#BGREats: Salad a Day Challenge - Esta

By Esta Fiesta (@EstaFiestaPR)

Once in a while, my department decides to do a “30 Day Challenge”, pledging to cut our personal choice of toxic food, alcohol, or overspending, but one month I decided to change it up and add something – a salad a day – and it turned out to be more beneficial than I’d thought.

I have to admit, I selfishly chose to add something because I wanted to still be able to buy clothes and eat ice cream. Besides, a few extra veggies can’t hurt right? The rule was I had to have at least one salad, defined as a dish in which the main ingredient consists of raw vegetables, each day and could eat whatever else I desired - ice cream and sugary drinks included.

Adding a salad a day wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be. Especially since I was still allowed to indulge in whatever else I wanted. So for thirty days I ate a salad for or with my lunch and dinner daily. What did I find? The more salad I ate the less junk I consumed. When I ordered a burger I’d substitute the fries for a side salad, or at lunch I’d get a salad instead of a sandwich, reducing my carb intake and eating enough filling vegetables to keep me satisfied longer. Sometimes after having a salad for lunch I didn’t want to ruin my eating for the day with junk food so I’d pass up any desserts offered.

Even though I didn’t officially give up anything, by adding a salad I ended up eating less bad food! I’m unsure if there were any pounds shred or inches lost since I didn’t check, but I definitely started feeling lighter and my body got used to craving salads on a regular basis. In previous challenges when I’d give up fried foods or sweets, resisting was hard, and I often ended up substituting one fatty food for another. By adding something healthy to my diet I had less room for fatty food and even learned to stop craving them as much, leading to better health. Who knew?!

Esta Fiesta is a New York City based lifestyle writer who focuses on style and beauty with a pinch of pop culture. In addition to managing her own blog livingfiesta.com, Esta has penned pieces for Glamazons Blog and been quoted in People StyleWatch and The Associated Press. When she’s not hunting down the best fashion and beauty deals you can find Esta trying to beat her best mile or perfecting her overhead in Pilates. Follow Esta’s tweets at @EstaFiestaPR.

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