Trying to Eat Healthy this Month? My 3 Go-To Mason Jar Salads for Busy Work Days
Jan 24, 2023Hello ladies, I’m Hannah Freese, a Registered Dietitian, and Certified Specialist in Weight Management and I help women over 40 repair their damaged midlife metabolisms so that they can lose weight, achieve glowing health and never stress about their weight again.
And today I am going to help you hit your healthy eating for the new year goals! I’m going to share my three go-to healthy, filling, and tasty little salads for busy work days.
To lose weight as a woman over 40, you need to have a happy, healthy metabolism. You can’t just eat less.
The problem is, most of us have damaged midlife metabolisms from too much dieting, hormonal imbalances, and inflammation.
These salads are not damaging to our metabolisms and help our metabolisms work better over time.
So, I want to be clear that we are not eating salads in January to lower our caloric intake. We are not eating less, we are eating smarter.
With these salads, there is no portion limit. Have as many portions in one sitting as you need to get you to dinner without snacking.
These salads are awesome for three reasons:
- You make them ahead of time and put them in the fridge the night before or a few nights before. Then, when you are heading out the door, you have your coffee in one hand and your lunch salad in the other all ready to go.
- These salads fill you up! These are not wimpy little salads you feel compelled to add French fries to or leave you hungry two hours later. Have you ever looked at a salad and thought, “that is not gonna do it… maybe some chips or something?” That is not happening here today!
- These salads contain incredible vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein, and healthy fats to nourish your metabolism so that you do not overstimulate your insulin and keep your blood sugar level all afternoon.
First up is my Greek Chickpea Mason Jar Salad. This one feels like health in a jar and is an excellent “starter” salad.
The trick is to make the dressing first, put it in the bottom of the jar, then layer in the beans, cucumbers, red onion, and tomatoes on top. Then top with the lettuce.
Jarred salads have a formula of dressing, heavy stuff, and light stuff on top.
The second salad is my Almond Broccoli Protein Salad. Now we are getting a little more sophisticated and a little more “choppy” because you want the base of broccoli in this salad to be small, bite-sized chunks. Eating huge chunks of raw broccoli is very unpleasant.
Little bitty broccolis, please.
This one you mix them all in one great bowl and then scoop them into your jar or takeaway container. The longer the dressing marinates with the broccoli, the better it gets.
The third salad is the salad you make when you have nothing fresh in the fridge and you are two seconds from going to Wendy’s.
My Tuna Chickpea Pantry Salad can be pulled together from your pantry and save the day!
I cheat a bit more and keep freeze-dried herbs in my fridge as a backup. Fresh parsley is best for this salad, but dried parsley works in a pinch. So do celery leaves…!
I am super proud of you for making the effort to eat well this month! You are so awesome!
Remember, the more you practice, the easier it gets and I hope these three make-ahead salads help you stick to your healthy eating plan and out of Wendy’s drive-thru!
Bonus tip: If you like a little crunch and salt with your salad, instead of chips, crackers, or bread, try roasted salted nuts or little parmesan cheese “crackers” on the side.
Remember, with these salads, there is no portion limit. Have as many portions in one sitting as you need to get you to dinner without snacking.
Alright, everyone, I’ll post the links for the salads above.
If you like these recipes, you will love the over 200 recipes you receive in the Freese Method Program where I teach you how to adjust your favorite home recipes, assess online recipes for healthfulness, and give you easy tips and tweaks to turn any recipe into a Freese Method Approved Recipe.
If you are ready to join the program and start eating like a queen, click the link to learn more!
Remember you have what it takes to lose weight, we just need to repair your metabolism first with the Freese Method.
I’ll see you next week.
https://thefreesemethodprogram.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Extra+Recipes/greek-chickpea-jar-salad.pdf
