Joining a healthy green movement and my eats
Hello, my friends. And a very Happy Wednesday to you. I hope your week is going along just swimmingly. Mine certainly is. And one of the reasons why is because I feel good. Like really good. I’ve been sleeping great, having good workout sessions and fueling up properly for the past few days with some extra nutrients. As I usually do on Wednesdays, today I’m sharing a recap of a typical day of my eats, but I’ve also got a little something special to share with you …
You know you’re excited about trying some new green juice, when you decide to take the bottles up to your building’s rooftop for a little photo-shoot in front of the San Francisco skyline.
A couple of weeks ago, the friendly folks at Evolution Fresh reached out to me about a campaign that I knew I wanted to be a part of. It’s called the “3 Days to Green” movement, and it’s all about encouraging people to bite off a small healthy habit for the new year by drinking just one green juice a day for three days. Sounds doable, right? Sometimes you need to make tangible and small steps in the right direction, and I think adding some greens is always a good way to do it. The nutrients in green juices can give you that little extra bit of energy right when you need it. Not to mention, this movement is a far cry from a drastic juice cleanse, which is something I’ve never done, nor plan to do. This is not about restricting yourself, instead, it’s about adding some more good stuff to your diet.
Trying Evolution Fresh green juices
I picked up my three Evolution Fresh juices at Safeway over the weekend on a nice Sunday, after teaching an outdoor bootcamp. I found them at the end of the fresh vegetable section and was so excited to pile them in my cart. I purchased Organic Sweet Greens and Ginger, Sweet Greens and Lemon and Essential Greens with Lime. Now that I’ve tried them all, I can tell you that the Organic Sweet Greens and Ginger pulled out as the front-runner to me (I really like ginger), but they are all good. Just take a look at the ingredients to see which seems to have things that you like the best. You can also check the website, which rates these juices from beginner to advanced. Not a fan of greens? Then stick to beginner.
Three bottles of goodness for three days is all you need for a little healthy jump-start.
After three days of drinking one juice a day, I really feel like I’ve loaded up on so many valuable nutrients that I’m a little more energized. I don’t know about you, but drinking juices just makes me happy too. I love the cold and thick texture, and I love to know I’m reaping the benefits of the contents of each bottle. And yes, the contents of Evolution Fresh juices are good. Just check out these stats:
- Each bottle is made from one pound of vegetables
- Each bottle has less than 10 grams of sugar per serving
- There are no added preservatives or flavors
3 Days to Green Movement giveaway
Now to the point. Why should you care about this movement? Well, because if you join by visiting the 3 Days to Green website by February 28, 2015, you can win some awesome stuff. Evolution Fresh is giving away 25 prize packages, which include the following:
- A one-month supply of Evolution Fresh green juices (Ummmm, delicious.)
- A $125 Lululemon gift card (Oh you could get something nice with that!)
- A Jawbone UP24 band (So sad, I used to have one of these and lost it at the gym.)
- A Food 52 Cookbook (Everybody could use some food inspiration.)
- Evolution Fresh hoodie (I need that on the windy streets of San Francisco.)
- Evolution Fresh water bottle (You could fill it with green juice!)
To increase your odds of winning with additional entries, you can go back to the website and enter the UPC code off of any Evolution Fresh green juice bottles you purchase. Sweet deal. But seriously, if you’ve never tried a green juice before, give it a shot, because you just may be surprised that you like it.
What I Ate Wednesday
Okay, now keeping with the healthy theme, it’s time to show you a recap of a day of my eats. Today, I’m sharing all of my meals and drinks from Monday. After being gone nearly every night last week to work at basketball games, Dave has been home a lot more this week. That means I’m not eating pasta-for-one every single night. Being a basketball wife can be hard during the season some times, let me tell you. Now on to the food …
Breakfast at 8 a.m.
Green tea sweetened with almond milk and stevia along with my usual bowl of vanilla protein overnight oats topped with a banana.
Something on my to-do list: Make my overnight oats in a mason jar. I just love the look of that presentation. Truthfully, I make a few batches of my oats at a time and store them in some less-than-photogenic tupperware containers. But at least I take the time to drop one serving into a normal bowl before photographing my weekly “What I Ate Wednesday” breakfast. Right?
Mid-morning snack at 11 a.m.
Greek yogurt is my jam. Just the right amount of carbs, protein and sugar to fuel me for a workout.
If I ever had to give up dairy, I would be a sad, sad, girl, because I can’t get enough Greek yogurt in my life. Knock on wood that doesn’t happen. But really, what did we do before Greek yogurt was popular and readily available in stores?
Post-workout protein at 12:15 p.m.
I picked up a few of these sample protein powder packs at the gym and definitely like the flavor.
I had the protein shake above after taking a 30-minute Les Mills GRIT Cardio class, which was super sweaty, but over and done with in an instant. I used to teach BODYATTACK on Monday nights, which would be my workout for the day, but sadly, that class was taken off the schedule. Now I find another way to get moving to start my week off right, and GRIT was a great choice. Intense stuff!
