I have been seeing a Chinese doctor for acupuncture since spring after my surgery where a golf-ball fibroid was removed from my uterus. She is always telling me what I need to do better: eat more room-temperature food, less stress, and the latest one was eat more red foods for my blood.

“Like steak?” I asked.

“Beets, goji berries,” she said.

But it was the week before Christmas and I was a little preoccupied. I forgot all about it. Even though I love beets.

After a wonderful holiday season, this week it’s back to consuming more fruits and vegetables. Beets, too.

As I’m writing this, I’m drinking my beet smoothie. Not quite the same as the recipe in Bon Appetit found here as I adjusted it for ingredients I have on hand (regular milk, agave nectar, blueberries, and I skipped the salt).

It’s a dark afternoon here in Albuquerque, making me feel like I’m back in the Midwest on a January day. My grandmother’s chicken soup (meaning her recipe, of course) is cooking on the stove and it’s sort of that middle of the afternoon blah time. I needed something to take me through to dinner.

For me, smoothies help me get more fruits and vegetables in my daily diet while keeping me full until dinner. And keep me from grabbing chips (oh wait, we ate them all, thank goodness).

It’s the new year, a chance to reset and find energy for the unknown but exciting road ahead.

For many years of my life, afternoons meant cross country or track practice, and then in later years, coaching. While I prefer running in the mornings, these times in the afternoons get to me to say the least. While many days I try to go for a walk in the late afternoon– or when my pool heats up a few more degrees I will swim– still I am often hungry at 3:00 in the afternoon.

It's a challenge for me because I really want snack food: hand me the chips. I used to have cheese and crackers. Or some cookies. But that's not what I need; my body is crying out for protein, satisfying protein. I need something with a little fat to keep me full until dinner (but not fill me up so I'm full at dinner).

I will be the first to admit that there are things I don't want to eat because I'd really rather have something I shouldn't (like cookies and chips). And that's why if you come to my house, you won't find any chips and the cookies will be made with healthy funky ingredients. I made my fiancé take the last box of Cheez-Its to the school where he works so I won't be tempted. I don't have the self control I used to so it's a battle with myself to find foods I want to eat, that taste good, and leave me full until dinner.

I will eat nuts, low sugar fruits like berries, whole crackers (like Wasa), hummus, black bean dip, and veggies. And I make sure I drink water to fill me up.

It's not easy but I know that the more healthy types of food I keep in my house, the less likely I am to drift and eat something I don't need (or makes me feel bad). The key is keeping snacks around that are healthy and having vegetables cut so you don't have to take the time for it. The more work you need to do to make a snack, the less likely you are to prepare and eat it. I also try to have hummus or some other healthy bean dip in the refrigerator at all times.

The photo above is the roasted beet white bean hummus from Marth Stewart's Clean Slate book. The recipe is here. Don't let the idea of eating beets turn you off: they have many tasty uses!