Halfway through the first week of the New Year and surprisingly, Hubs and I are still going strong (sometimes I have low expectations).

What’s even more amazing is that I somehow convinced this man to log his food with me. He’s actually doing it! On his own! Without reminding! Thoroughly impressed.

People were talking about the different diets everyone was trying, and I figured I should clarify on here what we’re doing. We’re not “dieting.” We’re trying to make healthy changes that we can keep throughout our lives.

• Eat more fruits and veggies
• Drink more water
• Eat less processed food
• Eat whole grains and lean meats
• Be conscious of what we eat (aka. food log)
• Exercise (especially with interval training and strength training)
• Take a multi-vitamin

Here’s one way we’re trying to be more conscious of our food. I individually bagged 100 calorie snacks for Addison. We now have mini baggies of 14 almonds, 23 pistachios, and 19 mini pretzels. And of course our house is now packed with fresh fruit, yogurts, and other healthy snacks. But with munchies that are more carb/healthy fat driven, I figured it would be best to fight temptation and mindless eating head on with proper portioning.

Also, I decided to amp up one of my favorite recipes with extra veggies for added health benefits. I made my traditional baked ziti with lean turkey and added my normal onions and mushrooms, but then loaded up the pasta with spinach, and three colors of peppers. I also added diced tomatoes to the tomato sauce (which the brand I used is one of those that brags “two vegetables” hidden inside). I then limited the amount of cheese that was on top.  I did some math on it, and if I’m correct, it should be around 400ish calories per serving. I’ll definitely have to post the recipe later, though just to warn you– I made A LOT. Like…we now have two mini trays of this in our freezer for the future.

But Hubs definitely loved it. And our current house guest, aka. awesome friend, aka. one of my bridesmaids, also loved it. I’ll definitely be making ziti this way from now on. I’ll post the recipe in the future.

I think working on amping up our veggie and fruit and general whole foods eating is going to significantly improve our lives. I was also involved with Weight Watchers for awhile before so I like to implement a lot of their concepts (like veggies and fruits don’t count when it comes to keeping track of points), but I’m not re-signing up quite yet mainly because I’m trying to go more plant based and since fruits and veggies don’t count, I end up having way too many points than I know what to do with. What happened before was sometimes I’d feel like I was being deprived when I’d see large amounts of leftovers, plus the activity points I’d earn. Then, I’d end up spending them irresponsibly.

So, for now we’ll go with this. I’m not going to post my personal numbers frequently because honestly I think that can get annoying. So, I’ll let you know if some big achievement arises or something. But in the meantime, I’m just happy that Hubs is on board with being healthy. He even cleaned out the fridge and pantry for me while I was at work so we could be all organized! Best. Husband. Ever.

How do you try to live a healthy lifestyle?