Health-Ful Living

I have been doing an experiment, something I hope to make a permanent change in my daily life. I have successfully eaten five servings of fruits and vegetables every day for a week. How's that for a major change in my (I don't want to use the word "diet") daily food intake?

Now you may be thinking, "Oh, big deal. You're eating five servings of fruits and vegetables. Do you want a sticker for that or something?" Well to that I say: you try it. It's hard! And I'm not going to lie, it's a little pricy. But you can't put a price tag on being healthy!

To be honest, five servings is the minimum amount of fruits and veggies we should take into our "diet." Twice that amount and you'd be the healthiest person alive! Throughout the week I have been really hungry, however. I thought fruits and vegetables were supposed to fill you up? But whatever, because that just means I get to eat MORE fruits and vegetables and I've been feeling super good about my eating habits this week. And guess what? You should join me! (You totally knew that was coming, didn't you?) But seriously. I've been like - super high energy, can actually stay awake during class, no more headaches this week - happy

So I bet you're now waiting for a super appealing argument to convince you to eat more of that green leafy stuff that your mother says is good for you.

Deep breath. Here it goes . . .

Fruits and vegetables are packed full of vitamins and minerals that your body needs to live on! And they're all natural! I even found a whole website that names the nutrition facts of a ton of fruits and vegetables. Did you know that apples contain 5625 grams of tfglhya? (That was sarcasm, by the way.) Plus, eating all this good food makes me want to get outside and get moving. Not to mention we've been having super nice, unseasonably warm weather.

To start you off on your new and improved five servings of fruits and vegetables a day self, here's what I've been filling my stomach with for the past seven days:

• Apples! yumm. They really do keep the doctor away.
• Pears. delicious. If you get the right kind, they taste like candy!
• Lots of salad. Did you know that green leafy stuff is actually good for you? I love to put parmesan cheese on my salads with a little bit of light raspberry vinaigrette dressing.
• Carrots. Apparently, they're good for your eyesight? I think this is just a myth to get people to eat them.
• Broccoli! If you put it in the oven with oil and salt, it's kind of the best tasting broccoli you've ever had. But if you need to choke it down with cheese, I won't think less of you.
• Oranges. They remind me of summer! And afterwards, your hands will smell like oranges for hours. It doesn't matter how many times you wash your hands . . .
• Bananas. These are just good. I don't understand people who don't like bananas. I love making oatmeal and putting bananas, walnuts, and, of course, brown sugar in it.
• Asparagus! I love it so much. You have no idea. And make it the same way you made the broccoli, yumm.
• Strawberries. Who doesn't like strawberries. Seriously. You're crazy if you don't like them. Again, reminds me of summer.

These are obviously just a few fruits and veggies that I love. I would like to include chocolate to this list but sadly, it's not a fruit or vegetable. But cocoa is a bean, and those are good for you too! But that's another story.

Have a beautifully, health-ful day.