In today’s busy society we all desire to become healthier in our lives. To have a healthier body, and healthier skin, and to live a healthy and stress-free life.
For a lot of people though, the biggest problem isn’t knowing what to do, it’s actually doing what we know!
If all that was needed was to know “OK, I need to eat more vegetables and less sugar and processed foods,” then maybe we wouldn’t have as much diabetes or other diseases happening right now.
But unfortunately for a lot of us, it’s really hard to put what we know into action. Most of us try to make healthy choices when we’re shopping for food and skincare products, but unfortunately, our skin is still inflamed, our waistlines keep expanding, and our Doctors’ offices keep filling up.
A lot of us are going to our Doctors for medical treatments. We call it healthcare, but it’s actually disease symptom management. We’re not caring for our health; we’re dealing with symptoms of the disease after they happen.
For example, if you are trying to reduce your chances of getting diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease or Alzheimer’s, it doesn’t matter if you know what they are and how they are caused, but it does matter what you eat and how you live your life.
So what we can do, one of the key things we need is healthy habits. A lot of people get inspired, maybe they watch a powerful documentary series. They say, “I’m going to do this and put this into action. I’m going to change my life, lose that excess weight and clear up my skin. I’m going to eat well, and feel great.” But then you know what? Life happens. We get busy, and we live in a world with toxic food all around us and we’re surrounded by so many social influences.
We fall off the wagon because we’ve got habits that keep pulling us in the wrong direction.
Habits are like gravity. At the end of the day, they’re going to win. So habits are the path of least resistance, it’s what we know. The question is how can you create a path of healthy habits that are going to lead you down the road to lasting health?
That’s what I want for you. And that’s what you’ve got to create for yourself.
Some of the key steps are to look at where you shop, and shop in places that support health. Shop from your grocery list instead of getting caught up in impulse purchases. Plan ahead, cook in big quantities on the weekend or when you have some free time and make use of healthy leftovers on those busy nights.
Get others who are looking for healthy recipes involved, swap recipes with them or look online. Get a healthy eating supportive friend to help. If you want to make a change in your life, and you feel like you’re alone or you want/need some accountability, ask somebody if they’d be willing to be a healthy buddy for you in that process. Ask if you can count on them to return your calls so you both can share your successes and victories. And also, if you fall off the wagon, you can be accountable to them and let them know, and they can help cheer you on and help you develop a strategy to get back on track.
The same is true for exercise; a great step for you to take is to make an exercise date with someone. When you’re meeting somebody for a walk, a bike ride, or going to the gym, you’re a lot more likely to show up because you’ve got some accountability, and you’ll have some fun along the way too.
Find healthy habits that you can love, and in turn, those healthy foods and exercises will love you back.
Find healthy recipes that you and your family enjoy and can become part of your meal planning rotation, then you’ll begin to memorize them and you’ll make them more easily. Repetition creates healthy habits. Start following blogs that share lots of healthy recipes, ones that you will enjoy and want to make again. Getting those recipes built into your lifestyle is important to stay on your health plan.
The key thing is to look at your everyday lifestyle, the things you do day in and day out, and see if you can tweak it and adjust it to keep moving in a healthy direction. And remember, it’s the little things that you do day in and day out that make the biggest difference in the long run. So at the end of the day, it’s not about being perfect, because it isn’t perfection that shapes our lives, it’s our habits!
When I cleaned up my diet, cutting out processed sugar made a huge difference, not only in how I felt but also in my skin. Sugar contributes to the diseases I mentioned above as well as skin problems.
So I’m going to share with you one of my favorite recipes. I consider myself a chocoholic, (but a healthy one). I eat the darkest chocolate I can get, hello 100% cocoa!! Since I love to bake, I used to make brownies the traditional way-you know full of margarine, loads of white sugar and white flour, then more margarine and icing sugar on top. Talk about a highly processed snack!
I’m always looking for healthier versions of recipes, so here is one of my favorite brownie recipes that I want to share with you. It’s a black bean brownie and it’s amazing; just one small piece is great for pleasing that chocolate craving. I just made it on the weekend, see my picture below. Super yummy.
Please enjoy!!
Looking for healthy recipes, meal plans, and healthy habit guidance?
If you’re looking for some healthy recipes and habits, you may be interested in my 30-Day Reset Clean Eating Program which is designed to reduce the packaged, toxic foods you’re eating and replace them with clean, REAL foods. But it’s not just recipes and meal plans, it’s also tips, strategies, how-tos, food swaps, grocery shopping guides, food journals, exercise planners, and more to help you build those healthy habits!
To Your Health,
