Tips for Sticking With a Real Food Diet
Beginning a real food diet does not need to be terribly hard. The secret to success is to find an approach that works for you. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be functional.
It’s A Process
My advice is not to think of your diet as a short term plan, or as something to stick to rigidly for a few weeks. Rather, see it as a process whereby you continually make an effort to improve your food choices.
If you make a “mistake” – and eat something that makes you feel guilty — get over it! Know that you’ve just been given an opportunity to identify something that doesn’t work for you – and to find a way to manage it better next time. That’s all. That said, here are a few ideas to help you be successful.
Healthy Fats and Protein Help
No matter what we do, we are designed to have a passion for foods that are high in sugar and fat – and to avoid starving ourselves. It’s an automatic survival mechanism, and it makes it really really hard to stay with many typical diets. The beauty of eating a real food diet is that going hungry just isn’t part of the plan. You just need to focus on eating good real food.
One example of this is trading typical low-fat diet foods for more satisfying choices. Real foods that are rich in protein and healthy fats – think eggs, grass-fed meat and dairy – will help you stay satisfied.
For me, a painless change like swapping cereal for eggs for breakfast made a major improvement. I stopped suffering the pre-lunch energy crashes, and my sugar cravings dropped to nothing. Even better, I lost some fat — and my cholesterol looks great!
Eat With Awareness
Another classic bit of diet wisdom is to always try to notice just how much food you need to feel satisfied. On a real food diet you will be eating fewer refined carbohydrates, which are all too easy to overstuff yourself with. As you switch to more whole foods with high-quality protein and fat, you’ll be content with less – as long as you make an effort to notice. Just gradually work on making it a habit.
Although the usual diet advice is to not go back for seconds, I can’t recommend that. For me, it just encourages loading up my plate with a lot more than I really want or need, and feeling like I need to finish everything. I think it’s a healthier idea to begin with a tiny portion and go back as many times as you need to. Just proceed slowly, and notice how satisfied you feel between servings.
Don’t Stress Over Cravings
When you struggle with cravings – don’t struggle too hard. The more you make improvements to your diet, the less they will trouble you, so surrender a little if you must. Also – if you don’t feel fewer cravings after a while, you ought to reevaluate your diet and experiment a bit. Keep trying to eat less sugar, and make sure you’re getting some healthy protein and fat with every meal.
Also — and this is important (at least for me) — be sure that you always have something that you can indulge in. Find one thing that you truly enjoy (in moderation!), and invest in a good real food version of it. My indulgence is good chocolate, and I can say that it works like a charm in keeping me happy and satisfied while I continue my diet.
You Owe Yourself A Healthy Diet
Last – know that you deserve to eat well. I won’t lie – it does take some additional effort to seek out and prepare healthy real foods. With more experience, it will get quicker and much easier – but for now, remember that you are utterly worth it!
Want to learn more about real food diets? Check out my best real food diets page to find one that’s right for you.
