Healthy Lifestyle: How to Make a Healthy Lifestyle Change?

Every day, dozens of times a day, we make choices about our well-being. Some of them are “must dos” — brush and floss teeth, exercise — but others are more negotiable. Seven or eight hours of sleep? Water or green tea with lunch? Broiled chicken or grilled fish for dinner? It’s the decisions we make about food that can be particularly vexing.  We need food for energy — food is what fuels us, after all — but we tend to choose the calories we consume based on taste and convenience and not necessarily on how good they are for us.

Today the American Standard Diet is causing us to become obese and contributes to the very diseases we are spending money to prevent. The American Standard Diet is 

• High in animal fats

• High in unhealthy fats: saturated, hydrogenated

• Low in fiber

• High in processed foods

• Low in complex carbohydrates

• Low in plant-based foods

The Standard American Diet or SAD is heavy on red meat, pork, foods made from dairy or cow's milk, processed foods laced with dangerous chemical preservatives, colorings, vitamins and flavor enhancers.

The Standard American Diet is also made up of fried foods, foods cooked with high heat and microwaves, foods made with white refined sugar and flour or more and more today foods that contain high fructose corn syrup. 

Even children at earlier and earlier ages are being diagnosed with diseases that not that long ago were considered "old age" diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes. The facts are in that meat (including chicken and fish), dairy, and eggs can be linked directly or indirectly to about 90% of all physical problems and deaths in America today!!! 

The key is to eat a healthier diet such as The Mediterranean Diet or Vegetarian Diet. I personally recommend a Planted Based Diet with little to no processed and refined sugars to my clients.  

According to the authors at fundamentalsofhealth.com Some of the diseases commonly prevented, consistently improved and often cured by a low-fat, vegetarian diet include:

Strokes, kidney stones, prostrate cancer, diabetes, peptic ulcers, hemorrhoids, obesity, salmonellosis, heart disease, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer, hiatus hernias, gallstones, arthritis, trichinosis, osteoporosis, colon cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, constipation, diverticulosis, irritable colon and gout.

They also had a list of some statistics that will amaze you and break your heart.

1. 50% of all Americans die from heart attacks and strokes (heart disease)
2. 33 % of all Americans die from cancer (1 in 3).
3. 8% of all Americans die from diabetes.
4. Every 25 seconds someone in America suffers a heart attack.
5. Every 45 seconds someone in America dies from a heart attack.
6. Most common cause of death in America: heart attack.
7. Risk of having a heart attack by average American: 50%.
Risk of having a heart attack by average American vegetarian: less than 4%.
8. Amount you reduce your risk of heart attack by eliminating meat, dairy and eggs from your diet: over 90%.
9. Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat meat compared to non-meat eaters: over 4 times.
10. Increased risk of fatal prostate cancer for men who consume animal products compared to vegetarians: 3.6 times higher.
11. Increased risk of fatal ovarian cancer for women who consume animal products, compared to vegetarians: 3 times higher.

How to Make a Healthy Lifestyle Change?

I’m not sharing this to scare you-Well kind of! All jokes aside I really want to bring awareness to the foods we eat and the lifestyle choices we face everyday that are causing harm to our bodies. 

Lifestyle changes are a process that take time and require support. Once you’re ready to make a change, the difficult part is committing and following through. So do your research and make a plan that will prepare you for success. Careful planning means education yourself then setting small goals and taking things one step at a time.

To start you should set a goal to eliminate the 5 white foods from your diet:

* Meat (if you must eat meat make sure it’s grass-fed and wild fish). 

* Dairy

* White Sugar (refined)

* White Flour (refined)

* Salt (refined)

Next, make a plan that will stick. Your plan is a map that will guide you on this journey of healthy living. You can even think of it as an adventure. When making your plan, be specific. Want to stop eating sugar? Clean out your kitchen by removing all forms of sugar and processed foods that are packed with hidden sugars. Then add a alternative such as stevia to your grocery list. Write everything down, and ask yourself if you’re confident that eliminating sugar in one haul is a realistic goal for you. If not, start with smaller steps. Post your plan where you’ll most often see it as a reminder.

Start small. After you've identified realistic short-term and long-term goals, break down your goals into small, manageable steps that are specifically defined and can be measured. I will eliminated sugar by starting small. I will not have sugar in my morning coffee instead I will use a stevia. Then you can move on to a long term goal of eating healthier by removing sugar from your diet, consider replacing dessert with a healthier option, like fruit and non fat greek yogurt. At the end of the week, you’ll feel successful knowing you met your goal.  

Change one behavior at a time. Unhealthy behaviors develop over the course of time, so replacing unhealthy behaviors with healthy ones requires time. Many people run into problems when they try to change too much too fast. To improve your success, focus on one goal or change at a time. As new healthy behaviors become a habit, try to add another goal that works toward the overall change you’re striving for.

Involve a buddy. Whether it be a friend, co-worker or family member, someone else on your journey will keep you motivated and accountable. Perhaps it can be someone who will go to the gym with you or someone who is also trying to stop eating sugar. Talk about what you are doing. Consider joining a support group. Having someone with whom to share your struggles and successes makes the work easier and the mission less intimidating.

Ask for support. Accepting help from those who care about you and will listen strengthens your resilience and commitment. If you feel overwhelmed or unable to meet your goals on your own, consider seeking help from a Nutritionist or Life Coach. Both of these professional are uniquely trained to understand the connection between the mind and body, as well as the factors that promote behavior change just asa psychologist but much more affordable. Asking for help doesn't mean a lifetime of therapy or coaching; even just a few sessions can help you examine and set attainable goals or address the fears or emotional issues that may be getting in your way.

Making the changes that you want takes time and commitment, but you can do it. Just remember that no one is perfect. You will have occasional lapses. Be kind to yourself. When you eat a piece of birthday cake or skip the gym, don’t give up. Minor missteps on the road to your goals are normal and okay. Resolve to recover and get back on track.

Be Inspired to Live a Healthy Lifestyle

Warrior Chic

XOXO