Share Healthy Resolutions for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Jimmy Dean,  however the opinions and feelings expressed here are my own.

I'm still trying to adjust to life as a Southerner after our move to Nashville last year. One of the biggest adjustments has been the food. Southern folks LOVE their food, and rightfully so: it is delicious. But traditionally it is delicious in that fried, smothered and soaked in sausage kind of way. Which is to say, not so kind on the behind.

A group of fellow moms and I get together regularly to try to encourage each other to make healthier eating choices and exercise more. These are perennial goals that will make it onto my New Years resolution roster year after year. Not because I'm always failing, but because the project of making better choices for yourself is an ongoing project. I've found this project has been considerably complicated by the presence of a darling, energetic toddler in my life.

Breakfast is one of the issues I'm particularly struggling with as the mother to a very active toddler. Before becoming a mom, it was fairly easy to scramble up some egg whites and have a nutritious and filling breakfast. Those mornings now seem downright leisurely. Here's a peek at a typical morning in my life now:

Toddler: Choo choo! Choo choo! Play choo choo!
Me: Sweetheart, you may play with your choo choo after you finish eating.

       {Said while running around the kitchen loading the dishwasher, and packing his lunch for daycare}


Toddler: Elmo? Elmo!
Me: Sweetheart, I love Elmo too, but right now you cannot watch Elmo on TV. We don't watch TV all the time, only on special occasions.

       {Said while wiping up Cheerios that have spilled everywhere, wrestling his socks back onto his feet, washing out the milk container he uses to take milk to daycare, filling milk container, and wrestling him down from the couch where he is trying to scale the blinds}


Me: Darling, what have you done with your shoes?
Toddler: Shoes? Mama shoes! {Said while clomping around in my shoes}

You get the idea. I'm lucky if I get out the door in one piece, with weather appropriate clothing on everyone. Most days this means eating breakfast standing up in the kitchen while multi-tasking on six other things. That means that lately instead of filling foods with protein and fiber, I find myself quickly shoveling down cold cereal, only to arrive at the office and find myself hungry again an hour later.

Healthy Resolution #1: Squeeze in a little time for myself. The world won't fall apart without me.

Being hungry at the office is a giant bummer, because "the office" is a wonderland of evil temptations, like those donuts, and that cheese tray left over from the meeting. And before my sensible lunch I find I've already consumed 1200 mostly empty calories in the form of sugared coffee and sweets. EEK! And the worst part is that I know its a bad decision, but I find myself doing it anyway. Because if I don't get enough protein at breakfast in the morning, I'm a lost cause of weak will as soon as I'm in front of sugary treats.

Healthy Resolution #2: Find more filling breakfast choices that will work with our hectic toddler morning schedule.

So I was really jazzed when I learned that Jimmy Dean had come out with a line of breakfast products that use turkey sausage. Most of all because they’re 300 calories or less, have 12 grams of fat or less and up to 23 grams of protein per serving…...and they are fast to make. Like toddler-mama fast.

Poultry sausage is a godsend in my kitchen, because I think it tastes delicious, but it has a really reasonable nutritional profile, so I can work it into our family's menu without stressing out about going on some brown rice fast for four days before hand. I'm not really into "sneaking" healthy things into random hidden places. But I've become a huge fan of using substitutes where I think they are just as satisfying as the full fat version. Poultry sausage is certainly a winning substitute. I also use ground turkey in place of ground beef in heavily seasoned dishes like stuffed green peppers or chili. I've also discovered a lot of high fiber low fat tortillas that I like just as much as their less healthy counterparts. I found a brand of low fat cottage cheese that I think is just as creamy and delicious as the full fat stuff. All these little substitutes really add up without making me feel like I'm depriving myself.

Healthy Resolution #4: Be more systematic about identifying problem areas of my diet and finding satisfying healthy substitutes.

And then of course, my list of New Year's Resolutions wouldn't be complete without that perennial favorite:

Healthy Resolution #5: Go to the gym more often and find ways to be physically active!

I wonder how many calories I burn repeatedly dragging a 32 pound toddler uphill in his sled?

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Do you have healthier, better choices you are looking to make in the New Year? Share them with me for a chance at a giveaway:

"Better Breakfast, Better you" Giveaway
Giveaway Dates: 12/28-1/30
Prize: $100 Visa Gift card
Comment below and let me know what healthy choices are top on your list of New Year's Resolutions for a chance to win a $100 gift card, which might go a long way towards helping you start that goal!

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