Naked Goodness :)

Naked's Mighty Mango Juice is my absolute favorite fruit juice right now but I don't buy it often 

because Naked Juice is a tad bit on the pricey side.

I'm 24 and while I don't think I'm invincible, my habits might suggest otherwise. I don't hold back when it comes to cheddar cheese and sour cream. I can easily punish 3 chocolate chip cookies from Subway. While I don't eat those things every single day, it's still more than once a week. I've decided to really keep a close eye on what I eat. One of my sisters mentioned that she was going to try and be a vegan for a month. At first, I was interested in the idea and said I'd do it. I made a promise to myself last year that I'd stop making decisions based on emotions and this time, I messed up. It's not bad to want to be a vegan but deep down, I knew I had to be honest with myself. I don't want to be a vegan. I like having sour cream and cheddar cheese. So where do I go from there? 

I've decided to stop labeling myself and just eat consciously. Sounds like a cop out but really it's not. I know myself. If I label myself a vegan, I'll look longingly at all the things that I'd love to have but can't because I've placed this weight on myself. For some it may not be considered a weight and more power to them. So I've decided to do what feels right. I started eating consciously on Sunday and so far, I've been loving the choices I've made. I haven't had any dairy but I don't feel like I'm going into withdrawal. I also haven't had any processed sweets either. I even saw a whole jar of Hershey's kisses and turned it down willingly. My boss brought in boxes of Girl Scout Cookies and I haven't been interested in them. Weird, uh? This isn't to say that I'll never eat sweets or dairy again but it's a good feeling when you don't have to have a war with yourself on whether or not you'll eat something because of a restriction. I think that if more people ate consciously in their youth, great habits would form and the onset of a lot of preventable diseases would be far less prevalent in our society. 

One of the important things I've noticed over the past couple days is that there always has to be an alternative. I decided to lay off the chocolate chip cookies but I am replacing it with some of my other favorite snacks that are on the healthy side. I love baby carrots and I have grown to really love traditional hummus. Hummus is sooooo good and it's such a guilt-free snack! I just have to say that two tablespoons of Safeway hummus are only 45 calories. I couldn't believe something so good was so low in calories. Two tablespoons are more than enough for a good snack with carrots. I also LOVE frozen blueberries. It's like sucking on really yummy candy except it's totally good for you. I'm having fun with the different  healthy choices. Try to make a couple changes. You might like how you feel! :)