Each year, picking out your New Year’s resolution – the one goal that you set for the year to come – is exhilarating, exciting, and frankly, a perfect fresh start. Some steer toward exercising while others wish to pick up a new hobby, but the majority crave to start a new fad or diet, as holiday eating can bring on the sugar and carbs. 

Many of you might have Pinterest boards filled with picturesque avocado toasts and fruit covered smoothie bowls, which is the perfect start in committing to this type of lifestyle. However, you need to take the step and start to integrate these pins into your day to day eating. Filling your plate up with leafy greens and colors that span the rainbow is essential when starting to eat in moderation and establishing these healthy eating goals. 

While we do all yearn for a sweet treat or a chocolate-coated morsel, starting to fuse juicy fruits and protein-loaded salads into your lifestyle will make those treats just that much more special (and sweeter). To learn more about incorporating wholesome and nutritious meals into your day to day, read this guide and find three places, under the radar, on the Main Line.

Hip City Veg

Specialty: 100% Plant-based Menu

Recommendations: Thick cut sweet potato fries with organic ketchup & the ‘Smokehouse’ burger

With the sole mission of creating food that makes you happy, Hip City Veg is the perfect place for brunch, lunch, dinner, or just a little snack. With options that cater to vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free consumers, there is no going wrong with their menu.

From burgers to wraps to sweet potato fries, pick one (or three) and feel good that you are making a conscious decision to eat healthily. As soon as you walk into this space, green and wooden detailing elicits an eco-friendly and sustainable vibe. This aligns with their philosophy of bringing healthy food to people everywhere, while still nurturing our planet and people.

Whole Foods

Specialty: Produce + Ingredients for Healthy Meals

Recommendations: Sushi, featuring a wide variety of different types of fresh seafood (with packages that are filling for lunch or dinner), and the cheese selection, which can be a great place to look when making cheese trays for celebrations, holidays, or just a simple weeknight dinner. 

While eating out or taking in is fast, simple, and oh-so-easy, it is important to use some skills from your Family and Consumer Sciences class in middle school and start to put them into action, whether through meal prep, sauteing, or everything in between. Whole Foods is the place to start, as grains, produce, and poultry line the walls, ready to be baked, crusted, sauteed, steamed, or chopped into your next scrumptious and nutrient-filled meal.

If meal prep, shopping, and recipe-following are not ideal, the pre-prepared meals and buffet line is the way to go, as the calories are limited but the options are limitless. Whole Foods also serves as a grocery store, with shelves of healthy packaged foods, easy to store and make at home later.

Sweet Green

Specialty: Hearty Green + Grain Bowls

Recommendations: Autumn Caesar Salad & Make-Your-Own Bowl

A personal favorite, Sweet Green is the place for picky eaters, late-night cravings, and everything in between. With a buffet of veggies, fruits, grains, and greens that span the entire rainbow, there is no wrong choice. Choosing from sweet potatoes to parmesan crisps to juicy tomatoes to roasted corn, make your own delicious bowl and grab a slice of whole-grain bread to top it off.

Also offering vegan and gluten-free choices, Sweet Green caters to all healthy-food lovers, vegetarians, and vegans alike. If the buffet line appears daunting and endless (which it can) choose one of their seasonal bowls or pre-designed salads.

The year 2020 has been challenging and full of struggles, from online school and less socializing to an intense political climate. So why not start making feel-good food choices? You do not need to follow a strict diet, but adding some more fresh foods and greens to your plate can make for a healthier and happier you. And these three stores make healthy a whole lot more delicious and fun!