New Year, cleaner diet!

Since the new year started, I also promised myself I would clean up my diet a little bit and eat more healthy foods. Even though I don't really eat junk food or unhealthy stuff too much, I love sugar and I decided that little by little, I'm going to start giving it up (I've pretty much always been a sugar-addict). A lot of people make a new year's resolution (every year) to go on a diet and lose weight, but I think it's better, or more realistic, to set little goals and achieve them. For example, "I'll work out 3 times a week and leave certain things out of my diet" instead of saying "I want to lose 10 pounds in the next 3 months". When you don't put too much pressure on yourself, you're more likely to follow through with the promises. One of my resolutions this year was to be more active and healthy, and it's worked! I've worked out almost every day and eaten way less sugar..yayy! :)

My usual diet includes a lot of greens (lettuce, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, kale, edamame, cucumber), berries, grape fruit, pineapple, tuna (i love!), chicken, salmon, tilapia, shrimp, egg whites, Greek yogurt, almonds, oatmeal, etc. I'm not a big fan of rice, potatoes or pasta, and I usually eat rice only when I eat sushi or Asian food. I like rye bread, but since it doesn't taste the same in the US as it does in Finland, I don't have bread in my diet. I do have a sweet tooth, so I eat Goji berries, vanilla flavored Greek yogurt with raspberries, and Lärabars as treats. My guilty pleasure is organic chocolate covered almonds..soo tasty! I was introduced to lemon-flavored fiber soft chews, which taste like candy, but are actually (kind of) good for you as well as super fruit chews that have antioxidants. I also love smoothies and shakes, but I've lately started to give up on Jamba Juice or Robeks, since they have so much sugar. My new smoothie recipe is my chocolate-flavored protein shake (with 20g of protein in one scoop), almond milk, greek yogurt, ice and a spoonful of organic fresh peanut butter, and just use a blender to make it. It's the best! For drinks, of course a lot of water and green tea.

I buy most of the foods from Whole Foods and here's my usual "shopping list" for food:

The usual foods

I like to vary the greens and either eat a fresh salad, use veggies in an omelette or fry them on a pan or in the oven

I love the fact that you can get egg whites ready in a package in the US!

I could eat Edamame everyday..

I eat a lot of dairy and Fage Greek yogurt is my fav product, most similar to the Finnish "rahka"

I use raspberries and blackberries to mix with oatmeal or Greek yogurt

I take a small bags of almonds with me daily. An easy snack and fills you up for a while.

My "goodies"..Not so healthy, but better than processed foods! 

I could eat tuna everyday (the can kind), but since it's not good for you, I eat chicken too. Red meat I eat only when I go to a steakhouse.

A really good protein mix, fiber chews and antioxidant chews.