Where the heck do I start?
Hey Hey Diva friends!
I know. It can be overwhelming. Gluten free, Keto, Low carb, High fat, low fat, macros, portion control....WHERE DO I START?!?!?! What diet is right for me?! How in the world are you supposed to know where to start when there is so much conflicting information out there?!
Well today I'm going to give you 3 mindset shifts that I hope will allow you to being trusting yourself more and listening to your body for the answers....
1) Eat Real Food
Intuitively, we know this is the right answer don't we? Like deep in our CORE we know that a weight watchers lasagna dinner isn't as good for you as a sweet potato with broccoli and beef roast.
In our heart of hearts, we know that our bodies are begging for real food and normally what hinders us from jumping on the bandwagon wholeheartedly is convenience. Right? That meal that's mailed to our door is convenience. McDonald's is convenience. Frozen diet food is convenience. But if we stop and check in with ourselves and step back for a minute....are any of those providing VALUE?
Besides convenience, are those foods worth anything? Do they help build my heart, my lungs, my brain? Do they support my hormones, my moods, my energy? Do they help me prevent cancer, alzheimers, dementia and diabetes? If the answer is no well....then we need to make some changes.
Here is the one question you need to determine if something should go into your mouth:
"Did it come from nature? Or did it come from a factory?"
If it came from nature, or is a combination of things from nature (aka lara bars as an example - 2-6 whole food ingredients that you could technically make at home) then have at it. If it's from a factory and packed full of sugar, chemicals, preservatives or "other"...well...you know what to do ( or in this case, what NOT to do...)
2) No macro is bad
Macro is short for macronutrient. The main three nutrients that our diet is comprised of: Carbs, Fat, and Protein. Depending on which diet you've been on in the past, (maybe all of them like me!) you've probably vilified one or all macronutrients at some point. "Don't eat carbs you'll blow up! Don't eat too much protein, don't eat fat ever!".....All of that is garbage.
Your body needs all three macros. Desperately. Let me say that another way. Your body is in dire need of carbohydrates. It's fueled on fat, and it builds and maintains muscles with protein. Don't ever fall prey to a fad that tells you any of the macros are inherently bad.
Here's the catch. You have to follow step #1 in order for step #2 to be true. If you are eating a processed standard American diet then yes - carbs are garbage.
Processed foods are the entire reason we HAVE a diet industry in the first place. With processed foods you HAVE to portion control and calorie count.
If you don't, you'll blow up like a balloon from all the sugar, hydrogenated trans fats, hybridized grains, and so forth...
When you eat real food none of that happens. So stop weighing your carbs, and counting your pistachios....carbs and fat are good for you. Did they come from nature? Or did they come from a box?
3) Think minimums not maximums
We are SO USED to this restrictive mentality. What's mind-blowing about all of this is how much it resembles a hamster wheel! Processed foods make me crave more processed foods - they light up my brain like a motherboard stimulating appetite, addiction, and belly fat....so in order to control my weight, my appetite and my cravings I must measure, weight, and count my food... I must CONTROL and not go beyond my MAXIMUM......
BUT! When you jump OFF the hamster wheel of dieting and choose real foods that feed your brain, balance your hormones, stabilize your moods, quench your appetite send the proper hunger and full signals....you can then begin to view food as a GIFT. You can begin to view food as something that SERVES you instead of ENSLAVING YOU. You can then being thinking "How much of this does my body need? How can I get more of this into my body?"
Start thinking about #YOUTRITION not deprivation. Believe it or not, many many people I work with are under eaters. They beat themselves up because they are overweight (not understanding the hamster wheel yet) and think they must have no self control. While occasionally it might be a case of "get-off-the-couch- and-get-your-life-together", more often it's simply a case of the wrong foods wreaking havoc on your brain, your metabolism, your hunger, and your appetite. Get those foods out and watch the weight melt off, your moods balance, your energy increase, and your thinking become more clear. Essentially....a light bulb goes off and your body says, THANK YOU!
p.s. Would you like more support, tips, recipes, and monthly events? Join my FREE Facebook group: Stop Dieting and Live Your Life today!!
