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It is unbelievable how much energy you can get just by changing it up and eating REAL fresh food! All of the processed garbage that we shove down our throats in sickening amounts can drag us down and before we know it that just becomes life. I truly want to start cleaning out my diet and refreshing my body! Just by juicing and eating food from the ground for a couple of days I felt way more energized and just healthier. It is difficult to explain because I think we just get stuck in the crappy feeling that fast food and preservatives gives us and we forget that we DON'T have to live that way...
Yes, it does take a bit more time and effort but putting fresh foods into your body is well worth it!

Kale Chips!

Kale Chips Recipe

(2 servings)

1 bunch fresh kale (or 1/2 pound)
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt to taste

Heat oven to 500 F. Line rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Tear the leaves off the thick stems into chip sized pieces. An easy way to do this is to fold the leaf in half and just rip toward the stem. Put in bowl and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt to taste.

Bake 5 minutes or until edges are brown and kale is crispy when moved in pan.

The idea here is to make clean up easy (just toss the paper and then you have less work to do).

For one serving = 90 calories, 5.2 g fat, 10.1 g carbohydrates, 3.3 g protein, 2.0 g fiber, 121 mg sodium, 1 PointsPlus

I got the recipe from the following site, which also includes the nutritional facts. The pictures were my own though.

Kale Chips Site

Make health a priority...

So I am honestly the last person who should be giving advice I this and I don't want to turn this into a weight loss blog, but let's face it...
1. Students and colleagues will have a better opinion of you and respect you more if you are fit and taking care of your health.
2. You will have more energy and be able to get lots more done when you are healthy!
3. How are you going to encourage your students to live healthy lives and make good choices when you aren't doing it yourself.

It is way too easy to put health last among the plethora of other responsibilities that I am surrounded by right now. I really want to make an effort though to make it a priority. So I went to fresh and easy and loaded up on some healthy eats for the week!

I also cooked brown rice, chicken, and prepared fruits and veggies for the week so that I can just grab and go! Hopefully I will have time to do this again next weekend because I really do think that it is important. As teachers we need to teach the content, but we also have a responsibility to model positive life choices and behaviors! Oh and hopefully my dress size will be a bit smaller too!