Lunch at 1:45 p.m.
A veggie burger, two fried eggs, some roasted brussels sprouts and tomatoes. I mixed this all into one delightful concoction.
Many of you are also fans of the veggie burgers that I’ve been eating lately. I featured the one above in last week’s Friday Favorites and found I wasn’t the only one enamored with this little microwavable patty. The lunch above was fantastic and oh-so-colorful.
Snack at 5 p.m.
My favorite of the juices, the Organic Sweet Greens and Ginger variety, full of so many vitamins and nutrients.
I ate my lunch super slow on this day, and for some reason wasn’t hungry for my usual afternoon snack (might also be because I knew I didn’t have to teach a class that night). Good news is that this tasty juice filled me up just fine until dinner. I tend to drink things very fast, so tried to take my time with this one, and I didn’t want it to end.
Dinner at 8 p.m.
Marinated black pepper tilapia, steamed broccoli and cauliflower and a mixture of kale, quinoa and brown rice on the side. This was an excellent dinner, ready in about 25 minutes.
Dave and I ate this easy-to-whip-up dinner in front of the TV, and after drinking some almond milk, that was it for my eats on Monday. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I like to stick to my tried-and-true tasty food choices during the week, so I know I’m fueled up for the classes that I teach and the workouts that I do. However, I certainly do enjoy the variety and fun of dining out on the weekends in the City. 80/20 is the way to go, kids!
I’m eager for the evening to roll around, because Wednesday nights are my favorite night for group fitness — I love teaching my back-to-back packed classes at a SoMa neighborhood gym, and I have an extra pep in my step from the green juice this week. I hope you have a great day!
Enter to win an awesome foam roller
In case you missed my post on how to foam roll yesterday, head on over there to enter to win my favorite kind of foam roller, the RumbleRoller. The giveaway ends Saturday night, so act quickly people.
More daily eating recaps
Each week, “What I Ate Wednesday” is hosted by Peas and Crayons for bloggers to showcase their eats to the world. If you want to see more food recaps, check out some of my posts from the past here:
- A full day of eating in pictures
- Another full day of my eats and drinks
- Real food isn’t always pretty
- Do you have a balanced dining out strategy?
- What I ate and drank all day
- Three meals, two snacks and a shake
- Food trucks and rest-day eating
- Plenty of protein at every meal
- Colorful fuel for a day of training
- Long days of training require a lot of food
- Making do on “What I Ate Wednesday”
- Healthy foods for a rest day
- Who doesn’t like pictures of food?
- A look at a full day of eating in pictures
- Snapshots from a day of delicious meals
- Pictures of food, because you like them
- Food pictures and the juice cleanse that wasn’t
- A look at what I really eat in a day
- What I ate in the Sunshine State
- My weekend eats and a little narrative
- Stories about food and yesterday’s meals
- A day of eating and some commentary
- Do you want to know what I ate yesterday?
- Healthy challenges and foods from my day
- Eating, napping and eating again
- Filling up on healthy food before the holiday
- A perfect birthday at home and my eats
- Top blog posts, reader stats and my food
- A different kind of training and my food
Disclaimer: Please note that I’m participating in the Evolution Fresh blogger campaign and received compensation as part of this program. However, all of the opinions and words are mine, mine, mine.
Questions of the day
What’s one thing that you are trying to do to be healthy in 2015? What’s your favorite healthy food?
A POUND of veggies per bottle of juice?? Damn that’s super! I gave up dairy in 2014 and while it wasn’t so bad at the time, I am glad that yogurt has recently made its way back into my eats. I used to experience quite a bit of bloating but it looks like this hiatus helped- my body seems to be handling it just fine now!
Hi Khushboo, Interesting. Glad you have yogurt back now. Hope you get some veggies in today! 🙂 Have a great Wednesday.
I have always wanted to try the Evolution juice every time I am in Starbucks, but I always back out because of the price. Maybe I will pick on up next time to try it out. I love ginger!
I love ginger too! Yes, you should give them a try. Hope you have an awesome Wednesday Sara! 🙂
Evolution juice is the only juice I ever buy. Its the only orange juice I’ve found that doesn’t contain extra sugar & additives. I also agree with you they taste amazing. Thanks for the write up and reminding me to pick some up.
Absolutely, Megan. Don’t you just feel good when you drink it? Have a great Wednesday:)
I love Evolution Fresh Juice! Their sweet greens with lemon was the first green juice I ever tried. It’s so good. I wish I could get into juicing myself, but it just takes so much time. I’d rather buy it.
I just don’t have the patience to make my own juice at home, nor the space. So picking up a good bottle of it at the grocery store sounds good to me. Have a great day Chrissy! 🙂
Great article. Lots of helpful information. Thank you!
Thanks for stopping by Jana. Hope you have a great Wednesday:)
Great eats!! The juices look really good. I’ll have to keep an eye out. I was going to a juice bar a lot this summer, but this seems like a great alternative to have on hand!
