The word “diet” can have many different meanings. Many people associate the word diet with weight loss and think of it as a restrictive process to help shed extra pounds. Diet can also simply mean the foods that one habitually eats. Diet can be looked at negatively and make someone cringe every time they hear the word. By now, you have probably picked up that I am a big believer that food is medicine. Each bite we take either helps us or hurts us. So for me, diet is a meaningful tool to help us reach our health goals. For me, diet is closely connected to lifestyle.
Standard American Diet (SAD)
While I do think the Standard American Diet (SAD) is not the way to go and that we need to be eating minimally processed whole foods as much as possible, there is no one size fits all diet. What works well for me or makes me feel great may not have the same effect for you. When using food as medicine, it is important to find the right healing diet for you (and there are many to choose from).
Whether you need an anti-inflammatory, paleo, ketogenic, autoimmune paleo, or any other healing diet, it is important to set yourself up for success. Regardless of the diet, it is imperative to understand that education and preparation are key elements to successfully executing the diet. While healing diets are often temporary, it is important to look at them as a marathon and not a sprint. Train accordingly.
When you get the news that you should take on a healing diet (or when you decide for yourself that’s the way to go), get your mindset right. We love to look at food as an experience; a way of life. When we hear the word “diet”, we tend to default focus on the restrictions that come along with it rather than focusing on the foods that we can have that are delicious AND therapeutic. This gets us started off with a negative outlook towards the journey we are about to embark on.
Perspective is Everything
I implore you to shift any negative perspective you may default to when considering or are even in the midst of a therapeutic diet. Mindset is super important to success in anything that we do. If we think we will fail at something, we will. Period. This certainly applies to executing a healing diet. If you focus on the foods you can no longer have, or how difficult you think it will be, you will be completely miserable. Remember, the purpose of a healing diet is not to create more problems in your life. You want to feel better. You want more energy. You want to heal. If you think it is going to suck, it will. If you tell yourself you can’t do it, then you will fail. Removing the negativity from your healing diet experience is just as important as the diet itself.
Once you have gotten your mindset in check, the next step is education. Do your homework *before* taking a single bite of food related to your diet. If a practitioner has guided you towards a specific diet, be sure to use that person as a resource. Ask questions – how long should I do this diet? What foods should I eat and which foods do I need to avoid? Do you have meal plans and recipes? If not, can you point me to a trusted resource to make it easier to sift through the gobs of info out there? You can typically get a good foundation from your practitioner, but will most likely need to take it a step further by doing your own research.
Your “Why”
My recommendation is to understand the diet. The why and the how. Don’t lose sight of *your* why. The how can sometimes be trickier and this is where meal planning, shopping list, and cookbooks related to your specific diet become invaluable tools. Take the time to make a weekly meal plan using ingredients that are compliant with your healing diet. Then get your shopping list made up and stick to it! Meal planning is not only great for pre-planning, but it can also prevent you from overbuying at the grocery store. If it’s not on your list, then it’s not part of your meal plans, so you don’t need it. Save yourself some money (and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to save money!).
Get Prepping
After you have grocery shopped, block out a few hours per week to meal prep. For me, this is one of the best parts. Seeing all of my ingredients become a delicious, therapeutic meal is one of my favorite parts. Of course I also enjoy the eating part of the process! Setting aside some time to prep the foods, put together meals and even cook some of it is a great way to encourage success. If you’ve got ready to eat meals, you are going to be much less inclined to pick up take out on your way home from work after a long day. Or if you are short on time because you’ve got to get kid A to this practice and kid B to that activity, then having premade meals is going to allow you to stay on track. Do yourself a favor and do your washing, chopping and assembling when you get home from the grocery store. Cook what you can ahead of time then simply pull it out of the fridge and heat and enjoy when you are tired on Tuesday evening.
Do yourself a favor and set yourself up for success. With a little education and preparation and having a positive mindset, you can have a high success rate making it through your therapeutic diet and get the results you are looking for. Way to take charge of your health! You’ve got this! And always remember that you are either healing yourself or hurting yourself with each bite. Which bite will you choose?
#HappyWholeFooding
