I’ve been buried in the final weeks of spring quarter here at UW, and not doing a great job at writing blog posts. And, I’ve done a pretty poor job of taking care of myself as well. So today’s post is a reminder to us all, in times of stress, to 1) slow down, 2) take time for and care for yourself, 3) keep things in perspective and 4) laugh and have some fun.
So, tonight, rather than going home and working on my biochemistry final, I’m going to go to an art exhibit and then out to eat yummy sushi with friends, and tomorrow I’m taking a much needed “field trip” to the salon. Saturday, life gets even better and I get to spend about 36 hours in Portland with 2 of my most favorite people in the world – my sisters!
The other thing I’m working really hard on is getting enough sleep and eating well. When I’m tired and stressed, all I want is chocolate, sweets, and my beloved red wine. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing – except when it pushes out all the healthy stuff. So this week, I’ve made it my goal to eat 10 servings of fruit and veggies a day. This is more than double the RDA (and probably about 5x what most people get), but it’s a big goal and one I’m having fun with. I’m pretty sure I’ve almost eaten my body weight in raspberries and blueberries this week. And, I just found the BEST peaches at my local co-op. My salad at lunch today was at least 5 cups of spinach, and the sesame green beans I had at the sushi place last night just rocked. I even bought another huge bag of broccolini at Costco this week (and I really don’t love broccoli, but I’m trying). And you know what? I feel pretty awesome. I might even survive finals week…
What can YOU do this week to put yourself and your health first?
-Diana
‘The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human body, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”
- Albert Einstein
I love the goal of the 10 servings of fruits & veggies! This might be a silly question, but when you are looking at your plate, how do you know how many “servings” you have? Do you just eyeball it? Do drinks count as servings (like orange juice, or green juice)?
p.s. Here’s what I had today – it’s super doable to get 10 servings! Breakfast was a smoothie with 2 cups spinach + 1 banana and almond milk. Snack was 1.5 c blueberries and raspberries. Lunch was huge spinach salad (3 cups) with baby carrots, roasted red peppers (1/2 cup each) and hard-boiled egg. Afternoon snack was an apple and almond butter. Tonight will be sushi and veggies. I love summer eating!
I usually just eyeball, because I work with serving size so much, but you can just start using measuring cups and such to practice. Typically, a serving is about 1 cup of raw greens (lots of air space unless they are super packed down) or 1/2 cup of cut or chopped veggies. Drinks do count, but they’re often filled with sugar, so I don’t often order them. 1 cup of fresh orange juice or other mixed fruit/veggie juice can count as 1 serving, but the fiber is all stripped out when you juice, so I’d go for the whole food instead. Or, if I make a smoothie at home, I always throw in 1-2 cups of kale or spinach and at least one cup of fruit, so even at breakfast I’m getting 2-3 servings of f & v!