Juice It Up Las Vegas!

Las Vegas has always been a city of excess and decadence. Along with this cities extravagant casinos, bright lights and a party that never ends, this diamond in the desert to gives us permission to eat and drink anything we want. Buffets offer food items that would clog the healthiest of arteries while we're gearing up for our next big hangover. A trip to Vegas would of course be incomplete without returning home feeling as if our bodies have been raked over the coals with a abundant intake of high in fat starchy foods, adult beverages, and zero sleep.

Traveling beyond the glitz of the Las Vegas Strip, there is a borage of fast food joints and taverns open twenty-four seven, giving the appearance that locals fair no better than the tourists when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. A Big Mack and a Diet Coke is offered at every corner while eating something healthily seems almost a impossibility.

The building boom of the nineteen-nineties brought immigrants from California, introducing mega health clubs, running and bicycles trails lining suburbia along with a series of openings of the organic food giant, Whole Foods Market. Soon thereafter came trendy pizza with goat cheese and broccoli without the sauce.

With the new year now upon us, there will be many who will make the resolution to stay fit, committing to an "all "organic diet while actually using the newly purchased health club membership seven days a week without fail. Unfortunately, as easy as it is to make New Year's resolutions, it's even easier to break them.

But what about those of us who are die-hards about staying trim and healthy throughout the year? Is there no hope? Luckily, the trend of eateries offering healthy choices is rapidly growing in this once junk food oasis. Such an establishment recently opened its doors on the east side of town for those who want to get recommended intake of fruits and veggies.

Appropriately named, Greens and Proteins is a West Hollywood style cafe offering low-carb Caesar salads, pizza, (without the sauce) and blended drinks with enough fruits and vegetables to send the most crazed health nut into a state of nirvana. And if you're looking for a Diet Coke, this trendy establishment doesn't make such an offering.

Perhaps the "all or nothing" attitude is the deal breaker when it comes to keeping our New Year's resolutions. After all, if we happen to drive through the Golden Arches on our way to the juice bar and a day at the health club, it won't be the end of the world. When we live in a city that thrives on fast food and the twenty-four hour consuming of adult beverages, how can we not but help to occasionally indulge ourselves? Often, the key to success in keeping resolutions to stay healthy throughout the year is not beating ourselves up when the temptation of a "Big Mac Attack" and a large Diet Coke seems to get the better of us.