I don’t really know what to say about today, other than I am getting back on track. I ate about six cups of fruits and vegetables and I’m feeling good.

I am noticing that I am still coming off of the sugars and starches of the weekend. I won’t get into it beyond saying that too much sugar means a lot of trips to the restroom.

So, I keep working on getting back in balance. I trust that I can do it.

Wow, that sugar really did hit hard. I normally sleep about 8 hours and wake up a few minutes before my alarm clock goes off. Last night I was really tired so I went to bed early and then slept through my alarm this morning. That was after napping yesterday and on Saturday too. Last night I slept about 9 1/2 hours. Thankfully, I woke feeling refreshed.

Today, I am getting back on track. I started the day with a nice fruit smoothie with peach, mango, banana, and kiwi, along with fresh salad greens. Lunch was a roasted chicken thigh with green beans, carrots, and hummus. Dinner was a saute of squash with a bit of banana pepper and onion and salsa with tortilla chips and a little cheese. Dessert was my typical go to, a bit of mixed berries and mango with plain yogurt.

That means that I am back up to seven cups of fruits and vegetables and having deliciously colorful, healthy, and easy quick to prepare meals. This is doable. I am starting to regain my energy and trusting that I will be back to my normal sleep schedule soon.

I’m not quite sure about what to say today other than yesterday and today were a bit weak.

Yesterday, I was still on the road with my work field trip. We started with fruit smoothies, a good start for the day. I had a bison wrap for lunch, unusual and tasty. It had veggies, but not a whole lot. Dinner was bison burgers with potato salad and fruit. I opted to believe that the potato salad was made with red and not white potatoes and went ahead for it. I think all total I probably had 4 or cups of fruits and veggies. I had dessert with dinner that was way too much sugar, but a good splurge.

Today started with fruit and yogurt. Lunch was pizza and salad. Dinner was a vegetarian plate at the local Mexican restaurant. All good and probably worth about four cups of veggies again.

Tomorrow, I get back on track. I think I’m going to head to the garden in the morning and see what is all ready. Then it will be time to make some food for the week. It will be good and I’ll be awake again. These past few days and too much sugar has made me sleepy.

I don’t think I quite got my full six cups of fruits and veggies in today, but I wasn’t horribly deficient. It was a rough start with a breakfast of bacon and eggs with the only thing available that had any plant product in it being blueberry muffins which I avoided because I was fairly certain there would be more sugary options in the day and being that I don’t normally eat cane sugar I didn’t want to overwhelm my system.

I did, a bit later in the day, decide to splurge on the snacks being passed around the bus. I took a banana to get some fruit in my system, but also took one of those chewy granola bars with the chocolate chips. I figured, heck I’m on a field trip, why not? Well, the answer to why not is that those things are sweeter than all heck and not really worth it.

Lunch was catered by the Sioux Chef, so quite tasty and with a nice mix of wild turkey, wild rice, and some veggies, along with chips and bean dip, and cookies, I think made with sunflower seeds and maple syrup for dessert.

Dinner tonight was catered at the hotel with a really nice chicken dish and basic vegetable sides, beans, carrots, and potatoes. I opted to not push my allergies with the potatoes, but I did take the risk with the dessert, a chocolate mousse. I can feel my stomach and head just slightly rebelling, but I ‘ll be back on track soon. Apparently tomorrow we start with breakfast at the health food store and we all get smoothies. Hopefully, that will help.

I did well with my water intake today though.

Excellent! I have succeeded in making it through the first month of the challenge. I only missed a few days of writing. I’ve met my goal of 6-9 cups of vegetables and fruits most days and I’ve successfully added in increasing my water intake. I’ve not done so hot with the addition of not eating out, but I’m okay with that. It may come as I can continue to improve my overall diet and health.

Yesterday, I was questioning how successful I would be with my goals while on this work trip visiting and learning about Dakota communities in Minnesota. Day one has been filled with fabulous diet choices. I started the day at home with a bit extra in my breakfast smoothie– greens, carrots, apple, rhubarb, and papaya for a total of about four cups of fruits and veggies. I wanted to pack it in at breakfast in case there weren’t many other options later in the day.

I was happily surprised with a homemade lunch that included a traditional Dakota corn soup. I think it is called Wohnapi. We also had a wild rice dish with vegetables and a cucumber salad. Then for dinner was a Mexican buffet, so plenty of beans and other vegetables there. Afterwards we had another event with snacks including raw fruits and vegetables. I didn’t measure things, but I think I may have hit nine cups again today! I wonder what tomorrow might bring?

I did well today. I think I was actually over 7 cups of fruits and vegetables today, though I admit I didn’t measure the peas and other snacks as I picked them from the garden this afternoon.

The big plus today was having leftovers from yesterday to have for lunch, some walleye and mixed vegetables that I’d stir-fried yesterday. It was just one of those things that I could throw together without a recipe and with a whole lot of hope. I like to do that, to say to myself “hmm.. this looks good. This looks good too. I wonder what they’d be like together?” and just throw things together and see what happens. It’s almost always a good thing.

Though it does bring back a memory of being a camp counselor back in the 90’s. Some of my campers and I were in a cabin and the campers decided to make me a cake. They were young teenagers, so I wasn’t too afraid of them taking over the kitchen. They had a couple girls keep watch over me while the rest made my surprise dessert. I think we tried to eat it, but ultimately showed it to the camp director, offered that it could be used as a doorstop, then threw it out. It was a great deal of fun. However, they’d somehow managed to make a cake that must have weighed over 5 lbs! But, generally throwing things together results in much tastier surprises.

Tonight I roasted some chicken with some freshly picked squash and a onion. It was also delicious. And, there’s enough left for another two or three meals if I add another vegetable side. So, I don’t need to cook at all tomorrow. After that I have some work travel and will be fed. So, no more cooking until the weekend. If I can find fruits and vegetables on my work trip, I will do great. There’s my challenge for the week. But, for now I will simply celebrate the day and be thankful that there’s plenty of good healthy food ready for tomorrow.

Well, I spent a good chunk of my day at an art show and followed that with another county fair. Neither of these places offered a lot of healthy options for eating. The thing I noticed though was that my diet changes in the last few years and the challenge got me to look for the healthy options and not just go mindlessly to the deep fried cheese curds and kettle corn.

At the art show I found a pretty tasty bacon-chicken ranch wrap with lettuce and tomato. So, I wasn’t completely vegetable deficient there. At the fair I opted to just keep walking. There just weren’t appealing options that had much nutritional value. I wound up getting pizza later.

So, I didn’t quite hit my six cups today. I think I was between 3 and 4. I did, however, get quite a bit of outdoor time and plenty of water. So, some things were good and healthy, some not so much. Still, I feel good. Right now I feel sleepy too. So good night to all!