A few of my favorite things! (Healthy Alternatives!)

The other day I was grocery shopping for my week, and I noticed the amount of people just grabbing jars and boxes without ever looking at a label. I picked up a few of the items and snagged a picture. 

Let's start with this "healthy", organic soup. The front of the box makes it look super healthy, right? I mean, only 90 calories? 

And then you look closer. 90 calories per 1/2 cup serving. Who only eats a 1/2 cup of soup?! Then sodium.. Holy mother of Pearl. 850mg * 2.5 servings in this box = 2125 mg sodium. Yikes! 

Next up, black beans! These cans look very similar, but the one on the left has no salt added. 1400mg sodium in 1 can of regular black beans..... Scared yet?

When I look at labels, I look at sodium, Sugar, and I quickly browse the ingredients list. I'm not going to get into the specifics of what you need to look for, but I'm going to share with you my healthier alternatives. 

If you want to learn more about food labels, try watching some documentaries.  Some of my favorites are "Hungry For Change", "Food, Inc", "Food Matters", & "Sugar coated". It'll change the way you eat. 

So what do I do? 

1. Buy fresh over canned. Rarely do I buy ANYTHING in a can. Veggies are fresh or frozen, and even my frozen veggies are plain frozen ones. Don't get the kind covered in cheese or flavoring. Fruits are ALWAYS fresh or sometimes I get the plain frozen berries. 

2. Black beans & Brown rice - I buy them in the bags and make them myself. It does take longer, but it's WAY healthier.

3. Pasta sauce? I make my own! 

No, I am not a distributor for Wildtree, but I stand behind their products 110%! They have healthy BBQ sauces, taco seasonings, fajita seasonings, spaghetti sauce blend, and bouillon bases. I use them every single week during my meal prep. My cupboard... :)

If you dont want to pay the money for Wildtree, some over the counter alternatives are Tony's salt free seasoning  (Again, make sure you get SALT FREE), and Mrs. Dash.  

4. Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce. Click here  and you can actually sign up to get some free samples. 

5. Plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, butter, milk, or mayo. I just swap it out when I make things. My favorite is Chobani. I also use almond milk instead of regular milk in a lot of my recipes as well.

6. Save your money and your health, do not even buy a single pre-packages frozen meal... 

7. Noodles? Buy whole grain, or use spaghetti squash or make zoodles! (Zucchini noodles). Don't make this feel like a diet, you CAN still eat pasta, there's just healthier alternatives. :)

8. Bread & wraps-  I LOVE Ezekial brand. In frozen health food section. 

9. Drinks? My most consumed beverages are: A. Water B. Spark C. Rehydrate D. Plain black coffee. When you have energy & you FEEL good, you start to show it in your smile and the way you carry yourself. Don't be the girl on the left. The life sucking, exhausted, negative Nancy.

Looking at what you're drinking is very important. It's always the added ingredients that go unnoticed. The sugar in the sweet tea & juices, the crap in the creamer for your coffee, the energy drinks - don't even get me started. I did a lot of research to find healthy alternatives, and I chose to use the products that Doctors & pro athletes use. 

10. Your mindset. It's important to understand that the things I listed above should never make you feel like you're on a diet. IF you go out to eat or go to a party in which you consume something not so healthy, you shouldn't beat yourself up about it. I host challenge groups solely to teach others what they SHOULD eat, how to swap ingredients, and that this is a lifestyle change with the goals of eating 80% healthy, and 20% whatever. This is coming from a girl that just ate a cold slice of leftover pizza before I go running with my dog. #balance

Be strong. Be fierce. And continue to make small changes each day. Over time, BIG changes occur.

Happy Sunday, ya'll! Hope to see more of you joining the next round of our challenge group!