Listen!
As my friend Erika Ford said recently, “Our bodies are hard wired to communicate with us”. Are you listening to yours? How do you feel after you eat processed foods vs whole, real foods? How do you feel when you eat chips, bread or cookies vs veggies or fruit? It takes practice, but if you pay close attention, you’ll notice that your body feels lighter and more energized when you chose the real foods over the chemically altered ones. This is your body telling you what it likes! Listen ☼
I always say that perfection is not the goal, but improvement is always possible. Start with one of the following:
- Read labels in the store and choose the products with fewer and more pronounceable ingredients.
- Choose fresh over packaged food whenever possible, with one exception: frozen vegetables and fruit are often fresh-frozen and as long as there is no added sugar, etc, frozen can be a great substitute for fresh.
- Small changes add up to great health so start substituting healthier options when your current items run out. For instance, I have started replacing my spices (like cinnamon, garlic salt, etc) with organic ones. They last a long time, and I know that I’m getting fewer chemicals in me by using them. (I do this same thing with light bulbs! When one blows, I replace it with an energy saving bulb and slowly all the bulbs in my house have been replaced, therefore saving me money!)
- Replace your cooking spray (are you still using Pam?) with a purer one. Try to find a coconut oil or sunflower oil spray that has very few other ingredients in it, unlike some sprays that have the equivalent of hairspray chemicals in them. You can also buy an olive oil sprayer, fill it yourself with quality olive oil, and use that! Or use real butter to grease the pan. It’s pure and much healthier than many sprays out there.
I’ll stop here so that you can get started with one or more of these tips, and I’ll add more soon. Let me know if you’ve got a good tip to help us all be healthier and listen to our bodies ☺
