. Enter OIKOS Triple 0. It has zero added sugar, zero artificial sweeteners and zero fat. (Get it? Triple 0! Three zeros!) It is sweetened with stevia leaf extract and I promise you, you do NOT taste any bitter aftertaste! A 5.3 oz serving has 120 calories, 6 grams of fiber and 15 carbs (but subtract the fiber and you end up with 9 net carbs) and 15 grams of protein! It is a much healthier choice to all the fruit flavored “regular” yogurts out there! (Make sure you pick the one with the BLACK label and not blue!)
This is not a sponsored post. I am just sharing something that I like that works for me.
- Swap regular milk or juice with almond milk in smoothies. One cup of skim milk has 90 calories, 13 grams of carbs, no fiber, 12 grams of sugar (naturally occurring, not added) and 8 grams of protein. (Juice has even less good-for-you stats. We won’t even go there.) However, one cup of unsweetened almond milk has 30 calories, 1 gram of carbs and 1 gram of fiber (making in a net of 0 grams) no sugars and 1 gram of protein. It does also have 2.5 grams of fat. But let me point out that fat is not the evil thing that we were taught it was. We actually NEED fat in our bodies! (I won’t link studies to back up this claim. However, I suggest doing some research if you are interested in finding out more.)
My bare bones smoothie recipe is 1/2 cup of almond milk + 1/2 cup of water + 4-5 ice cubes + homemade stevia blend to taste (I like about 3 T) + one scoop of protein powder (isolate, not concentrate, and read your label for the numbers: calories, fat, carbs, sugars and protein!) + flavorings (which can be berries, cocoa powder, defatted peanut flour [or natural peanut butter], coffee or extracts such as hazelnut [goes great with the cocoa], coffee [to give your mocha a little more coffee flavor], coconut [with unsweetened coconut flakes]. Bonus, add two large handfuls of spinach. You won’t taste it but it will add all sorts of good-for-you things to your drink!
You may like my recipe for a healthy “nutella” shake. You can find it here.
Again, not a sponsored post. I am just sharing something that I like that works for me.
And there you have it. Two small changes that you can make almost instantly that will satisfy you and give your body a better fuel.
If you are interested in the February Health Challenge, you can sign up below!
My daughter Brennyn asked me last night if I had tried almond milk. I bought some. Never tried it. Going to have to try again!
I don’t drink milk in general so switching to almond was okay for me. I still don’t use it in coffee and I no longer eat cereal so for me it works. But in a smoothie yu cannot even tell.
Great ideas, Sheila! I have totally embraced almond milk over the last few years. I use it in smoothies and “milk”shakes and lots of other places. One of my new go-to uses for almond milk is to make chocolate “milk” with it using THM’s Trim Quik recipe from their new cookbook. I use that to round out a tiny breakfast when I’m running late for work or when I need a quick on-the-go snack in the afternoon. Triple Zero Oikos is nice to have in the fridge for some of those exact same times/situations! I like the banana cream flavor.
I need to try that Trim Quik recipe! Thanks for reminding me! I *love* the banana cream! It tastes like banana pudding! (minus the cookies).
I’m so glad you shared this yogurt. I’ve been eating the plain Oikos (in the blue container) with a little protein powder mixed in, but it’s still not very good. Will definitely try this one!
I hope you like it! Let me know!!