We’ve all been there.  Chugging along eating our real food on a daily basis.  Cooking, shopping, prepping………..it’s all going well.  Then, something happens………schedule gets busier than usual, holidays, or maybe it’s exhaustion.  You slip up and eat some processed food and then you eat some more processed food.  Oh no!  Is this the end of your real food journey?  It doesn’t have to be.

 

Here are some tips that I have found helpful when I find myself heading down the processed food road again and I’m looking to get back on the real food track.

1.  Don’t give up!  So you had a bad day, weekend, or even a month.  It’s not how you eat sometimes that matters.  It’s how you eat the majority of the time.  Keep on the real food train.  You will make this a habit.  You CAN do this!  Take it one meal at a time.

2.  Drink water.  Water will start to cleanse the chemicals from your body.  Hydration is also the key to feeling satisfied when eating.  Many times we think we are hungry, when really those feelings are our body telling us we need to be hydrated.

 

3.  Give yourself a break.  The food you are eating now is still probably better than how you used to eat.  I used to eat fast food three times a day.  If I use an organic bottled salad dressing once in a while………..I’m still way better off than I was before I started my real food journey.  Fries from the county fair are OK once in a while………….  80/20 is a good rule to follow.  80% real food still allows for 20% of that other stuff.

4.  Enlist help.  Hang out with your healthy-eating friends.  Check in with your favorite real food bloggers.  Take a trip to your favorite farmers’ market or health food store.  Do something to get excited about eating real food again.

5.  Eat a raw healthy snack.  I really feel like I am taking control of my eating again when I sit and munch on some grapes or carrots.  Raw foods are a great reminder of how truly delicious real food is.

 

6.  Find your motivation:  My motivation is my family.  I sit and reflect about how far I’ve come on my real food journey.  The health benefits have given me a much improved quality of life with my family and I never want to go back to the sick girl I was when I started this journey.  I also look into the eyes of my family and remember that I shop, chop, and, cook to give them a healthy future.  They are worth the extra effort that eating real food requires.

Have you ever fallen off the real food train and wanted to quit?  What did you do to get back on track?  What motivates you to eat real food?

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