Yesterday’s veggie pact is off to a great start already!
Guess whose breakfast included green peppers and onions?
Oh yes!
(And yes, I realize green peppers are technically a fruit, but whatever. They taste like a vegetable to me.)
For breakfast this morning I made myself a plate of scrambled eggs, using three eggs, shredded cheese, peppers, Canadian bacon and onions. I also ate a slice of slightly-burnt honey wheat toast.
One thing that a few of you mentioned in the comments section of yesterday’s post about why it can seem difficult to incorporate vegetables into your diet is the prep work involved with eating vegetables.
It’s easy to grab an apple or a stick of string cheese on the run, but taking the time to slice a pepper or roast broccoli can be a deterrent.
It’s kind of crazy because slicing a pepper takes all of a minute! Last night I took some time to slice up a bunch of fresh vegetables to make them easier to grab. This morning, I didn’t have to do any chopping and easily threw chopped peppers and onions into my scrambled eggs when I would usually leave them out because chopping veggies at 7 a.m. doesn’t sound like fun.
Perhaps taking some time to chop vegetables before I actually need them is the key for me?
Workout
Before breakfast Ryan and I hit the gym for a sweaty workout. After 20 minutes of cardio on the elliptical, I completed the following leg workout:
Though I don’t particularly love lunges or squats, today I decided that lunges are my least favorite leg exercise. Squats are hard but I feel powerful when I do them, whereas lunges make me feel all wobbly and weak. I guess I just need to do them more often and gain some pow-ah!
Time to cram in a couple of hours of writing before heading off to a lunchtime meeting with a local organization – my first attempt at volunteering in our new community! I’m doing my best to get a jump start on my 2012 personal goals!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Lunges make me feel wobbly too, but you’re right, I guess it means I need to do them more!
You are going to love volunteering! It’s a great way to meet new people! I have been volunteering for over 6+ years and I have had many interesting and fun times!
I hate lunges! I love what they do for my muscles but my knees are so tight from years of soccer that lunges feel like they are “pulling” my back knee. I have proper form I’m just so beat up…so that is annoying! Have a great time volunteering!! You are doing a good job with your 2012 personal goals so far!!
Great job adding veggies to breakfast! I always add spinach/kale and carrots to my breakfast smoothies to pack an extra veggie punch! 🙂
I love veggies at b-fast–it gets me started right! GO YOU! You’ve got this 😉
And congrats on getting started on the 2012 reach out goal….have fun!
P.s. I don’t think many people love lunges…..I see everyone’s faces when I teach BodyPUMP and they all look like they want to die during them—so just lettin’ you know lots of people feel similarly 😉
Huh, I’ve never considered onions a vegetable (not that I would call them something else). Off to read about their health benefits!
Happy Wednesday, Julie!
You’re absolutely right…. that 1-2 minutes it takes to chop the veggies is a pain in the butt! Doing the prep work ahead of time is a great idea!
Pre-chopping veggies for me is key as well… If I’m going to have something for breakfast its more likely to be cheese on an egg so I’m not cutting onions at 7am!
I find it way easier when I pre-cut my veggies too. Otherwise I get lazy and they go bad.
I feel super wobbly and silly when I do lunges as well, but I love how my glutes and legs feel the next day. Whenever I do lunges, I always think of that scene in Friends where Joey starts doing lunges while wearing all of Chandler’s clothes. Then I feel even goofier!
Eggs with peppers and onions look delicious! 🙂 I really need to start pre-chopping veggies. I think it would make preparing food much easier for me.
Have fun volunteering!
I feel like your blog posts have been short and sparce lately 🙁 good for you incorporating veggies into breakfast. I never think of them untill dinner which is why I don’t ever get enough
Great leg workout! Mine are still sore from my Monday leg workout 🙂
Your breakfast looks amazing! That was a clever way to squeeze in the veggie-action…
Love green peppers and onions! On eggs they are amazing 😀
Adding some salsa would get you even another serving of veggies. 🙂
I don’t mind lunges, but hate burpees and a move I call the lumberjack with the medicine ball, it gets me every time and I can barely walk for 3 days after!
Green peppers are a veggie? What?! I knew about tomatoes but not green peppers. Your blog is making me so smart!
HAve fun volunteering – that’s such a great idea!
Have fun Julie! Can’t wait to hear how the volunteering goes. I definitely want to get more involved in charity/volunteering work this year too!
Every Sunday night, I try to take a few minutes to chop up veggies for the week. It’s super helpful to me during the week when I’m too busy or lazy to take the thirty seconds to get it done!
Lunges are the worst – they’re probably my least favorite leg exercise too.
i had no idea peppers were a fruit!! ha! wow, and i thought i knew my fruits & veggies?!!? guess not… 😉
i do think preparation is key for a lot of habits we make when it comes to healthy eating… packing healthy lunches & snacks, having a stocked pantry/fridge full of healthy choices, etc. great idea to chop them up ahead of time!
Yep, peppers always get me too. Someone taught me a quick trick to distinguish – if there are seeds in it, it’s a fruit. That makes a lot of things I always thought were veggies (like eggplant and zucchini) technically a fruit! Crazy, right?
I buy most of my veggies pre-chopped/washed/etc at the salad bar from Whole Foods or Sweet Tomatoes. That way I can get small portions of a ton of different veggies (instead of being stuck with full bags of carrots or beets for days on end) to even further vary the variety of veggies I get. I know it’s a bit more expensive to buy them this way, but I don’t throw away as much food, so it’s actually less wasteful.
