Hey ladies, my journey to eating clean (avoiding procesessed foods and eating food in a natural state) has been enlightening. I want to share some of the things that I have learned. Also pick up a copy of People Magazine! I am in the July 19th issue!!!!!!
Most of you know the feeling: you open a bag of your favorite chips (or your food of choice) for a little snack and next thing you know you ate 2-3x the amount you wanted too. At some point you loss control and you are no longer eating because you want to or because you are hungry. Take some time to observe if this happens to you and what type of food this happens with. If you are like me this only happens with processed foods, typically junk foods. I don't think people lose control when eating a bowl of broccoli or even a bowl grapes. Have you ever thought about why that is? In my opinion there is something in these processed sweet and salty foods that makes you lose control. Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist but all those artificial ingredients may be associated with your loss of control feeling. Think about it you lose control when eating a bag of Doritos so you buy more, that leads to a nice profit for the company.
If you are tired of feeling like you are not in control then try to avoid processed foods (no refined sugar, no white flour, etc.) . I know that sounds really difficult but it gets easier with time. Please do NOT think just because you can't have white flour or sugar you can't eat good food. There are so many healthy great tasting things you can eat! Consider Dr. Ian Smith's Fat Smash diet there are so many recipes and support online. Everyday I become more and more creative and I come up with new recipes and healthy ideas that makes eating healthy easier for me. To give you an idea here are a couple of changes I made over the past month.
1. I switched from quick oats to the rolled kind, I make a big batch (2 cups) that lasts for the week. I sweeten it with 1 banana and berries (feel free to add your fav. fruit and cinnamon). I also add flaxseed meal to it. It tastes great and no sugar is necessary!
2. I love popcorn but microwave popcorn has all that fake stuff! Did you know you can make your own microwave popcorn. It's much healthier that way, it's all cheaper than store bought and just as quick, click here to see how
3. I switched my artificially flavored yogurt to plain greek yogurt. I add my own fruit, just throw some blueberries in it and it's delicious!
4. I don't really have sweet tooth any more, but when I go to the movies or a place everyone will be having junk food or dessert I usually bring a LaraBar or Jocalat bar (just in case). These bars are delicious and they have no added sugar and most varieties have 4 or less ingredients. They are really are delicious. Whole foods carries them for about $1.25. You have to try one....they are so good I may do review post just for them!
What healthy swaps have you made to avoid processed foods?
