Dinner: I <3 Plants

I came home from running (3 mile repeats @ 8:00 min/mile-ish, ugh) feeling hungry and lazy. I feel sort of genius for creating this little masterpiece of a dinner. I present to you Sweet Potato a la Nutritionista. I halfed a pre-baked sweet potato — reader Ashley asked if I pre-bake my sweet potatoes, and yes, I do! I re-heat them on-demand and find it works great — and added the following toppings:

• wilted spinach (1-2 mins in microwave)
• 2 T-ish of goat cheese — what DOESN’T taste better with goat cheese?
• half a packet of TJ’s trek mix (it has dried fruit, nuts, and seeds) for some protein

Then I cut up some ‘maters and threw some baby carrots on the plate for good measure.

I know what some of you are thinking… “Oh, there goes Nutritionista with her nuts, leaves, and seeds… I can’t eat that!” Here’s a little secret I’ll let you guys in on: the more you eat something, the more you’ll WANT to eat it. Obviously, this doesn’t work if you downright hate a food to begin with. But if you find yourself craving pizza and hamburgers, it’s probably because you eat pizza and hamburgers.

Since I started striving for a healthier lifestyle, I’ve never craved vegetables so often. I’m telling you, I enjoy a greasy slice of pizza as much as the next girl, but unless I can smell the melted cheese, I just don’t crave it as much anymore. I genuinely crave colorful veggies and other earthly delights. Before you dismiss me as a crazy health nut, just see if my theory holds true for you. Start making a conscious effort to eat more veggies, fruit, and nuts, and see if you don’t start to CRAVE them.

Maybe that’s not how you operate at all. That’s cool. But I’ve turned a new leaf (no pun intended) and I’m not looking back!