Transforming your diet and yourself starts with three crucial words: EAT REAL FOOD.
How to transform your diet?
- Transform your kitchen into a place of nourishment and healing, remove all the sugary and highly processed foods that hold your weight and health hostage.
- Stock up on real foods: fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and lean animal proteins like fish, chicken, and eggs.
The seven simple changes below will transform your diet step by step without radically changing your lifestyle.
Replace breakfast with a protein smoothie
Instead of a “dessert” try a protein shake for your breakfast. Stay away from the easy solution offered by packaged cookies, cakes and pancakes. It will stoke your metabolic fire, helping you burn more calories throughout the day. It will also keep your blood sugar balanced and your energy high, no more droopy eyes in the office or long yawns.
You could blend superfoods like kale, and kiwi with proteins like walnuts and hemp seeds. Add some healthy fats like avocado or coconut, and finish it off with some phytonutrients like berries or mango.
Upgrade your meat and eggs
Avoid hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and mercury from grain-fed meats, chicken eggs, and commercial fish. Instead, look for products from pasture-raised, grass-fed and free-range animals. Shop for fish from small, wild or sustainable farms. Don’t worry about restricting yourself to egg whites. Yolks contain vitamins and fats that help brain function and ultimately your mood!
Replace gluten starches with green vegetables
Gluten, a protein in wheat, barley, rye, and some oats, can cause problems for some people, but even gluten-free grains spike blood sugar and insulin. To prevent weight gain and diabetes, swap the starch on your plate for a leafy or cruciferous vegetable.
Replace bad oils with good oils
Too many of our calories come from corn, soybean, canola and sunflower oils, which contain unhealthy omega-6 fats. Instead, use extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), or extra virgin coconut butter/oil for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Oils with a high polyphenol content such as olive oil (always check the nutrient label as oils significantly differ depending on origin and extraction method) can help prevent degenerative diseases such as cancer and prevent cardiovascular diseases from developing.
Coconut butter and oil are rich in lauric acid, a healthy fat found in breast milk. For high-heat cooking, grapeseed oil is also a safe option.
Replace bad fats with healthy fats
Choose healthy, anti-inflammatory fats. Examples of a good serving of healthy fats are ¼ of an avocado, 1 serving of wild-caught salmon, grass-fed beef, nut butter (like almond or cashew) and seed butter.
Replace processed snacks with nuts
Eliminate sugary, processed snacks in your diet and opt for a raw or lightly roasted, unsalted nu variety (almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts or pecans). They’ll fill you up with protein, fiber, minerals and good fats. Avoid nuts prepared in oil. Enjoy 1-2 handfuls (10-12 nuts each) once or twice a day in between meals or whenever you feel a light snack is necessary.
Replace coffee with green tea
Switch from coffee to green tea to benefit from healthy antioxidants and stick to one to three cups per day maximum. If you find it very hard to do try and opt for an organically grown natural coffee variety such as an espresso with no added sugar.
Say goodbye to all the bad temptations in your kitchen
Don’t feel bad for anything you throw out which is a threat to your health and nutrition. You are not wasting money, but rather saving it in costs for treatments and medication in the future.
Now that you are on the right track, to avoid stepping into any internet diet traps read about the 7 most common diet myths that people fall for.
