Picture yourself standing in front of a vending machine. The top row is filled with all of your favorite sweet treats, and wow, they look good! The middle row is filled with granola bars, and other items that are deemed healthy. They taste okay, but they are not what you are craving. And the bottom row, it’s filled with veggies and hummus and other treats that are natural and healthy. Which one do you choose? For many of us, our minds are cheering for the sweet treats because we crave them. Our bodies have attachments to sugar, and have termed these foods as ones that will solve all our problems. We eat it, and then the problem comes back, along with a few extra pounds. This could be the year that you start to eat healthier. It takes motivation, and it takes a willingness to adjust your lifestyle, but once you do it, it tastes “oh so good” and you’ll find that you are craving those veggies and enjoying them, too!
Healthy eating myths:
- Despite what many people think, healthy food can be very tasty. Natural, unprocessed food has an amazing taste that really tantalizes our taste buds once we desensitize them from processed foods.
- Going organic doesn’t mean that you have to pay a larger grocery bill. Healthy, organic choices fill the body up with good foods, while slowly removing the manmade chemicals that often increase our appetites and make us crave certain foods. Go organic for one week, and feel the difference!
Where to start:
- Think about what you’ve eaten today thus far, and write it down. Give an honest assessment of what you believe is healthy and good for you, and what is not.
- Take the healthy choices you believed you ate, and research them. Find out if they are natural or processed, if they are high in sodium, rich or poor in nutritional content, etc. Many times this is a tough step because we find out that what we ate wasn’t really as great as we thought it was. Even something like red sauce for pasta is so high in sugar, but it seems like it should be quite healthy.
- Look online for a few healthy recipe choices. There are so many websites to draw great ideas from, and many of them list out all of the nutritional information to help you know what you are getting.
- Make a grocery list, and stick to it. Add the better choices and make sure you don’t go to the grocery store hungry. We all know it’s true; a hungry belly at the store makes us want to buy those snack cakes more than a juicy, red organic apple.
For most of us healthy eating starts out slowly, and grows into a lifestyle from there. Yes, it takes planning, but it can be done. Learn more about healthier eating choices with the great insight you’ll find at www.LeadingTheSpirit.com.