5 Easy Tips for Sustainable Nutrition
Help For the Weary Shopper
Eating right and feeling great shouldn’t be a burden. Finding foods that will nourish your body without chemicals, preservatives, and carcinogens shouldn’t leave you frustrated.
Eating right and feeling great should be easy. A breeze. A natural thing to do.
But in our fast paced, consumer driven culture, eating a healthy diet is no longer easy, or breezy, or natural. In fact eating overprocessed, chemically altered, nutrient deficient foods is!
And it’s all because the food industry and clever marketers are determined to make a profit regardless of its impact on your health. Through their careful placement of beautifully packaged premade foods you are fooled into buying things void of nutrition, full of empty calories and laced with toxins.
You know what I’m talking about. Some days a trip to the grocery store feels like you’re running an obstacle course filled with landmines. There is so much ground to cover, and so many unhealthy choices between you and the checkout line. The aromas from the bakery draw your attention away from the avocados. Instead of putting them into your carriage you are now putting in a box of colorful, frosted cookies.
How did that happen?
It was a junk food ambush.
Eating a healthy whole food diet has become a challenge. In this week's blog I’m going to empower you with helpful tips and information. Allowing you to make the best possible food choices with optimal health benefits.
It’s Not Your Fault
First you need to know it’s not your fault. Any previous attempts at improving your eating habits that ended with less than desirable results were bound to happen. The cards were stacked against you and here’s why. The food industry does not care about your health.
It’s a global group of businesses supplying the world with food for a profit. It’s business. And unknowingly we have all fallen prey to their tactics and substandard foods.
Understanding where and how this happens can be leveraged as a tool and I want you to know about it. You’ve been tricked. We all have. But becoming more aware of their strategies will enable you to find your way to the vibrant health you desire.
Their Tricks Exposed
Since the food industry is in fact an industry, a business, how they go about business has their best interest in mind. Not yours. In order to get you to buy their meat, fruits or vegetables, they need to appeal to you and your wallet.
In order to have the best looking food, or at least better looking than their competitors (your local farmers) they use fertilizers to make their produce bigger than what you find at your farmers market. They apply pesticides to make each leaf and berry appear perfect. And they use growth hormones and antibiotics to make their meats look richer in color, better in texture and larger in size.
Then you add clever marketing campaigns complete with colorful packaging and enticing claims printed on the box. Paired with a low price and then located in an easy to reach shelf at your store makes it a no brainer for a consumer. Truly, there is another entire industry built upon the psychology of consumers. Studies on what we buy, why we buy and how we buy are carefully compiled and used to influence our purchases.
After all, if it looks better than the more expensive organic produce at the farmers market; and if it’s cheaper and it’s packaged nice; and if it’s right there...well its a no brainer right? You won’t have to make a separate trip to your local farmer or supplier this weekend. Subconsciously you decide you are making the best possible choice.
It seems like a win-win. Until you notice the toll that all this chemically altered, preservative filled food has had on you.
Thankfully there is another option available to you. A better, healthier way to change your eating and buying habits. And making sustainable food choices that will improve your health, reduce your risk of chronic illness and yes, even lose weight.
It Is Possible
I’m here to encourage you that it is possible. With a little hard work and your commitment to your wellness goals you will succeed. You can discover renewed energy, balanced hormones and greater mobility simply by knowing which delicious, full of flavor foods to eat and where to buy them. Some of my clients have even enjoyed the benefits of taking less medications as a result of eating a nutrient rich diet for their particular health needs.
Instead of falling prey to marketing schemes, let's make a plan to shop for the best foods. Foods that are nutrient dense. Meaning that they are packed with the maximum nutrition naturally.
Get Back To Basics
The answer is so simple it’s underestimated. A lot. And I’m guessing you know exactly what I am going to say.
Eat locally grown, organic, whole fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats and fish, legumes, nuts and seeds whenever possible.
I told you it was simple.
But here is what my clients find hard. They don’t know where to find these easily or how to prepare them in ways that are tasty enough to keep you coming back for more. So here are my go-to tips to make eating your way to health and wellness a snap.
5 Easy Tips for Sustainable Nutrition
1 Make a meal plan.
This is a must. You have to decide ahead of time what you want to put into your body for your optimal health and wellness. How much health you enjoy depends on what you eat. Make a plan and stick to it.
2 Never shop without a list.
This is a common mistake I see all the time and sadly it undermines your efforts to eat well. Use the meal plan you created and make a list of everything you will need for the week. I recommend saving your grocery list on your phone or computer so you can refer back to it week after week. It’s a huge time saver.
3 Shop at farmers markets.
When possible, shop at your local farms, orchards and markets. This is where you will find organic, fresh, pesticide free, and fertilizer free foods. No chemicals added means your body is not fighting overtime to get rid of toxins in your system.
4 Learn what your local stores offer.
Best selling author, Dr. Mark Hyman, recently Tweeted; “Shopping can be very empowering. EVERY time you shop, your voice gets heard. If you shop local, sustainable, organic, and ethically sourced and made goods, you are increasing demand for these goods. You have immense power to shift the system with EVERY purchase.”
He is absolutely right. So on your next trip to the store, allow extra time to learn what options your store has. Ask questions like; Where is this sourced from? Is it free of pesticides, fertilizers and growth hormones? Is this fish wild caught or farm raised?
Questions like this inform the store owners what you want to buy. And since they want your business, they will often begin to carry more of what you are looking for.
5 Use food shipment and grocery delivery services.
If you happen to live in an area that doesn’t have local farms for you to visit, try a food shipment or grocery delivery service. You can shop on-line and have them delivered to your door and never have to dodge those frosted cookies again!
Eating Well for Life
As you move towards establishing the habit of eating sustainable foods you will absolutely notice a difference in how wonderful you feel. This is not a short-term plan but rather a sustainable way of living that will allow you to enjoy great health and wellbeing for life!
I love helping people take back their health and to kick their unhealthy habits to the curb. It’s a joy to see the transformation. And if you are ready to take your next steps to eating your way to a happier, healthier life I would love to hear about it. Drop me a note in the comment section below.
And if you want help, have questions or want to learn more about how nutritional coaching will help you reach your wellness goals, schedule your free consultation here at Roots Yoga & Nutrition. I look forward to hearing from you.
Be well!
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