***This post was contributed by Nicole 'Nawala' Damiba. For her contact information, check out her links at the end of this post. To submit an article, click here***Hello Think And Grow Chicks!Nawala here with some healthy eating tips!As an almost two year vegan, I get a lot of interesting comments and feedback when people learn about my lifestyle. From reactions about how weird it is, to concerns about where I’m getting my protein from, and even people telling me what I should be eating and what’s good for me! I usually just eloquently answer or even move on to other topics, but one response that often tickles me is when people try to prove to me how they do or eat healthy things and don’t have to go as far as being vegan. Cool. Great. However many times we aren’t doing enough or we THINK that our healthy habits are having a bigger impact on us than they really are.For example, some people are fine with eating soda, burgers, and chips all the time because they eat a salad every once in a while. I don’t believe in removing all you favorite foods or depriving yourself of anything, however it is important to know what it is we are really doing when we let certain foods into our mouths and bodies. Take soda. Soda along with many negative health issues depletes the amount of vitamins and minerals in your body. So, if you had a salad today and drank some soda, the minerals you gained from that salad was a waste of your time because the soda basically put you back to square one!Now let’s take salads. When I was at my friend’s house the other day for a bridesmaid get-together, she made all this delicious African food, jololf rice, plantains, chicken, etc. She wasn’t worried about me though because she had some salad and dressing! You know, those nicely packaged cut up lettuce salads with bits of carrots and cabbage. I gave into eating some of the other food because the salad simply wasn’t enough, for more reasons than one. Many people already incorporate salads into their diet but usually stick with lettuce when there are so many more greens to discover in this world, especially greens that are way more nutrient dense. Kale for example has about 3 times the amount of Vitamin C than oranges and more calcium than milk, Swiss chard has more than double the amount of potassium than lettuce, and collard greens have more carotene than carrots! In general the darker the green the greater the nutrient content, so upgrade your salads!Do more for your health by incorporating more nutrient dense foods to fill you up, in more ways than one, especially if there are lesser healthy aspects of your diet. It is especially hard as a young woman to see my sisters struggling with their weight or health, when they think they are making healthy choices. So, let me upgrade you, by upgrading your salads! One of my favorite vegan blogs has a long list of great salads to incorporate into your diet! Click the image below for recipes.

My all time favorite yet simple salad is an avocado & massaged kale salad. What’s yours?Later Chicks.Peace & Love,Nawala****Blog: http://nawalatribe.blogspot.com/Twitter: http://twitter.com/nawalalove Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nawaladamiba

Hello Think and Grow Chicks! I'm Nicole 'Nawala' Damiba, a recent college grad, advocate for Ivorian Hope Charity, and a holistic....health nut...tree-hugging type of chick! I am a lover of life and an aspiring Holistic Life Coach with a heart to inspire, uplift, and empower others. Ultimately, "I just want to give the world my heart." Tweet me @NawalaLove!