Hi Leslie! Yes ma’am, they sure are good. And it’s nice that you can pick them up at a grocery store. Hope you have a fabulous Wednesday! 🙂
The nice thing about this is that I can go to Starbucks and try one before really investing in these juices. I’m so picky about juices because I like them to not be TOO green (I know that pretty much defeats the purpose haha). If it’s not sweet at all they make me gag! Thanks for sharing your eats!
Hi Lauren! For sure, so I’d go with the ones with “Sweet” in the title. ahahah Don’t want you to gag. But I’ve tried a lot of juice, and these are definitely tasty. Happy Wednesday!
I will have to try Evolution. I have seen them out shopping at Whole Foods and such so it was nice to read a review. I am sure the juices and the change in your workout scheduled affected your appetite. It always does for me! If you were inspired for a photo shoot on your rooftop – well, this has to be great stuff. 🙂
Hi Lauren! And I was lucky that it was a nice enough day to get some sun for the shot. We’ve been having good weather here in SF. I always fuel up before evening classes, so knowing I didn’t have them must have left me less hungry. hehehe. Happy Wednesday!
I’ve heard a lot about Evolution Fresh juices but have never tried them- I think I will give it a shot though! I love how you took them up to your rooftop- I would too with those views!
Hi Katie! Yes! We love our roof! Such a pretty city. You may need some green juice when you return from vacay! 🙂
I love Evolution juices! Especially their green flavors. Looks like a great way to stay on track with healthy snacks throughout the week! Love the rooftop pic 🙂
Thanks Heather! It does feel good to drink some green juice. Happy Wednesday to you:)
Evolution green juice is my favorite EVER! I don’t live near a store that actually sells them! Wish I could get it shipped to my house because I would drink them every day!
Hi Annmarie! Oh man, too bad! It is good. Hope you’re having a great Wednesday:) And maybe it will be available more places soon!
This year my goal is mindfulness in what I eat. It’s so easy to sit down in front of the TV and enjoy a pint of Ben & Jerry’s – I want to appreciate and enjoy my meals!
Hi Kate! Oh well said, I need to do more of that. I often eat in front of the computer, which I know is a major no-no, thanks for the reminder!
These juices sound pretty tasty! I struggle to get extra veggies in sometimes, so I like having a green smoothie or juice to reach for on occasion. I also love the simplicity of your dinner! It sounds so delicious. I need to buy tilapia again – it’s been awhile!
Hi Ashley! We look for mild fish, because my husband doesn’t love the fishy flavor, so tilapia works for nearly everything. Happy Wednesday! 🙂
I love Evolution’s juices! I usually get the Defense Up but I’ll have to try the green one with ginger. That sounds tasty!
And you’re making me crave fish too. Brandon doesn’t eat it otherwise I would make it more but I usually have some whenever he travels. But you can’t beat a healthy meal that only takes 25 mins!
Hi Sarah! Dave only likes fish that is not fishy, so tilapia when seasoned works quite well! 🙂
would like to see a post on your weekend eats…
Hi KiKi! For sure, I can definitely do a weekend eats post. The reason that is harder is because a lot of times I eat dinners out, which means dark photos of food in this little city restaurants! But I’ll do a weekend eating post soon. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a great night! 🙂
I walked by Evolution Fresh on Saturday but had juices i knew I had to drink at home… love that they are so low in sugar… and agree, they give you way more energy!!
They sure do! I like to add juices to my day. Hope your week is going well Cassie! 🙂
haha. Do NOT make oats in a jar. I thought it would be cool and did it and it was like war with my spoon to get the goods out of it. Although…I had a large obnoxious jar too.
I have been obsessed with Greek Yogurt/Cottage cheese lately. I hope i never get a dairy intolerance either!
Hi Arman. Okay, so oats in a jar must just be a food-blogger-photo-trick that really isn’t fun? Good to know! 🙂 Thanks for your honesty hahah
I love green juices but I never think of getting them. They are so refreshing and I always feel lighter and healthier after drinking them. I am going to go check out the 3 days of green movement now!
Go for it Mattie! Get some more greens in your life:)
Oh I am so happy to have found another person who puts almond milk in their herbal teas! I am sure people look at me a little strange when I do it, but they just don’t know how good it tastes and how comforting it is.
The green juices look great too! I’m not sure they have that brand here in Australia, but I will keep an eye out for something similar.
xx
Hi Krissy! I know, real “tea” people say you shouldn’t add a lot of stuff to it, but I like to. So oh well!! We’re in it together. Hope you’ve had a great weekend!! Thanks for stopping by to say hello!
Wow! I want to try that challenge! I don’t feel like it would be hard at all and who doesn’t want some more green?! I love that it doesn’t have too much sugar!
XO Chloe
A Latte Lipstick
Hi Chloe! Small challenges like this are definitely the way to go. Hope you give this juice a try! 🙂 Happy Sunday!
I love evolution fresh too! It was fun to do this project with them. I feel so spoiled having a fridge-full of fresh juices!
Heheh Kelly, I’m so glad you got caught up on A Lady Goes West last night! 🙂 Loving these comments!
I was 12 DAYS behind on my blog reader!!! Eee!