Hey there!
I’m so excited you’re here! Changing your habits can be daunting at best and while often the advice is to dive straight in. This isn’t always the case for changes that concern your health, wellness and happiness.
My number one priority here is you! So, if you ever feel overwhelmed with making these small changes to your daily life, then please please please make sure you send me an email and we can have a chat!
Before we move any further, take out a notebook and pen. We’re about to go through my six simple steps to success which you can use to help you as you begin your wholefoods journey.
1. Put Your Heart into it
There was a reason that brought you here today. It might be the recipes, your health or you just so happen to have stumbled across my website while googling something so very random (trust me, it happens).
Ultimately, this reason is your WHY. So why are you here? I’d love for you to jot this down and keep it as your reminder for when you feel like giving up!
My why, well it was being diagnosed with PCOS and Insulin Resistance in November 2017. I was always somewhat healthy, but this diagnosis changed my life and my health forever. As I look back, I can see that it was all for the better and that is why I’m here. I’m passionate about helping you find your health too!
If you’re interested in that story you can head on over to my blog right here and read all about that.
Essentially, you want to get clear about why you want to change, whether that be an emotional or mental reason. Is it because you’re tired of feeling sluggish mid-afternoon, are you or someone close to you ill and you want to change your diet to support them? Whatever your reason, the clearer you are now the more inspired you will be to implement healthy habits.
I used to treat my health, body, exercise and food with so much disrespect. In a cycle of binging and restriction, viewing life as a burden. I now see it as a gift. I have the opportunity to nourish it, watch it grow in strength and do things I never thought it could. My aim is to inspire you to see your health as a precious gift. We only get one life and one body, but we get more than one chance at reclaiming our health.
2. It’s About Progress Not Perfection
Once you have it in your mind that you’re ready to overhaul your diet, it’s so easy to assume that you can change it completely overnight. If you go in with this mindset – you will fail. You will panic and you will give up. It’s a harsh reality, I know. However, I want you to know that the aim here is progress and not perfection.
Nutrition isn’t about low fat and low calorie foods, rules and restrictions. It’s about nourishing your body with real, wholesome foods that will allow you to feel satisfied and energised. Nutrition isn’t about losing weight, it’s about making healthier choices.
It has taken you right up until this moment to develop all of the habits you have right now. That’s a long time. So, take it one day at a time, changing one habit at a time because slow change will lead to lasting change.
Most importantly, be kind to yourself.
3. Strip It Back To Basics
Trends come and go. This month it’s celery, last year it was spirulina and goji berries – yeah what happened to those right? That’s the thing, health doesn’t equal expensive “superfoods”, elimination diets or restriction. So, when you’re feeling intimidated by all the “wellness warriors” on Insta – flip the switch, hit unfollow and strip it back to basics
A wholefood diet is all about eating minimally processed foods. It includes fresh, in-season fruit and vegetables, meat, seafood, wholegrains, nuts, seeds and dairy. If you can afford grass-fed, organic meat, sustainable seafood and organic dairy, amazing! If not, don’t worry about it, as long as you are including these foods in your diet you are on your way to good health. Having said that, we are individuals and each of us is unique and will require different foods to thrive.
Some people thrive off a vegetarian diet, while others live for meat. That’s ok! We are all different. There is no right or wrong way to eat and food does not hold moral value.
However, if you are limiting yourself to certain foods due to fear – please seek help from a qualified nutritionist or dietitian. Restriction is never the answer.
4. Meal Prep Is A Game Changer
Do you currently meal prep? If not, get on to it!
Think of it as cooking once and eating twice!
If you’re a person who thinks they don’t have enough time to cook everything from scratch, just cook more than you need. When you next make dinner cook a few servings extra, that way you have lunch the next day plus some extra portions to freeze. The next time you’re home late from work and are ready to order
take-away, you won’t have too. Instead, you have a meal ready to go – just heat and eat. In the long run it’s cheaper and better for you!
We’re all time poor these days but, if you can get ahead and plan your weekly meals in advance, you’ll instantly reap the benefits. You will find that you’ll have more time in the evenings to spend doing what you want to do, it will work out a lot cheaper in the long run and you’ll be more energised because you’ll be eating nourishing home-cooked meals.
5. If You Can, Grow Your Own
Gone are the days when gardening was for the retired. One of the best ways to connect with the seasons is by growing your own veggies. It’s a great way to get the kids involved and encourage them to eat more fruits and veggies! You can start off with some strawberries or herbs and then grow your garden from there. The look on their faces as the first crops start to come in and they can harvest the first berries of the season is priceless.
6. There’s No Such Thing As Cheat Days
I used to live in a world where I would “be good” Sunday to Friday and “cheat” on Saturdays. Firstly, food has NO moral value- you cannot cheat on an apple with a chocolate bar. Secondly, by having this mindset you’re creating a restriction – binge cycle for yourself.
This restriction mindset will play heavily on your mental health. As you have limited certain foods, it’s likely you’ll feel like you’re craving them and then will begin to obsess over them. As soon as we set limits on ourselves and mark something as “forbidden” or “off limits” our brains are wired to instantly find that thing more desirable.
The restriction of “bad” foods can often play out in a number of ways:
- You’ll enjoy the food on the scheduled cheat day/meal, after resisting temptation for the week
- On said cheat day/meal you will completely over eat that food, but then continue binging on other foods as well, or struggle by restricting your cheat meal, and not enjoying yourself.
- You give into the initial temptation, eat the food then feel guilty and then continue to binge on other foods you label as “bad” and justify it by saying “you’ve already messed up your week so you might as well continue to eat whatever you want”.
- You’ll eat the food upon the initial temptation then feel guilty about it, and then because of that guilt, start the restriction cycle again – except being even harder on yourself this time around.
As you can see, there is no good outcome when it comes to restriction. Restricting your food intake and having all the willpower in the world does not make you any better of a person, nor does eating every type of food whenever you want, make you any less of a person – BECAUSE FOOD HOLDS NO MORAL VALUE.
So, when you truly crave those cookies – just eat them. Do what is best for you! Remember, aim for progress not perfection. This is what brings true food freedom, no food rules, no food guilt. Living a healthy lifestyle, shouldn’t be complicated or stressful. If it is, you need to re-evaluate what you are doing because a healthy lifestyle, doesn’t just include a healthy body but also a healthy mind.
Be sure to check our Part 2 of our guides, which will help you in stocking up your pantry and fridge with a range of delicious wholefoods!
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