When you are looking at changing something in your life, the fear of the unknown can creep in easily. Is this worth my time? Will it really be worth it in the end? This is all fear of the unknown, and can easily stop you in your tracks when you are trying to make a life changes. I knew for a long time that I needed to change my diet before I actually did anything.
A diet change is no different. Here is all the possible tasks you may have to learn or re-learn:
- Reading ingredient labels
- Knowing what certain ingredients mean
- Learning to shop differently
- Learning to shop at a farmers market
- Finding a farmers market
- Learning to cook from scratch
- Learning to cook quickly
That list is just the beginning of what a big diet change could mean for you. Overwhelmed? Perfect, you are just like everyone else who has decided to kick processed junk from their diet and gain health, energy and vitality.
Now how can you ensure your success? Take one thing at a time, and master it before you move on.
Reading ingredient labels– instead focus for a couple weeks on buying things without labels. This step alone will get a lot of bad ingredients out of your diet.
After you have focused on buying ingredients and not pre-made foods, what should you do next? The next step would be to keep buying foods without labels but expand what you are comfortable with by learning to cook with more foods. We can all buy an apple and eat it. It doesn’t have a label so no problem there. But if you don’t know who to cook, or have limited cooking skills, you are going to be eating a lot of the same stuff each day, salads, maybe homemade burgers or other simple meat dishes.
Go to the library and check out a cookbook that looks interesting to you. Two of my favorites I have written reviews on, Nom Nom Paleo and 100 Days of Real Food. Also a lot of the people I interviewed on the podcast have great books so you could check out some past episodes.
Once you’ve found a cookbook that you like pick a few new recipes that look simple enough for your cooking skills and master them. Keep practicing until you have got them down pat! Then lather, rinse, repeat with other cookbooks or online recipes.
A hidden bonus? When you master something you are now much faster. The first trip to the grocery store will be tough, but in a month you will be in and out. If you take on 5 new skills at once you are going to be slow at a lot of things. You are not used to learning new things, and will get frustrated with how slow you are. If you are only working one one thing at a time, your time investment is smaller, your frustration is smaller, and your success is bigger!
Along the way you have now acquired some new skills, some new recipes and have been eating better food.
I’m sure you want to lose weight now, have more energy or less pain now, but it’s all about progress at the start. Getting started is the hardest part, but just remember, take it one step at a time and don’t move on until you master the step you are on!
Cheers,
Heather
P.S.- If you are looking for a few simple recipes you can fool your family into eating and get on to the table on a week night, may I suggest Crispy Baked Chicken or Baked Eggs
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lindaspiker says
February 4, 2016 at 9:24 pmI did change my habits slowly. I agree it’s more likely to stick if you do! Thanks. Great post! Pinning.
Heather says
February 4, 2016 at 9:27 pmHey Linda! What did you change first?
greentalk says
February 5, 2016 at 1:55 amI started changing my habits when I started growing my own vegetables. I do agree baby steps so it sticks.
Heather says
February 5, 2016 at 4:21 pmGrowing your own food can certainly cause some change in the way you eat! Why did you start gardening?