The way I have improved my health has almost never been through big overhauls or complete diet changes, at least for the last decade. I've taken little steps and it is very effective.
Have you ever started a diet on Monday? I suppose a more accurate question would be, “How many diets have you started on a Monday?” Ugh how I dreaded those. The anxiety I experienced thinking about all my favorite foods being gone, wondering when I would become weak and fail, redoing my entire schedule to do food prep, way more cooking at home, etc. I understand that a complete overhaul can be necessary but I think in most cases you can start making changes to your diet in ways that will not turn your life upside down.
Incorporating these changes one at a time will improve your health and you will feel accomplished and be able to stick with them. You will build confidence and it will become easier and easier to make changes.
Here are 5 of the ways I have improved my diet in ways that are very simple and frankly you can do them without much thought.
Get the corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) out of your life starting with condiments.
Why do you want to rid your diet of HFCS? It affects our bodies and brains negatively and in a lot of people it turns off the switch that helps us realize we are full or satisfied. When we stopped sugar of all kinds for several months, only using honey and occasionally 100% pure maple syrup, we really found out what HFCS does to us. We stopped snacking so much in the evening and when we did, a much smaller snack was necessary. Instead of 3 cookies, a bowl of ice cream and some chips, I would eat a bowl of homemade popcorn or some fruit feeling very satisfied. (Favorite snack currently is frozen cherries! Find them at Trader Joe's)
Ketchup, BBQ Sauce, jam, syrup, salad dressing and steak sauce are a few of the condiments that you will find this nasty stuff in. Start with your ketchup. If you have been paying no attention to the label, we never did, most likely there is HFCS and perhaps plain corn syrup as well. If you determine that these are in your ketchup, the next time you visit the store, pick one that either has neither of these ingredients and contains sugar as the sweetener or choose organic ketchup.
You can pick up the 24oz Organic Trader Joe’s Brand for $1.99. That is cheap and so much better for you. A couple other brands that offer organic ketchup are Annie's Naturals and Whole Foods 365 brand. See how just changing your ketchup can be huge? Keep switching out your condiments for healthier choices until they are all switched out.
Keep in mind that when you are eating a diet full of HFCS, you have become at least somewhat addicted to it as we did. You may find that when you switch to foods with sugar, they may taste a bit strange at first. Once you are used to more natural foods you will realize it was the stuff full of crap that did not taste right.
Start eating seaweed to get iodine naturally.
Seaweed is a super food and it’s a member of the algae family. It comes in 3 varieties: green, red and brown. You know the green stuff a lot of sushi is wrapped in, that is seaweed, also called nori. It’s an extraordinary source of iodine, which is critical in maintaining a healthy Thyroid. It’s a gland located in your neck region that helps regulate and produce hormones. The older I get the more I have realized just how important hormones are!
If your Thyroid is not working efficiently you can have a variety of deficiency symptoms. They range from fatigue, weakness to heart palpitations. The first time I ate a significant amount to seaweed, I felt a burst of energy! That confirmed for me I was not getting enough!
My favorite way, outside of eating sushi, to get seaweed is through roasted seaweed snacks like the ones from gimMe. They are organic and come in some great flavors like sesame and wasabi! They have plain salted ones as well. They are super thin like a crinkly piece of paper. Seaweed, if you have never had it, tastes like the sea. They may be an acquired taste. It took me a bit of getting used to. I would be done after about 2 but then when I had that burst of energy when I ate more, I started to crave it.
There are other ways to get seaweed if these snacks are not for you. Spirulina is a dietary supplement you can add and comes in tablet, flake or powder form. I have not used Spirulina before but it has been recommended to me a few times now so I’m going to research it and possibly add it to my routine!
You might be wondering why I did not recommend table salt as a good source of iodine. Here is some information from healthwyze.org that I think will explain this point well:
“Iodine and Iodide
The potassium iodide that is added to table salt is not adequate to compensate for most iodine deficiencies. It is usually sufficient to stop goitrous boils from swelling in the neck, which are caused by an extreme deficiency. However, not enough iodine can be obtained from table salt to maintain optimal health, unless a dangerous amount of sodium is consumed. Naturally-occurring iodine is present in unadulterated sea salt with complimentary minerals, but even the vastly superior and healthier sea salt may not be enough for a tiny” fraction of people who have extreme iodine deficiencies, which are caused by fluoride toxicity and other mitigating factors.”
Here is the full article.
Switch from table salt to one that is good for you.
Refined table salt has been stripped of its minerals and as we discussed above the iodine it contains “is not adequate to compensate for most iodine deficiencies.” There are several other choices out there.
I will start with my favorite, Himalayan Pink Salt! It does have iodine in it! Natural salts are rich with it so it does not have to be artificially added. Pink salt contains a whopping 80+ minerals and elements. It blows the mind right? Some of these include magnesium, calcium, potassium and sulphate.
Let’s talk about what pink salt can do that table salt can’t. It naturally creates an electrolyte balance, increases hydration, prevents muscle cramping and improves circulation. There is a bunch more if you want to research it.
Some other salts to look at would include sea salt, which is my second choice, Celtic Sea Salt and Redmond Sea Salt.
Learn to make one salad dressing from scratch.
The easiest type of dressing to learn to make is vinaigrette. It is pretty difficult to find a good dressing that is healthy without a bunch of crap in it.
The good news is making dressing is so simple. When I started to delve into making dressing, it was basic vinaigrettes that I started with. You pretty much can’t mess them up.
Here are 2 of my recipes for you to try out:
Basic Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
-6 TBLS Olive Oil
-2-3 TBLS Vinegar (white, cider, red)
-salt and pepper to taste
Shake all ingredients in a tightly-lidded container like a small mason jar OR whisk together vigorously until emulsified (super combined where vinegar and oil are not separating).
Garlic Lemon Dressing
Ingredients:
-5 TBLS Olive Oil
-5 TBLS lemon juice
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 clove crushed garlic or ½ tsp jarred garlic
Shake all ingredients in a tightly lidded container like a small mason jar OR whisk together vigorously until emulsified (super combined where vinegar and oil are not separating).
Drink a smoothie or green juice twice a week in place of a meal.
As much as I love fruits and vegetables there were times when I was just not getting enough. Since I started to include smoothies and fresh green juice at least a couple times a week I never feel like I’m not getting enough of the good stuff!
Here is a link to my post where I share my favorite smoothie and juice recipes which includes my Shake Awake Green Juice recipe!
EmoticonEmoticon