I hear people complaining all the time that eating healthy is so hard. It really isn’t, you’re just making it hard. We can do everything the hard way, or the easy way. To start a healthy lifestyle change, do it one tiny step at a time. If you haven’t exercised in years, don’t try to get a workout in 6 times a week. Don’t make your goals too high, so that you get overwhelmed and tired, and end up quitting. Start slowly and build it from there. One simple method to get you started is to begin swapping not-so-healthy foods into healthier ones.
Here’s my 7 “Simple Food Swaps for Better Health” suggestions:
- Replace your coffee habit with a cup of herbal tea, or try one of these healthier coffee substitutes. Add fresh ginger, cinnamon, cardamom or turmeric.
- Swap that animal protein in your meal for tempeh, jackfruit, sprouted organic tofu, or simply just add more sauteed/steamed dark, leafy greens.
- Substitute salad dressing for fermented veggies like kimchi or kraut. Or simply drizzle your salad with raw apple cider vinegar, little salt and pepper.
- Replace that glass of store-bought pasteurized orange juice for a fresh-pressed green juice or blend yourself a green smoothie.
- Swap that afternoon sweet pastry for sliced apple and almond butter. Or make these healthy 2-ingredient cookies.
- Replace bad oils for good oils. Corn, soybean, canola, and sunflower oils contain inflammatory omega-6 fats. Instead of these kind of oils, use extra virgin olive oil or extra virgin coconut oil. Extra virgin olive oil contains polyphenols, which are powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. Coconut oil is a powerful cellular fuel and also contains anti-inflammatory fats such as lauric acid, the same fat found in breast milk.
- Switch table salt (highly processed poison) to high-quality Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt. Not all salt is bad for you. For example, Himalayan Salt contains the same 84 trace minerals and elements that are found in the human body, including sodium chloride, sulphate, calcium, potassium and magnesium.
What else have you swapped in order to raise your standards of life?
