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We hope that week one of our health and wellness series, Build the Base, went well for you. Drinking enough water to hydrate the body and being conscious about the condiments you enjoy with your foods are two simple lifestyle switches that can benefit you in a positive way and lead to making healthier choices long term.

We cannot stress enough the reason we are doing this series. We do not want the Duratus community to buy into a 6-week series of a weight loss programs or a sudden 2019 resolution that will only last through January. The goal of this series isn’t to incorporate a couple habits for the week, and then toss them under the rug once another week starts. These are habits that we think are important to grasp if you want to engage in a healthy, successful lifestyle that is easy to sustain if the habits are taken one step at a time. Our goal is to highlight two universal habits that will be built on a week at a time, in hopes to become part of your daily thoughts and routines carried with you in the future.

If drinking water or removing/substituting condiments didn’t go well for you, that is okay. Take these habits at your own pace, and if just focusing on water for one-two weeks works better for you personally, then by all means jump in. If you get behind or think you need more time with one-two habits we provide, then take it at your own pace.

We do still suggest finding accountability through the process to help and encourage you along the way, sometimes someone else knowing about your goals and aspirations is all it takes to stay on track. We understand that everyone’s base is built on a different timeline and structure, so figure out what yours is like and let us help you start building.

For week two, we will be focusing on adding in more vegetables into our daily food intake and removing some late-night snacking that may occur on a weekly basis.

Vegetables:

Oh the dreadful word. Who saw this one coming? Our hope in week two is to make vegetables something you look forward to eating, and not part of your meal you plug your nose for. Vegetables have so many benefits, it would be impossible to write them all down in one blog post. Although, it is important to have general knowledge on your ‘why’ instead of just doing it because your coach said to. Here are a couple of benefits to vegetables:

o Vegetables are one of the main sources of potassium and help sustain healthy blood pressure.

o Vegetables provide a heaping source of nutrients that help with the maintenance and upkeep of your body.

o Eating a variety of vegetables may help reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

o Vegetables help take care of your digestive and skeletal system, including benefits towards blood pressure levels.

o Vegetables provide dietary fiber to your diet, helping with regularity and digestion.

Along with many other benefits, vegetables are one of the most important aspects to your daily meals. Finding ways to incorporate them can be challenging to start, but we will provide some helpful tips and recipes to get you going on your track to loving all things leafy green.

A couple of tips:

• Scrambles/Hash/Stir Fry- I find it is easiest and most delicious to incorporate vegetables into a ‘one frying pan meal’, or a scramble/hash dish. Sauté your vegetables, add in your cooked meat, throw in some already baked cubed sweet potatoes, and you are good to go. I don’t want to make it sound easy, because before and in between requires the chopping and dicing of vegetables, but there is something about vegetables mixed in with other things that make them easier to eat rather than a cup of steamed broccoli on the side of your plate.

• Smoothies- Smoothies are an easy way to hide vegetables if that is where you are at in your relationship with green things. You can still eat your eggs and bacon for breakfast, but make a smoothie that includes mixed fruit, nut butter, some sort of liquid (water, almond milk, coconut milk), and a handful of spinach or kale. I promise you won’t even taste it, but you will reap the benefits!

• Prep ahead of time- I get it, making a sandwich or grabbing fast food is so much more convenient than spending time chopping and cooking vegetables. But it doesn’t have to be complicated, and it is absolutely worth the little extra time you spend making sure your meals are prepared and full of vegetables. Throw on your favorite Netflix show, and start chopping. Bake or sauté your vegetables for the next 2-3 days ahead of time and throw them in a Tupperware. This way when you are prepping your lunch the night before (see how I threw in that helpful tip? Sneaky dog), you can grab a meat, veggie, and carb that are already prepared (see? I did it again... do the same with your meats and carbs! It will save you so much time during the week), and you don’t have to worry about it the next morning. Another option is to plan on cooking extra dinner for lunches the next day and throw the left overs in a Tupperware.

• Make it a priority- This is universal, depending on where you are at with your relationship with vegetables. If you incorporate them into at least one meal, make it a priority this week to try vegetables with every meal. Find new ways that make eating vegetables enjoyable, and not a chore. If eating vegetables in a foreign concept, then let’s start with one meal and make it simple. Throw them in your veggies, eat a carrot stick with lunch, or put a dice up some zucchini in your eggs. Don’t go crazy, remember, we want these habits to last so start simple and ease into your goals.

We will be posting recipes and helpful tips on social media to help you through the process, so stay tuned!

Late Night Snacking:

This is a common habit that can be caused by multiple different areas of our lives. This every once in a while snack can easily turn into a habit, and here are a couple of tips to avoid those late-night trips to the pantry.

A couple of tips:

• Brush and floss your teeth- This is a way to tell your cravings you are not going to act on them. After you finish dinner, go brush and floss your teeth. You are less likely to want to have a snack after you have brushed your teeth, and it is a way to mentally tell yourself you are done consuming food for the day.

• Drink water- See? These habits build on each other! Sometimes our body will send cravings for what we think are for food but could really be our body craving hydration. If you desire more flavor or variety you can add some lemon, frozen fruit, mint, or ginger to your water.

• Sustainable meals- If someone asks how to smash their late-night cravings, I first ask them if they are eating 3 full meals throughout their day and more than likely the answer is no. There could be a reason you are so hungry at night and is because you are not fueling your body correctly throughout the day. If you have a balanced breakfast, lunch, and dinner with energizing and healthy snacks in between you will be so much more satisfied and less likely to crave a snack at night than if you allow yourself to skip multiple meals throughout your day. If you are not fueling your body, it will be screaming for nutrients, which is normally the first thing you see in your pantry that looks good, not a well-balanced meal which is what your body actually needs. Balance out your meals with veggies, fruits, carbs, and protein (we will get into this in a later series), so your cravings don’t get the best of you at the end of the day.

Find a coach you trust to help you through the process of building these healthy habits, we are here to help! Also, make sure you are following us on Instagram as we will be posting tips and recipes along with an Instagram takeover from Amy Yeoman showing her favorite ways to avoid late night snacking and helpful tips to add vegetables into your day.

Amy Yeoman from Fuel to Thrive is great reference to utilize during the Build the Base series. She is more than happy to answer questions or give feedback to members and can work one on one if more in-depth guidance is wanted. She will also be providing a recipe that will go along with what we are focusing on that week. Make sure you utilize her knowledge and skill base, she is happy to be part of Build the Base series!

Lastly, find an accountability partner/group for the next 6 weeks. Start a group text and keep each other motivated as we all create healthy habits together.