- Tip #1: Start slow.
Committing to a complete overhaul of your eating habits is ahuge shift
to make. And if you’re confident in your ability to do that all at
once,awesome!I didn’t have the discipline to switch to real food
overnight.Instead, it was a process that took about 6 months for me to
make and really stick with. I started by just going gluten free, then
grain free, and finally dairy and legume free (but have since added some
raw dairy back into my diet).If you’re comfortable with making a
180-degree switch to real food as fast as possible, that’s GREAT! But if
not, don’t feel bad about doing it in stages.
- Tip #2: Don’t get discouraged. You may not see/feel
changes right away. And especially if you make the transition slowly
(which is totally OK), you may not get the results you want as quickly
as you’d like.When I started eating real food, the changes I noticed
were subtle, yet encouraging. And it wasn’t until I went “all in” with a
strict 30 days of paleo that I felt/saw changes that were truly
remarkable.If experiencing change is taking time, don’t panic. Stick
with it! And if you start to really feel frustrated with your lack of
progress, consider seeing a trustworthy medical practitioner to help you
along in your journey.
- Tip #3: Don’t stress. Stressing over food choices
(or anything) is arguably just as harmful as a poor diet.Try not to
worry too much about what is and isn’t okay to eat at first. The longer
you eat real food and educate yourself on its benefits, the easier it
will be to make nourishing and healthy choices. And after awhile, it
will become second nature.
- Tip #4: Focus on what you CAN eat, not what you
CAN’T. At first, paleo can seem more like a long list of “don’ts” rather
than a new and exciting way of eating.Try not to get overwhelmed by all
of the things that are suddenly off limits. Because even though it may
not seem like it at first, the list of foods that are okay to eat is a
pretty darn extensive.
- Tip #5: Pay attention to your body. Your body will
undergo a lot of changes as you start feeding it differently.Pay
attention to how this new way of eating affects you. Do you have more
energy? Are you less susceptible to getting sick? Has your mood
improved? These subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) positive changes
will make your new lifestyle all the more rewarding and easier to stick
to.
- Tip #6: Look at ingredients, not calories. This is a
tough one for a lot of people, and it takes time to stop obsessing over
how many grams of fat are in coconut milk or how many carbs are in a
banana.While calories do matter, they’re not nearly as important as the
ingredients in our food. And when we eat the right foods (that don’t
contain cheap chemical colorings, appetite stimulants, fillers,
preservatives, etc.), we allow the body to naturally regulate how much
food it needs and when to stop eating.
- Tip #7: Use resources. There are SO many wonderful resources out there (books, foods, gadgets, etc.) aimed at getting YOU healthy.
- Tip #8: Join a challenge group. For many of us, it
helps to have support and encouragement from others when making a major
lifestyle switch. That’s why it can be very beneficial to join a
challenge group that comes with built-in support when making the shift
towards real food.
- Tip #9: Don’t beat yourself up. You WILL make mistakes. It’s going to happen. Don’t be too hard on yourself when it does.
Instead, try to understand the
factors that led to you eating and think about how to better prepare
yourself next time. And if all it comes down to is that you, as an
adult, chose to eat something that wasn’t necessarily the best thing for
you, who cares! Accept it and move on
12:18:00 PM
