Despite the common verdict, leading a healthy life doesn’t have to be hard! Nor does your life need to revolve around the “can” or “can not’s” in the food realm. Here’s my 7 simple tips on how to start your own healthy lifestyle!
Tip #1: “Crowd-out” don’t “Cut-out”.
Have you ever heard this saying before, “crowd-out” don’t “cut-out”? A lot of times the first thing that comes to mind when people are thinking about starting a healthier lifestyle is: ” I need to cut out sugar, quit eating out, throw out all the chocolate hiding in my pantry”. There’s a common theme showing up here. The focus is on quitting or “cutting-out”. From experience, this method will only leave you hungry, frustrated and probably more unhealthy. After a day or even a week of dieting, you end up binging on all the stuff you said you wouldn’t eat.
So than what is the answer?
Change your mentality. Eating healthier doesn’t have to be as hard as you think. The concept of crowding out is to fill your fridge with fresh produce and whole foods. It means going on pinterest and searching “healthy recipes” and trying one of them out this week for dinner. Perhaps follow a healthy food blogger or instagramer and get new nourishing food ideas regularly in your feed that your inspired to try. Maybe start putting coconut sugar in your coffee every morning instead of the 2 spoons of processed white sugar.
See what I’m getting at? Having a healthier lifestyle isn’t about deprivation but about having abundance in nourishing food. To “crowd-out” is simply to fill your life with healthier options and be satiated on them. You won’t even miss all the bad stuff you were always turning back to. I call it a “win-win situation”.
Tip#2: Throw-out your diet.
This tip is tag-on to tip number one. There are thousands of diets, nutrition experts and doctors all presenting there diet or health advice as being the best one out there. The problem is, they often contradict each other and you are left not really knowing the “best way”. It seems that every generation goes through some “super food phase” or “low-fat”, “paleo or vegetarian” trend. Than the next generation comes along and they have found “the miracle” pill.
The best way to health is without a diet, focus rather on whole, natural foods.
What also happens often with diets is people go from 0-100 in a day. They go to the extreme and want results immedietly. Counting calories, Paleo, vegan, low carb, low fat, no-sugar to name a few. It may produce short term results, but because of its extremity it cannot be sustainable. As a result, you often gain all the weight back you were trying to lose, and maybe even more.
Health cannot be achieved overnight, instead, focus on consistancy. “Slow and steady wins the race”.
Tip#3: Limit your processed food intake.
The healthiest most nourishing food is the one in the wild where no man has messed with it.
The food industry and large corporations have replaced quality, rich food items for efficiency, profit, and aesthetics. GMO is now found in so many staple foods like soybean and corn. Chemicals are being sprayed all over our fields and produce for ease and efficiency in the natural growth and harvest process. Raw dairy and unprocessed fresh foods filled with rich, essential nutrients have been traded for a longer shelf life.
GMO stands for genetically modidified organisms. Thats a scary definition. Any time we are messing with a foods natural form we are degrading its ability to be properly processed in our bodies. You will want to watch out for products like corn and soybean because they are often GMO.
Where possible, you are going to want to look for organic and even more-so, non-GMO. With organic foods there will be a lesser amount of pesticides and chemicals being sprayed on your food. A higher regulation of what products are allowed will also be enforced. The closer to its natural form of growth is always the best way to go.
Its not a secret, and the answer is simple.
Tip #4: Source local.
In our modern day world we have an abundance of variety of food in our grocery stores. And although we’ve come a long way with greenhouses, the truth is, a large part of our food is imported to us. Take the avocado for example, Its picked green off the tree so that it won’t arrive rotten at the back doors of your local supermarket. The avocado is greatly deplenished of vitamins and nutrients that would have been in greater abundance if allowed to ripen fully.
When we source local, the product has been allowed time to ripen fully and develop the nutrients deeper, thus providing more for our bodies. You are recieving a much higher quality product, and the taste and texture is so much richer. Plus your supporting your community and thats always a bonus.
Here in Germany we have a local farmers market where I get almost all my produce. The produce tasted so much fresher and full of flavour compared to the ones in Aldi or even Edeka! Once I went for the first time to the farmers market, there was no turning back for me.
Tip#5: Meal Plan.
This is by far my biggest tip and the trick that really allowed me to have consistant healthy food.
Meal planning automatically makes what you are eating healthier. You are cooking from home and not eating out in a restaurant or food chain with lesser quality food items. When you cook from home, you are in complete control of every ingredient that is going into your meals and therefore your body.
Another benefit to having your meals planned is that you are also more likely to eat healthier and have less waste. It looks really nice to have a fride full of fresh produce, but its a whole nother thing to have that food prepared and eaten. Too often rich fresh food will rot in the fridge and end up being thrown out. But because you are prepared beforehand with a meal plan and grocery list to fit it, most of the hard work has been taken care of for you. All you have to do is put it all together. Also, because your produce has been dedicated to each specific meal, there is no need to be throwing stuff out!
Make your meal plan according to your week. Do you know already that this one day in your week is particularly full? Choose just a simple dinner, or have one prepared beforehand. This way you aren’t extra overwhelmed with the thought of having to cook some sumptious meal at the end of the day. You get to fully personalize your plan to make it fit whatever schedule you may have.
Their are so many benefits to meal planning that I’m going to be writing at least a couple extra posts on it!
Tip#6: Fresh Air and Excercise.
Getting some fresh air, vitamin D, while getting your body moving is a wonderful combination for a healthier life. It releaves stress, and releases endorphins that improve your mood, strengthens your heart , protects against many dieses, regulates blood-pressure etc. The benefits are really endless.
Exercising can often feel like a chore, my advice, start slow and try something out for a month before you quit. It takes time to build habits and patterns into your life. Try walking half an hour 4-5 times/week, or mixing it up with a 10 minute jog and 20min walk to get your heart rate up. Look up some work out videos on youtube, they don’t cost you anything but are entertaining as well as motivating and instructive. Go for a hike or explore a park with a friend.
Start slow, work something into your schedule thats manageable and sustainable. Your body will thank you.
Tip#7: Don’t over-obsess.
A lot of people are getting trapped with over-obsession, even though it’s not really talked about.
When I was around thirteen or fourteen I went through an extreme health phase and at one point cut out all sugar and breads/pasta for 3 months. Food became my constant thought and it went something like this: ” what am I going to eat today”? “oh, I can’t have that, theirs sugar in it”, “oh I really want a some chocolate, but I can’t” “have I eaten enough salad today”? Or you go out with a bunch of your friends for ice cream, except don’t get any and than sit there the entire time watching them enjoying themselves with a cone in hand, trying to fight the craving for one yourself. True story.
Food should not be on your every thought.
This is a sign of an obsession. Nothing in obsession is ever healthy, including obsessing over your health. It creates a stress in your life to make sure you are meeting a certain standard, or abstaining from certain items. Your whole world revolves around your food and it controls the actions you take and even your mood.
Focus on choosing whole foods, trying out new healthy recipes and working towards a healthier lifestyle. But don’t go over-board into obsession. You should be in control, food should not control you.
