14 Steps To Cut Out Processed Foods & Begin Eating Real Food

MINDS.com

Making dietary changes can be tough. It is by far one of the biggest topics I discuss with people when it comes to questions about making healthy lifestyle changes.  One of the toughest parts? We are addicted to many foods and how they make us feel. Processed foods are so important to get off of as they contain a lot of ingredients that are very poor for our health and cause many chronic illnesses. Things like artificial colors, sweeteners, preservatives and low quality ingredients are a recipe for poor health.

Certain foods like sugar or coffee for example, come with certain addictive qualities, so trying to cut them or other foods out can be tough. In other cases, it may not even be addictive qualities in the food, the way it makes you feel or the habitual nature of eating it. For example, when you eat heavier foods you get this feeling of being heavy or full. Over time, we associate this feeling with “OK I’m full, time to stop eating.” Whereas when you eat other foods that provide all the nutrients and energy you need but don’t make you feel as full, you begin feeling like you are still hungry or crave the ‘full’ feeling. This can be one of the toughest parts of making dietary changes.

Each of us respond differently to food changes as we all have different levels of motivation and will power as well. For some of us, going cold turkey is an option, while others take it more slowly and let the body adjust along the way. Either way, it’s important to take steps to better what we put in our bodies as it’s a key element in determining our health. Emotions & thoughts are important too, but we will leave that forthis article.

So how can we get ourselves off of processed foods easily? Here is a simple plan you can begin implementing one week at a time. After about 1 season, you should be good to go on eating healthy and clean. Of course, you can speed this process up as much as you like to get going even faster.

In this method it begins week by week and in each week you focus on something new. As you begin implementing what you need to adjust in that week, go onto the next week but continue cutting out what you did each week prior.

Week 1:  Eat two fruits and/or vegetables per meal. By eating a minimum of two different fruits or vegetables (preferably organic) with every breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you will get your fruit and veggie intake up enough to begin hitting the daily recommended minimums. This will already start making you feel better.

Week 2: “Real” beverages! Beverages will be limited to water, coffee, tea, kombucha, almond, rice or coconut milks, and ACTUAL fruit or vegetable juice. This means fruit juices containing only fruits and water. No sugars or artificial sweeteners, concentrates, preservatives etc. I know this might seem tough at first but stick to it and it will make a big difference. For coffee, try and limit to one cup a day.

Week 3: Meat – If you eat meat, try and consume locally raised and organic if you can. Meat consumption will also be limited to 2 – 4 servings per week, and will not be the “focal point” of the meal. Meat is extremely over eaten especially in North American culture. Humans do not even require meat yet we eat it in extreme abundance which leads to heart disease. The more you can limit it, the better.

Week 4: Cut out fast foods and deep-fried foods as much as possible. Avoiding this will be a big one as there are a lot of chemicals in fast foods. If you can also cut out deep-fried foods, this will help greatly in cutting out unhealthy oils.

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