How to Eat Healthy Consistently

When it comes to eating healthy, one of the questions we get asked most frequently is “How do I eat healthy all of the time?”. It seems a lot of people know what to do, but tend to let those healthy habits slide when feeling stressed, overworked, or when the weekend hits.

Today I want to share some ideas to help you get into a good groove with your health.

Whether you’re just getting started or…

If you’ve been on the healthy eating wagon for a while now, this post will provide some useful tips to help you become more consistent.

6 Tips to Eat Healthy Consistently

#1 – Make it Enjoyable

In my experience the best way to stick with something for the long haul is to make it fun. You actually have to LIKE the way you’re eating. I see people every day on my personal FB page complaining about the diet they’re on how they miss X, Y & Z. Eating like that is pointless, if all you can think about is what you can’t have, you’ll NEVER make it.

Peter and I eat a large salad for one of our meals every single day. And on the day’s when I really don’t want salad, I make an effort to make that salad so delicious I can’t help but love it. I’ll add things like avocados, sunflower sprouts, candied walnuts, fresh strawberries and the most delicious “Honey” Mustard Dressing.

Get your family involved-Farmers Market -Healthy Eating

How To Do It

Spend some time in the kitchen each week improving your skills.
Learn how to make classics like pizza, and cookies healthier
Get your family & friends involved, challenge your spouse or kids to help you make a healthy meal that everyone likes.
Find a healthy restaurant in your neighborhood to visit, and then the following week try recreating that meal at home.

#2 – Kick Cravings & Retrain your Tastebuds

You might currently be cravings sweet treats, junk food and a little too much bread. Those cravings make it really hard to stick to any type of clean eating regime. If that’s the case for you, I highly suggest you start by doing a little cleanse or detox. I just hosted (and participated) in a 7-Day Advanced Real Food Cleanse, where we cut out grains, sugar and loaded up on fresh vegetable juice. It was amazing!

Now, my smoothies need less fruit and I’m perfectly satisfied snacking on raw vegetables instead of my old favorite – sweet potato chips. It only took 7 days for the ladies in my cleanse to retrain their tastebuds. Trust me, you can do anything for 7 days :)

How To Do It

Sign-up for a Real Food Cleanse. If you haven’t already, try our 10-Day Beginner Cleanse.
Increase your consumption of raw fruits and vegetables. Juicing & blending is a great way to do that.
Cut out processed foods – the best way to do this is to top buying them.
Start cooking more and eating out less – cooking at home means more nutrients and less calories from oils and sugar.

#3 – Get Inspired & Keep it Interesting

If you really want to stick with this lifestyle for good, you have to make an effort to keep it interesting. You can’t eat the same thing week after week – for 1, it’s boring and for 2, you’ll be missing out on a lot of nutrients from the other foods you’re not eating. You have to switch up your meal plan and recipes often. Peter and I have a few meals we eat each week but at least twice a week we’re making something new.

Make healthy eating fun- gluten free pizza

How To Do It

Follow others who eat healthy – We post a bunch of ideas every week in our FB Group.
Instagram – It’s a hub of healthy recipes and meal ideas. I’m always getting ideas from this platform.
Bookmark your favorite recipes – I’m always sending myself recipes I find online, I suggest you do the same.
Healthy Cookbooks – We love the Oh She Glows Cookbook & 1000 Vegan Recipes Cookbook.

#4 – Pay Attention to How you Feel

One reason Peter and I have been able to stick with our healthy diet for so long is because of how we feel. We feel so good eating this way. Before changing my diet back in 2010, I had the worst digestion problems and we both had really low energy. If you take note of how great healthy food makes you feel, and how poorly you feel when you eat junk, you’re more likely to stick to the healthy side.

How To Do It

Keep a Journal – You don’t have to keep a food dairy per say. Simply write down how you’re feeling each day.
Be more Conscious – About what you’re eating and how you’re feeling. No mindless eating.
Take Progress Photos of Yourself – This is a great way to see how far you’ve come. Once you start seeing results – you won’t want to go back to eating junk.

#5 – Move Your Body

Movement and exercise are so good for maintaining healthy habits. On one hand, they distract you and keep you from eating when you’re bored. On the other hand, when you move your body you increase the production of endorphins, and boost serotonin levels which helps you ward off sugar cravings and gravitate towards healthier foods.

How To Do It

Plan out your workouts ahead of time.
Work out in the morning as much as you can (before the day sneaks up on you!).
Get in what you can fit in (Something/anything is better then nothing).
Find something you love – Keep trying new things until you find a workout that sticks

#6 – Get Plenty of Rest

It’s hard to eat healthy and workout when you’re tired. Your body will be looking for something to lean on, and when you’re tired you’ll be naturally drawn towards sugar, refined flours and caffeine. The best way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to get 7-8 hours of sleep each night; if that isn’t an option, instead of snacking on sugar, take a 20 minute power nap.

How To Do It

Go to bed earlier – Don’t watch another show, don’t check Facebook , just go to bed.
Start winding down 30 minutes before bed – wash your face, brush your teeth, etc.
Cut out the late afternoon coffee & caffeine – switch to water and herbal tea.
Don’t overbook yourself – practice saying no.

Staying consistent with a healthy lifestyle takes work, planning, and some serious effort on your part.

But, it’s SO worth it!

Once you start feeling the benefits, you’ll never want to go back to your unhealthy ways.