Do you ever feel that pang of envy? Like every single person except you has figured out the easy healthy eating secrets?
Well, envy no more!
With this short post, you’ll have it figured out too. Get ready to learn 3 quick and easy healthy eating secrets (the ones that I share with my new clients on day 1).
1 Keep Eating Your Favorite Foods
When I meet with new clients, the first thing people ask is, “What food am I gonna have to give up?”
And then they instantly tell me their favorite foods – and how they’re afraid they can’t give it up.
This is the primary reason I don’t believe giving up your very favorite food should be the number one (or the 2nd or the 3rd) item on the list.
Fear of loss is common with lifestyle changes.
So instead, use this effective, but easy, healthy eating secret that puts you on the right track without a big, difficult change.
The strategy (my favorite of these easy healthy eating secrets) is measuring the volume of food you are serving for meal and snack times.
You can do this, very simply, by using measuring cups
and an inexpensive digital food scale.
These tools give you a big advantage when you start eating healthy because you can reduce the caloric intake without changing ANY of the food you are eating (or serving).
Plus, you might be like most of my clients. You want to help your family eat healthier too. You already know it’s a little unrealistic to expect your whole family to give up their favorite foods in the first month or two.
Measuring food portions is a great first step.
2. Invite God Into the Process (the Most Powerful of my Easy Healthy Eating Secrets)
Many people feel completely overwhelmed with lifestyle or diet changes. I like to work with Christians because their faith can become part of the process.
One of my favorite verses to share with a new family on the first day is Psalm 139: 13-14. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (NIV).
It is important to recognize how much God loves you. From the way you are created, to how God knows exactly what you struggle with today. He knows and loves you deeply.
Bringing God into the process will help you with mindfulness as well as also provide an awakening (or a reminder) of how much God loves all aspects of you.
Therefore, I want to encourage you to say grace before eating meals.
But I also want to advocate that you to say a quick word of thanks when you are:
- Making grocery shopping lists
- While you are at the store shopping for groceries
- During the preparation of your food.
These short times of thanks and praise bring God into your healthy eating process and remind you to put The Lord first.
Doing this helps to quiet your unhealthy desires that threaten the healthy eating process – especially in the early starting part!
3. Repurpose the Less Healthy Pantry Items
When my clients hear me say this, they do look at me kind of funny.
But, then I tell them to stop buying the worst of the junk food (not their favorite) first thing because nobody will miss it.
You see, depending on the family’s current diet, I set a goal to reduce their family’s fat, sugar or sodium (salt) intake.
I teach them how to read food labels, starting with the issue that most impacts their health.
For example, if you voice a concern about your doctor telling you about your high blood sugar, (or maybe that it runs in your family) and you have a pantry full of high sugar foods, we start with setting a goal to reduce the sugar intake in yours and your family’s diet.
I would tell you, starting asap, to aim at buying only the grocery items that have ≤10 sugar grams on the label. (Typically in this scenario, the items in your pantry have >20 or 25 grams of sugar).
So you could stop buying the high sugar grocery items like pre-packaged cupcakes or ‘fruit chews’.
Then you could use things you probably already have, like your sugary cereal or frozen waffles for sweet treats instead of the other highest sugary foods you were previously buying and serving your family.
It’s a more comfortable way to wean off of the sugary foods and switch to better options – without breaking the bank.
And that’s 3 secrets. Just like that, you’ve just learned 3 easy healthy eating secrets. Yay!
Yes, I know it can be difficult to begin the healthier eating journey. But now YOU too have the insider knowledge. I encourage you to start implementing these 3 easy strategies this week to begin your healthy eating journey with more confidence and waaayyy less envy! I believe you can do it, and I believe in you!
Be sure to grab your FREE Self-care Starter Guide! Lisa Kimrey is a 33-year veteran registered nurse (RN), speaker, and author of the Bible study, The Self-care Impact: Motivation and Inspiration for Wellness. At Mylifenurse, Lisa combines her nursing expertise with Scripture-based encouragement to show readers who serve and care for others how to begin and maintain their self-care journey – without feeling guilty or overwhelmed – to feel happy, healthy, and rejuvenated.