Today it’s all about FOOD and how to eat to glow
If you’ve struggled with weight over the years then you probably have a bit of a love/ hate relationship with food. But it doesn’t need to be this way. Food is an essential part of life whether we like it or not. The saying ‘you are what you eat’ is accurate. Eat crap and you’ll feel crap, eat well and you’ll feel good. For the most part, it really is that simple. I’m not talking about weight loss or creating a calorie deficit, instead I want you to focus on filling your diet with as much goodness as possible. Eat to glow.
As soon as you think about depriving yourself of your favourite treats, you’ll only want them more.
Restriction, deprivation, diets…they’re all very negative words with negative associations.
If you start to change your way of thinking about food and focus on all the amazing foods you can have, your mindset will shift.
Think a diet of abundance not deprivation.
Food is amazing. Eat food rich in nutrition and you will literally glow. You’ll have so much more energy and weight loss (if that’s an aim) will happen more easily because you won’t be stuck in a deprive, crave, binge cycle thats so unhealthy.
Today I will share some of my top tips for eating well…I had to split it in two because I realised I had quite a lot to say on the subject! You’ll get the rest of the tips next week. Food is important (in fact if you’re trying to lose weight, 80% will come down to the food you eat…with exercise only 20%).
Here are some of my top tips for loving food and eating well:
1. Eat to glow – eat a rainbow
Fill your plate with different colour fruit and veg and you’ll be getting a massive range of nutrients. Aim to fill half your plate with veg/ fruit at a meal.
Today see if you can add in 2 portions with each meal. It’ll fill you up and help you glow inside and out.
I’m going to ask everyone to share pics of their meals today in the Facebook group (only if you want to)…not only will it help you think twice about what you put on your plate, hopefully it’ll give everyone some new meal ideas.
2. Include healthy fats
Don’t be scared of fats. However there are healthy fats and not so healthy fats. Healthy fats are amazing for your body – think nuts, avocado, oily fish, seeds. Try to include some every day – eat to glow. The only thing to watch is portion size. Whilst they are amazing for you, they are still a fat and therefore high in calories.
Portion sizes:
Nuts – 8-12 nuts
Nut butter – a tablespoon
Avocado – half a baby one or third of a big one
Oily fish – one small fillet (limit to twice a week)
Seeds – a small handful
3. Balance – don’t be all or nothing
Aim to be healthy 80% of the time rather than 100% of the time. No one is perfect and if you try to be, you’re setting yourself up to fail. A much healthier approach is to focus on making your main meals and snacks as healthy as possible whilst allowing yourself a treat every now and then.
If you fill up on healthy foods, you’re much less likely to crave crap anyway and it’ll be easier to resist temptation.
At the same time if you want a treat, have one. Just try to stick to one and don’t waste time feeling guilty – enjoy it!
Most people struggle to lose weight/ improve their diet long term because they have a slip up and feel like they’ve failed. Slip ups are part and parcel of life. They will happen. It’s how you react to them that counts. Get straight back on the healthy train and you’ll be fine. Just don’t let one slip up lead to a day off/ week off/ month off.
4. Listen to your body
This is something most of us aren’t very good at. If you’re used to eating a poor diet, you won’t even realise just how good your body should feel. Don’t accept low energy, rubbish skin, sluggish behaviour as normal. It doesn’t have to be. Take a close look at what you’re eating. Try to add in your rainbow fruit and veg and healthy fats. Little by little aim to reduce the convenience/ junk food.
Keep noting how you feel on a day to day basis. If I’m struggling, I start to note down my energy levels and record a food diary. It doesn’t take long to get back on track and then I really appreciate feeling good.
FYI – this is a good way of helping break the diet mentality. Start to view food as fuel for your body and as you notice your energy levels rising, you’ll be motivated to keep going. Safe weight loss takes time which can lead you to give up before you get results. Your body and energy levels give you instant feedback and let’s you know if you’re on the right path.
This was one of the emails I sent my ‘feel fabulous in Lockdown’ group last week. It’s not too late to join in if you’d like a bit of inspiration and motivation delivered daily to your inbox. It’s completely free and you can join in anytime in Lockdown. Click the button below to get signed up: