What’s the hardest part you find when you want to do something such as cleaning your closet or organizing the garage?
STARTING IT !
It’s an idea: I need to clean the closet. Then it’s planning : first I need to get boxes, donate the clothes I don’t wear anymore, and the shoes that are too old. Then your girlfriend texts you and wants to meet up at the trampoline park for a playdate.
So you ditch cleaning the closet idea coz let’s face it trampoline park and gossip are way more fun than cleaning! Right? I hear ya ! So now you have moved on to the excuses phase and delaying. I don’t have time anymore, I can’t clean my closet today, or tomorrow.
Maybe I;ll wait for some magic tool that someone will create and then it’ll get cleaned by itself. I hate to break it to you, it’s not going to happen. Unless YOU actually begin cleaning the closet, it’ll not clean itself.
Cleaning your body from the processed and sugary food you’ve been eating which is causing you to get sick with migraine headaches, sinus infections, bloating and feeling like you have been hit by a bus, isn’t going to happen by itself. You have to do it. Not me ( I already did it girl) , or your girlfriend who drinks smoothies daily. YOU! and guess what YOU CAN DO IT with the 4 baby steps- say hello health and goodbye sick days:
Step 1: Educate yourself and your family
Before jumping into anything, research, read books, watch YouTube videos, and follow people on Instagram and Facebook. Share everything that you learn with your significant other, kids and immediate family. Fad diets don’t work because people don’t educate themselves about them. This is a lifestyle change! If you’re not 10,000 % convinced that you want to change then there’s no power on earth that’ll make you change. Read what’s in the food you are eating! Pick an ingredient that’s hard to pronounce and look it up on google. Google will tell ya what it does to the body.
Step 2: Remove and Replace:
Next step is to remove processed foods, canned foods, foods high in sugar ( read the label) from your home and replace them with fresh fruits, vegetables and grains. Think more fresh, less packaged.
- Drink smoothies and juices especially for breakfast, it’ll help you kick that coffee habit to the curb. Try to eat new vegetables, fill your plates with color from nature ( cucumbers, lettuce, bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots- the rainbow)
- Replace table salt with sea salt, Himalayan salt.
- Ditch the processed sugar and use real non gmo sugar.
- Start experimenting with spices like oregano, ginger, cumin, etc… in your cooking. Spice up your cooking, literally this time. You’ll see what a little bit of cumin can do to your veggie soup.
- Read the labels – It’s really important. If you can’t pronounce it then your body won’t recognize it. Consider buying food that has less than 5 ingredients. For example pasta doesn’t really need a million ingredient, a few will be enough.
- Replace canola oil with organic coconut oil, unfiltered olive oil, grape seed oil or avocado oil.
- Consider decreasing animal products: instead of eating chicken 4 times a week, eat it two times a week. Animal products cause inflammation in the body, inflammation causes fatigue, more sick days and all sorts of aches in the body.
- If you eat processed meat, consider buying organic without nitrates and nitrites. Again, I can’t tell you how much decreasing animal products will benefit your body. Please note, I’m not telling you not to eat animal products, just eat less of it.
- It’s not only what we put in our body, it’s what we put on our body like shampoos, body wash, deodorant, lip balms, toothpaste. Consider replacing those with all naturally handmade, fair trade, cruelty free, non gmo bath products. Remember, baby steps are key to success. It’ll take you months and maybe even years to transition. To know which products are less harmful than others, go to www.ewg.org/skindeep and type the name of the product you use and it’ll tell you the effect it has on your body.
- Replace your Teflon pots and pans with cast iron pots and pans.
- Cook more, involve the kids and your significant other in the cooking process. They can’t read your mind! If you want help, ask for it. They’ll help you and they’ll eat what they cook.
Step 3: Lead by example and don’t give up.
When you start feeling the benefits of the first two steps, you immediately want your kids and your spouse to jump on the healthy wagon just like you. NEWSFLASH! It’ll not happen if you force them. You can’t force anyone or even convince them into becoming healthy. By changing yourself, being consistent and showing them good eating habits they’ll follow you.
It took my husband 4 years to get on the wagon with me. Your significant other may need more or less time. Your kids usually follow you the fastest since your are the mommy. They want to eat and drink like mommy. My kids started drinking smoothies only after they saw me consistently drink them.
Step 4: CLEAN
With a healthy lifestyle “comes great responsibilities”-Spider man style! Try surrounding yourself with people who lift you up, support you and encourage you. Last thing you want is a jealous friend who makes fun of your gigantic salad that you take to work daily while she is munching on doughnuts. Those negative friends gotta go my dear. You may not want to stop talking to them completely but consider a tiny break from them and see if it helps. Read inspirational books, and inspirational quotes ( put them at work , on the fridge, on your bedroom door, or on your bathroom mirror ).
Leading a healthy lifestyle isn’t just eating kale and quinoa, it’s thinking differently , letting go of the past ( easier said than done but what’s the point in holding on grudges?- can’t do anything about it, “let it gooooo” , staying positive and accepting yourself for who you are. We can’t change others but if we change ourselves, others will follow. Take your time with each step, pat yourself on the back and guess what? if you eat frozen yogurt with the kids on Friday night, it’s A-OK. Just don’t eat it everyday. It’s about what you eat all the time NOT about what you eat sometimes.
I would love to hear from you: What are some steps you took or want to take to say hello health and no more sick days?
Want more strategies to be independent with your health?
Become a Bzhealthymama VIM ( Very Important Mama)
I want to know more about healthy oils to use when cooking. My husband does use extra virgin olive oil but also uses canola oil when he makes fresh french fries? Maybe he could fry in something healthier? Never used grape seed or cocunut oil….
Hey Amanda 🙂 I am very careful about olive oil , I don’t use it as much. However, when I did I bought high quality and unfiltered ones like Bragg’s. However, I do prefer grape seed and avocado oil because they are milder and taste better. We rarely use canola oil, when we do we make sure it is non-gmo.
My husband has fried in coconut oil before and we also have fried in grape seed oil.
I prefer baking over frying but can’t say we don’t fry at all. We do occasionally.