Cleaning up your act

It is 2014! And so far, so good.

If you checked out my last post, you will know that I am not really into conventional resolutions. I'm also not that into extreme diets or restrictive eating to lose weight - even after periods of prolonged periods of pigging out   (aka my Christmas break).

But if you have been slacking off on the diet front, the new year is a great time to get back into healthy eating.

If it's this green, it has GOT to be good.

So if healthy eating is one of your goals for 2014, here are a few tips to keep you on the wagon:

1. Don't try to do it all at once! If you have accumulated a whole bunch of bad habits, don't try to ditch them all at once - you will most likely feel overwhelmed and give up if you do. Pick the worst habit - maybe drinking too much alcohol or coffee or eating too much fried or sugary foods - and work on removing that one first. Once you get a handle on that one, you will feel more accomplished and ready to start tackling the rest of your habits. Just tweaking your diet like this over time can create massive changes that are more likely to last. 
2. Focus on the good stuff. If you only focus on the things that you can't eat any more, you are only going to be miserable. Which means that you will probably not want to keep going. Instead, treat the goal of healthy eating as a positive. Learn new recipes, try new foods, read up on nutrition and how you can use food as fuel and to heal. Get excited about your new path and you will want to keep it up.
3. Don't rely on exercise alone. If you want to be healthy and to feel great, it doesn't matter how much yoga, running or sessions at the gym you do, you won't feel great. Even if you happen to lose weight or you are already naturally thin, if you eat junk, you will feel crap. Your body needs nutrient-dense, whole foods to feel great - so fuel your body with lots of healthy foods, mostly plants, in as close to their natural state as possible. 
4. Be wary of crazy diets. While you are researching health and nutrition, you are bound to come across some weird diet plans. While it is interesting to read up on these and get inspiration and ideas, I would caution against following any one in particular. Especially if they tell you to avoid large, seemingly healthy food groups, like grains or fruit. Sure, you don't want to be eating all the white bread you can find - but there is no reason to avoid brown rice, oats or other whole grains completely (unless of course you have an intolerance or are allergic). And treat any diet that tells you not to eat mangoes or any other fruit with great suspicion (because seriously, if you can't enjoy mangoes in the summertime, what is the damn point?!?). 
5. You don't need pills or special shakes to be healthy. Diet pills and shakes are just short-term solutions and are full of chemicals. You don't need them. If you are eating a balanced diet based mostly on fresh vegetables, whole grains, pulses, nuts and seeds, you will start noticing results and feel amazing.  Also, Eating well doesn't have to be expensive - which might be hard to believe if you take any advice from Gwyneth Paltrow. Sure there are lots of amazing super foods out there that cost a bunch and come with all sorts of wonderful health claims, but they aren't essential to a healthy diet. Want to find health? Keep it clean and unprocessed - it is that easy. 
6. Drink lots of water! But you already knew that one, right?  

When in doubt, make a green smoothie! Filling, yummy and healthy as.

I am sure there are plenty of others but these ones seem the most important to me. Hopefully they are helpful in getting you back on the path of good health. And if you wander off the path at any point? No big deal. Just start back where you left off, remind yourself why it is that you are making health your priority, and don't dwell on the slip. Because slips happen. What matters is what you do afterwards.

Shanti!
xx