There is no shortage of dietary experts, many of which promote their way as the best way. Much of the advice you hear or read in this world of information overload is contradictory, which becomes downright confusing to someone who is just starting out in their efforts at improving their diet. Should they become a vegetarian? Vegan? Raw foodist? Macrobiotic? Ayurvedic? Flexitarian? My head starts to spin trying to make sense of it all! I can just imagine how someone without a background in nutrition feels who just wants to feel and look better, but doesn’t know where to start.
Too much information can leave you feeling overwhelmed; you begin to feel like it’s just too complicated and you can’t do anything right anyway, so why bother trying. It really doesn’t need to be that complicated.
Forget about all of the nutritional dogma that exists. Drop the labels, drop the judgment about what you should and shouldn’t be eating and just apply some good common sense. There are certain foods that all of the dietary experts are in agreement should be avoided.
Start there. You can fine tune your diet as you go along to discover the approach that works best for your body. There is no one size fits all approach to the way you eat. One person may thrive on a raw vegan diet while another may feel incredibly sick on the very same diet. Your body knows what it needs to function optimally…you just need to learn to recognize and listen to the clues it provides you.
The foods to avoid are any foods that contain the following:
- Sugar
- White Flour
- Processed Foods
- Transfats
What you DON’T eat is almost more important that what you DO eat. If you reduce or eliminate sugar, white flour, processed foods and transfats, you will immediately start to feel (and look) better. I guarantee it!
When I work with clients, the focus is on adding healthier, more nutrient dense foods into their diet, which eventually pushes the less nutritious foods they commonly eat away. It’s a concept known as “crowding out”. It is done gradually and the emphasis is always on what we are adding in, not on what we are taking away.
You never want to feel deprived; that is a recipe for disaster. If you feel you are being deprived of something, you will start to feel resentful towards this new way of eating and eventually reject it entirely. This is why DIETS DON’T WORK!
If on the other hand, you are gradually introducing new, healthier foods into your daily routine, you will notice that your craving for the junky foods you typically love, start to diminish. It’s really quite amazing. You begin to notice that food tastes better (because your taste buds are no longer dulled by sugar and you are choosing higher quality foods) and your mood is much more positive and upbeat. You want to continue to feel good so you start to pay more attention to what you are putting into your body.
When initiating any kind of change into your life, having support is the key to your success! So check back here often for more tips and inspiration, enlist a buddy to work together with, come to one of my classes, or contact me to work together one on one, either over the phone or in person.
Improving your diet is just one of the tools I recommend for transforming your life, but it is a great place to start! (To hear about my other recommendations, download my free ebook Ten Essential Tools for Transformation).
Here’s some clues: Pay attention to how you feel in the morning after you wake up. Are you sluggish? How’s your gut feel? Are your eyes puffy? Are your joints stiff? Feel depressed? These observations may point to whatever you ate the day or two before is not working for you, and probably against you. I notice puffiness with salty foods, depression and muscle aches with sugar, the digestion issue can be from many reasons, though.
Mostly, the morning, after sleeping and no food through the night, shows you how much you are detoxing from toxins or opposing foods (or drink) in your diet. Once you are aware the next thing is to do something about it. The info is out there. With enough tweaking of your diet and cleansing routines, you can actually wake up feeling marvelous, with fresh breath, looking healthy, with a clear head and in a good mood, full of energy to do what you came here to do.