Change your eating habits.

Ok, let's get one thing straight. I love food. I love restaurants, I love eating, cooking, baking, drinking.... I love indulging. Devouring a dessert. Smashing on a cheeseburger. Gorging at a sushi buffet. Delicious might be my favorite word. I am a foodie. I am obsessed, and I'm not exaggerating.

You get it? 

I always find myself saying this because I am also what people call kiiiiiind of a health nut. In LA I'm not really a health nut, but in Youngstown Ohio where no one is a health nut, I'm the nuttiest of all. I do the whole, ezekiel bread, brown rice pasta, wheatgrass, raw veggies, smoothies, chia / hemp / flax seeds, green tea thing. I don't eat bread or drink milk. (And only occasionally will I "cheat" and eat baked goods with flour. But, sidenote, I have an awesome chocolate cake recipe with no flour. I'll be posting it soon!) 

So, the point is, if I can do this, you probably can too. I'm not superhuman, I don't starve myself, I'm still the hungriest person at any dining event (picnics, banquets, you name it.) and I think about what I'm going to eat next all day long. If I can figure out a way to live life and eat good food without getting fat, so can you.

Excuses

I've learned that it's very common for people who are unhappy with their health and their bodies to make excuses for why they can't clean up their eating habits. See if you can relate to a few of these:

"I don't want to give up certain foods" But I loooove cheese!!

"It's too expensive to eat clean." Organic peanut butter is like, a dollar more.

"I wouldn't know where to start anyway." It's too hard.

I thought this way too, so don't feel bad if you agree with all three of them. 

If you want it bad enough, you can do this. It does take a little extra effort, some learning new things and trying new things and coming out on the other side of your journey with new habits, a new lifestyle, and a better body. (And better skin, hair, energy levels, sleep patterns... you get the picture.)

And as far as it being "too expensive" to eat healthy, sometimes clean/nutritious products can cost a little more in the grocery store, but usually since you're preparing your meals at home you're actually saving money in the long run. But even if you didn't-- even if it cost, say, 50% more-- would you not pay it? Would you rather spend your money on something else? If so, what? Not me, my health is a priority! What else do you have in this world besides a body? Tell me you agree with me?

Sorry, I'm passionate about that one.

So, if you're willing to embark on a journey where you'll eat new foods, cook stuff, try new things, step out of the box a little, then keep reading. If you're not ready, bookmark this and come back to it when you are.

Below are five of what I believe to be the most important steps in changing your eating habits.

#1. Baby Steps. Feeding your body clean, nutrient-rich food is your ultimate goal, but trashing your entire fridge and stocking up on kale and brussels sprouts and nothing else is only going to make you freak out.

#2. New foods. Incorporate superfoods and healthy substitutions gradually (remember step one, guys). Find stuff that you like. Try different things in different recipes. Soon enough you’ll have built up a giant arsenal of healthy foods that you enjoy eating, and the good stuff will crowd out the bad stuff. Don't know where to start? Google healthy recipes. Make a Pinterest account. Buy a cookbook. It's not hard. 

#3. Write a menu for your house. This one might not be your style, but I find that it helps. We keep a “menu” (which is actually just a ten-cent notebook) that’s separated into sections: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks. Any time we like a new recipe we stick it in there. If you’re feeling uninspired or need to plan your meals for the week, flip through it. Literally, under snacks, I even have listed things like “kind bars” “blended almond milk and ice” and “frozen blueberries.” Clearly not recipes at all, but it makes it seem a little less overwhelming to have it all consolidated and find inspiration before a grocery store trip. (Maybe this is a little OCD?)

#4. Cut out the bad stuff. Once you’ve found new things that you like, start banishing all the bad stuff. Common sense goes a long way when determining “good food” vs. “bad food”, but a lot of things that seem good aren’t. At this point it can begin to seem like nothing is ok to eat, so if you skipped the “try new foods” part, you’re in trouble.

#5. Indulge, but don’t over-indulge. You are not to deny yourself or starve yourself. Seriously. So, if you're like me, this is the part where substitutions will come into play. (Expect a post about some of my favorite substitutions this week!) When I’m craving dessert, I can often get away with eating a fat-free sugar-free pudding cup, some frozen greek yogurt, or a piece of dark chocolate. 

Awwwwwww yeeeeaaaah.