Did you ever ask yourself this question? There is so much information out there, you could go crazy trying to understand it. Growing up, I learned you want food to be low fat. Fat was public enemy number one! Then salt was horrible. That was followed by sugar. 

Go paleo, no keto, or vegan. Count calories; eat just cabbage; start intermittent fasting? Don’t even get me started on eggs. They are good for you. Then they aren’t. Then they are again. I can’t even remember all the different diets and fads I heard about. Some had good points and were legitimate, but many were just insane. 

But how do you know? What if I really want to eat healthy but have no idea how?!? Where do I begin?

The truth is, that the answer is different for each of us. For some people, vegetarianism might be great, and for others it isn’t. Some people might feel really good staying off carbs, and others don’t. We are all different and that is part of what makes us beautiful and interesting. But there are a few golden rules that will always apply:

General Rules of Eating Healthy:

1. Don’t diet. They don’t work anyway 95% of the time and then you feel more miserable than before you started. There is a lot of science explaining why diets don’t work, and guess what, it is NOT because you are a failure. It is because the diet is.
2. Eat vegetables. Lots of them. In fact, the more the better, go for all the colors. Paint that healthy food rainbow on your plate and have fun doing it! 
3. Stay hydrated. All living things, including humans, need water. Up to 60% of our body is made up of water , so drink water throughout the day.
4. Eat mostly nutritious whole foods. This means foods that don’t need labels to tell you what they are. They are all natural and will give your body nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. 
5. Limit sugar, alcohol, cigarettes. Sorry, those actually are bad guys.
6. Reduce processed food. The primary interest of food companies is to make money, not to keep us healthy and strong. If you don’t know what’s in something or what the long label of ingredients means, then reduce how much of it you eat. 

Choosing a Diet

These things could seem daunting and difficult to do. But what if we did it from a place of self love and not a place of deprivation? You don’t need to do everything now all at once. Maybe try one small step initially. Eat a fruit you enjoy in the morning, or add a salad for lunch. What if every time you took a bite of something healthy, you thought of it as giving your body fuel, the energy it needs to survive and thrive? What if we looked at healthy food from a place of joy and creativity? 

Eating healthy also means, enjoying the food you’re eating; recognizing that you are doing something caring for yourself. We all deserve to feel good. One of the ways in which we can do that is by treating our body, mind, and soul with self- love and self-compassion, being mindful of what is on our plate and going in our mouth.

To learn more about eating healthy, living well, feeling good, and being happy, contact me, and keep visiting.