I made a smoothie this morning, and then got real jealous when I saw your breakfast! I feel a second round coming on. Ps I saw a picture of all the Today show ladies out on the town last night via Hoda Kotb’s Twitter – and KLG was wearing the same dress your sister wore to the wedding this past weekend! Just a funny tidbit for your morning. Have a great Wednesday!
The thought of lunges brings me back to high school swim team practice – we had to do lunges around the pool after each set.
Your eggs look delish – I love onions with my eggs.
I don’t have much of a problem getting my daily fruits and veggies, but one thing I’d recommend for people that don’t like to chop is to use the food processor! Yesterday I threw a whole bunch of veggies (red cabbage, broccoli, peppers etc) in with some herbs, gave it a whirl, and voila!! All chopped and ready to throw on a salad!
I do not like lunges either, they seem to bother my knees! I had no clue peppers were a fruit! I eat a ton of baby carrots and snap peas out of convenience that they do not need to be chopped, I really need to start chopping veggies in advance to get some variety in my life.
Also – throwing some spinach into a smoothie or using some of those Amazing Green powders usually is a great way for me to add some veggies to bfast and still have it taste sweet!
I spent an hour on Sunday chopping, prepping and individually bagging. It’s been SO much easier to incorporate veggies since taking the time to prep! Of course, I will say that the excessive amount of plastic baggies I’m using is a little frightening, but at least I’m getting more veggies in?
Chopping the veggies ahead of time is such a great idea! Funny that we think to chop up a bowl of fruit and keep it in the fridge, but not veggies!
And I totally agree on the lunges….. I HATE, hate, hate lunges! Squats are bad, but bearable.
You really do learn something new everyday: I had no idea that green peppers were considered fruit instead of veggie!
Green peppers are FRUIT??????? You have just rocked my world!!!! I love onions and peppers in eggs. Throw in some mushrooms and call it a day!
I agree, chopping veggies is definitely easy but annoying. I should do more meal prep ahead of time… like Sunday evenings or something!
Another option is to just buy the veggies already pre-chopped! Yes, they are a little more expensive but sometimes its woth the extra moolah for the convenience. Just think how many veggies go to waste because they were never used! Just a thought..
Green peppers and onions are one of my favorite veggie ( I guess veggie/fruit) combinations!
I’m pretty sure technically vegetable is not a biological term. That being said, I think we’re all good to consider peppers a culinary vegetable, though a fruit biological 🙂
I’m the same way about prepping veggies for future use. When I take the time to prep them for the upcoming week I feel such a sense of accomplishment. I too dislike lunges.
i volunteer weekly at an organization, and i love it. for the past two years, i’ve gone every wednesday after work . not only have i met great people, i get to help others while learning new things and doing something that i enjoy. it breaks up my work week and helps keeps me going, especially in the winter.
I think eggs are a great way to incorporate veggies into your diet. It makes it easy!
I’ll be honest. I just throw frozen vegetables in the microwave. Done and done.
Lunges are the absolute worst. I dread that track in Body Pump. I agree, squats make you feel powerful and then when lunges come around I feel like a weakling
Green bell peppers are a fruit? I didn’t know that. I consider them a veggie as well – especially since I am allowed to eat them during Phase One of the South Beach Diet.
i roast a HUGE batch of veggies (my favorite this time of year are brussels sprouts, squash, onions, parsnips + broccoli) and eat them throughout the week. super easy to grab and go!
haha i never knew that a pepper was a fruit. Good to know. The breaktfast looks awesome!
That looks very similar to my breakfast today! Great minds must think alike. 🙂
Can’t wait to hear about your volunteering!
Sundays make a great day to prep veggies for snacks and meals through out the week. Saves kudos of time! I get a CSA box delivered once a month. So I do a lot of blanching, chopping and freezing with mine, too.
Peppers are a fruit?! Nooo Ok, then my presumed veggie in-take has definitely taken a nose-dive!
Anybody use a cheapie blender to make smoothies with spinach? Would love to have a VitaMix, but just can’t bring myself to invest in one just for smoothies.
my demon of a bodypump teacher had us hold squat for 15, then 30, then 45 seconds, than ONE MINUTE, arms in front, and THEN HAD US DO LUNGES!! WHAT SORT OF TORTURE DID SHE LEARN IN HAITI??? Oh yeah, and the last 10 seconds of each squat we lifted one heel off of the floor for 5 seconds and then alternated.
Maybe she’s not really Haitian, maybe she’s devilian.
As I was reading this post I was planning my comment on prepping your veggies before hand and then BAM…you beat me to it!
I usually go to the store on the weekend to pick up fresh veggies. Then is a great time to prep them! I dice a bunch of onions, I cut peppers into strips so I can use them for strips or quickly dice them if need be, I chop my celery up to make ants on a log, and I prep any other veggies for the week I can ahead of time.
I also am obsessed with fresh baby spinach and frozen chopped spinach. If I’m ever worried I’m not getting enough “green” in a meal, I’ll just throw in some spinach and let it wilt or serve on top of a bed of spinach! There are not many meals that spinach doesn’t go with 🙂
Yesterday at CrossFit we had to do 400 m (1/4 of a mile) of walking lunges! Yikes! I hate them, too, now.