This quarter, one of my personal goals is to focus on my health and to better use my Success Choice Planner health tracker. 
I confess my health habits had declined and I was rarely eating fruits and vegetables. A typical day was to have perhaps a multigrain hot cereal in the morning, then maybe a sandwich and chips for lunch, then usually I would have salad with my dinner or some other vegetable, but that was the only time during the day I was eating fruits or vegetables.
My cousin did a challenge a couple of months ago where she had half her plate fruits or vegetables every meal. She posted pictures of the beautiful, colorful meals she prepared with lots of fruits and vegetables.
After weeks of seeing her delicious-looking meals, I got inspired. I decided for the month of July I would challenge myself to have half each meal fruits and/or vegetables and to post pictures.
I started the first of July and posted my first pictures (check out #successchoicehealth on Instagram, and/or follow me on Instagram @joyinjourneytoday to see the meals I posted). Saying I would post pictures really helped me stick to making healthy meals that first week.
At first, I was concerned about the time it would take to eat healthy and the extra cost. It felt intimidating to try and come up with healthy meals. However, after I got a few healthy recipes under my belt, it became easy to do variations of those recipes.
There were also things I could prep or prepare earlier in the week and use throughout the week. Summer is an especially good time to add more fruits and vegetables because there are so many fresh and inexpensive options available. My cousin recommended a publication called "Forks Over Knives" for recipe ideas. I used several of their recipes as inspiration.
Prep ahead examples: I would roast chickpeas in the oven, put them in a container and snack on them, throw on a salad or in a hash throughout the week. I would cut up a cantaloupe or other fruits and/or vegetables and put in the fridge. I would pull them out throughout the week to snack on or add to meals. I would boil several eggs at once and put in the fridge, then pull one or two out to chop and toss onto a salad or eat with some tomatoes and/or avocado. I would make extra of a hash or stir fry, then add to eggs the following day. Etc.
I loved the meals, but the first couple of weeks, I still indulged in desserts or junk food when presented. I would justify to myself that I deserved that cookie or ice cream, or whatever it was because I had eaten healthy all day. However, at the start of the 3rd week, I discovered that I didn’t really want junk food. I stopped craving it, and it hasn’t been difficult to walk away from desserts and other snacks since then.
One of my favorite recipes this month was Grilled Cilantro Lime Salmon. If you want to try it, you can see the recipe HERE.