How many times have you tried a fad diet that failed? You stick with it for a few days, maybe even weeks or a month but ultimately it wasn't sustainable. Then you fall into that feeling of "nothing will work for me!" There is a reason why those "diets" don't work. They are too restricting and full of rules that make it difficult to stick with long term. Why set yourself up for failure? Girl, I got you.
I want to share with you an approach that I have successfully seen clients increase energy, lose weight, lower blood pressure, and improve so many other symptoms by using this simple yet effective style of eating. This is my personal favorite guideline and I have been following it for the majority of my twenties.
It is actually quite simple! The solution is to eat real foods that are in their truest form also known as whole food.
Sounds simple enough, but what does that mean exactly?
A real whole foods approach is this:
eat all varieties of plants
eat high-quality protein
eat anything that has not been processed or tampered with in a factory
eat things that can be picked, harvested, or dug up
If it hasn't been processed or refined, it is a whole food! I don't mean eat all of these things raw-I mean COOK with REAL foods! Eating minimally processed foods automatically cuts out a lot of unnatural items that you might be eating on the regular.
Some examples of real whole foods are;
every type of fruit
every type of vegetable
nuts & seeds
leafy greens
eggs
quality protein; organic salmon, organic chicken, grass-fed beef
legumes aka beans, chickpeas, lentils
potatoes
squash
whole grains; quinoa, brown rice, oats
leafy greens/lettuces
This might not seem like a large variety but believe me, it is! You can make incredible tasting foods with all whole food ingredients. Even things like lasagna, chicken pot pie, and pasta can be made with whole food substitutes that taste even better than the traditional recipes-PLUS they won't make you feel bloated or low energy after.
Things like white flour products, dairy, white sugar, chips, crackers, white pasta have been processed and stripped of almost all nutritional value. This is why I highly encourage my clients to eat a whole foods style approach.
By eating this way, it doesn't mean you can't eat things like bread, crackers, or cookies. It merely encourages you to make your own out of whole foods products the majority of the time. I like to eat about 80-90% whole foods with the other 10-20% open for whatever else I feel like. If you are unsure if something is a whole food, take these steps:
is it packaged?
what are in the ingredients? the fewer ingredients, the less it has tampered with an example; canned coconut milk is packaged, if the label is pure coconut milk then you are good to go
Look for added sugars like high fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, sugar, and preservatives like benzoates (such as sodium benzoate, benzoic acid), Nitrites (such as sodium nitrite), sulphites (such as sulphur dioxide), sorbates (such as sodium sorbate, potassium sorbate
Try eating only whole foods this week and see how you feel! If that seems like too much at once, try eating all whole foods for dinner for one week. You can find a variety of whole food recipes on my recipes page.
Some examples for a day of eating whole foods:
Breakfast: Oatmeal, smoothie, or eggs
Lunch: Salad, health bowl, or leftovers from the night before
Dinner: Spaghetti squash with meatballs and fresh basil
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All the best!
Emily J
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