Make Wellness Your Reality. A 12 week journey to achieving Optimal Health, hosted by Tranquility Spa & Wellness Center. The 12 week program includes: 12 – 90 minute group sessions broken down into 45 minutes of Wellness Coaching and 45 minutes of Acupuncture. The sessions are led by Kelly Brubaker (Wellness Coach) and Dr. Susan Sterling (Licensed Acupuncturist). Each week the class of “students” will be educated and challenged with “Baby Steps” for changing bad habits, moving more, making better food choices…
Week one:
On Wednesday, March 13, 2013 week one began with 8 ladies looking to make personal, physical and spiritual changes in their lives. And to be clear the objective of this program is not weight loss (although hopefully a side effect for some, including myself) but to become a healthier, more active person. Our first task was to create a personalized wellness wheel that highlighted 8 aspects of life’s importances, ie. diet, exercise, stress, digestion…. We all rated individually on a scale from 1 – 10 how we are addressing these importances in our own CURRENT life. We then picked one piece of the wheel to focus on for the week and set a “baby step” for ourselves. Mine was to not eat fast food. That’s it! Totally attainable. I said it out loud to the class to make it official. Each person set their goal of “walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes 3x/week” or “rebounding on the trampoline for 10 minutes/day”….. doesn’t seem like much but when you are in the habit of not doing anything, this is alot. Setting small goals that can be repeated week after week is the foundation of creating new habits.
In addition to the weekly meetings and acupuncture, Kelly and Dr. Susan have started an online support group where we talk to each other and tell about our struggles and successes. Salad was a big talking point this week, which got my wheels turning about being prepared with food to avoid grabbing the wrong things. So here you go…. Salad in a Jar. You can make these tasty creations on Sunday and they will stay fresh all week long in the refrigerator. Each morning just grab and go….. the new fast food!
How to Put a Mason Jar Salad Together
The key to mason jar salads is in the assembly of the ingredients.
To keep the lettuce crisp you have to keep it separate from the dressing or other liquid. Also, you need to make sure the jar is completely dry before you start filling them. I add this tip because more than likely you will wash your jars or ingredients prior to using so there might be a chance of moisture. Give the jar a quick wipe with a paper towel and completely dry all ingredients before you start to assembly.
Layers should go like this.
- Bottom layer is dressing or other wet ingredient. Again, this is key. You need to keep the dressing away from the lettuce to keep it from getting soggy.
- Second layer needs to be a hearty vegetable like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc. Think about veggies that would taste good marinated in dressing. You will need a good amount of these vegetables to keep the dressing and lettuce separate.
- Third layer is proteins or grains. This could be eggs, beans, rice, quinoa, gluten-free pasta, etc. Next add the lettuce or greens.
- Last you would add seeds or nuts. I would also add crumbled bacon to the last layer.
Mix and match for a variety of flavors. Remember to chose organic ingredients when possible and stay away from dressing that are loaded with fats and sugars. Hmmmm….. a post about making your own salad dressings….. to be continued!
Dr. Emily Loveland, DC
Relax at Tranquility 