5 Steps to Make Clean Eating Sustainable in 2023
Become Someone Who Eats Clean
What do you think about yourself? Do you think of yourself as a person who eats unhealthy, who hates healthy foods or who can’t lose weight? Whatever story you have repeated to yourself or others for years needs to be replaced with who you are becoming now. Talking and acting in ways that supports the person you want to become is key.
Ask yourself when faced with decisions throughout the day: “What would a healthy person do?” or insert whatever you’re becoming into that sentence, such as “what would a fit person do?” or “what would a person with great gut health eat?”, and do those things.
Your goal is not to eat more vegetables, it may be to become a healthy person who eats healthy foods.
Clean Up Your Environment First
One of the reasons you’ve likely failed at making clean eating last in the past, is that you didn’t set up your environment before starting. Creating an environment that encourages you to eat healthier foods instead of junk food can make or break your nutrition goals. It may seem obvious, but if you have chips around the house, you’re going to be more likely to eat them, right?!
Don’t skip this step, and think you can just rely on will power. Make it easier on yourself by taking some time in the next few days to clear out all the unhealthy foods in your fridge, freezer and pantry. Look for things like vegetable oils, processed sugars, processed grains and chemical additives. Put them in a bag, donate them, or at least get them out of sight!
Done that? Now make it easy to succeed by restocking your kitchen with healthy, whole-food ingredients.
Don’t Go It Alone!
It’s tempting to just purchase a meal plan or a new fad cook book and pinterest your way to clean eating. But take it from us… This doesn’t work!! What separates the people who are successful in their clean eating journey and those who aren’t?
SUPPORT.
Support from a friend or family member is great, but we find that clients who come see us have tried it on their own and are ready to make sustainable, lasting change. That kind of change often only happens when you are finally ready to invest in an expert for help.
Don’t Cut Calories!
Oftentimes when people try to lose weight, they just cut calories, which isn’t the answer to sustainable change. Why not? As you’ll quickly find out, you’ll be starving! Just cutting calories or reducing fat is a disaster for weight loss and health in general.
Instead, do these things:
Focus on getting 2-3 filling, balanced, whole-food meals each day
ADD more of the good fats, like coconut oil, avocado, wild fatty salmon and fatty grass-fed beef, as you reduce the unhealthy fats like fried foods and canola oil.
Keep your protein intake up, along with healthy fats, to help ward off cravings and keep your blood sugar balanced.
Replace the refined carbs and sugars with complex, whole food carbs like quinoa and sweet potatoes.
Keep healthier snacks with protein and fat on hand for at least 2 weeks when you first start eating clean.
Get On The Same Page
It’s often to recommended when starting new habits to NOT tell people what you’re doing just yet. But you will want to tell the people you’re regularly around, so that way they know not to tempt you with chips, sugar, chocolate and baking. Have a conversation with your family members so they can understand why making these changes is important to you and share how they can support you.
Ready to make sustainable change in 2023? Awesome, we’re ready to help you!
Sources:
Atomic Habits by James Clear
