There are boundless amounts of information out there telling you to do a million different things to be healthy and touting quick fixes. The reality is, if you try to do it all at once, you'll probably drop it all at once and be daunted by the idea of picking it back up.
Instead, making small changes that make you feel better will encourage and empower you to make more changes.
My favorite starting point is with Standard Process's "One Degree of Change" cookbook. It's available for free online, and it walks you through small, digestible changes that will greatly impact the way you feel! The first 8 pages give clear instructions on what changes to make. The next several de-mystify the labels you see in the grocery store and tell you what to look for/avoid to eat a balanced, toxin-free diet. It ends with pages and pages of healthy recipe ideas for you to start implementing everything you've learned!
I also recommend that everyone takes 2 weeks to eliminate gluten from your diet. Gluten is a gut irritant, and while not everyone needs to avoid it, such a large percentage of the population is sensitive to gluten that it's worth finding out if you're one of those people.
Cutting it out of your diet for 2 weeks will give you a good idea of how it's affecting your body--if your body can process it effectively, or if it's having trouble with it. After the 2 weeks, add it back in for one meal and wait 4 days to see if your body reacts negatively to it. Some things to watch for are increased swelling, bloating, acne, and brain fog.
Canyon Bakehouse, which is sold at most grocery stores, including Walmart, has the BEST gluten free bread products I've found. I love Maria Ricardo's quinoa wraps for gluten free wraps--though you're going to want to heat them with some oil in a pan before eating. They're not my favorite cold. You can find these at Whole Foods.
If you can't go without your soda, Zevia sodas are delicious and totally guilt free! They're sold at a bunch of different grocery stores, or you can order online from their website for the best price.
What if I can't find these foods at my local grocery store?
I get this a lot. The only place you can shop organic or gluten free is the tiny organic/gluten free section at your local Walmart, and it's just not enough to support true healthy eating.
Well, there's good news! I've got the scoop on ordering good-for-you groceries online and finding them locally.
Where to shop:
Find your local farmer's market. This is a great place to get connected with local vendors and farms that are actually producing clean foods that you might not see on the shelves at your grocery store.
Thrive Market. You'll need to buy a $60 membership to shop with them, but they have countless great organic groceries, and so many options to shop different types of dietary restrictions.
The groceries are so affordable compared to grocery store prices that the membership quickly pays for itself.
I use thrive mostly for pantry staples, things like protein bars, cleaning products, and non-toxic bath & beauty products. Their organic spices are super affordable compared to the grocery store too.
They often offer free gifts with your orders too, which can be a fun way to try new things!
While thrive does offer organic meats, I use Wild Fork Foods to order all my meats because they're the best prices I've found. I also spent the $30 on a membership to get free shipping, which paid for itself in about 3 orders.
Misfits Market is also really great for organic produce, dairy, and eggs. Somehow organic eggs are suddenly $6 a dozen at the grocery store, but I can get mine delivered for around $3 from Misfits Market. All of the organic dairy products I would get at the store are also on Misfits, but for way less.
The one thing I will say about Misfits Market is that some of the produce tends to go bad a lot faster than what you would buy at the grocery store, so try to avoid buying any delicate fruits or veggies. Apples, limes, potatoes and hard foods like those all do great in the mail, but I've had many a smashed zucchini, shriveled blueberries, and squished strawberries. They are super good about giving refunds if they forget something, if you receive something that's already rotted, or if something gets damaged in the mail, so there's really no risk in it.
Lastly, if you have an Amazon Prime membership and a Whole Foods even remotely nearby (mine is a good 50 minutes away), you can usually get deliveries for a $10 fee. There are a lot of things I can't get from my local grocery stores that I can get from Whole Foods, so if I can't wait 3 days for a delivery to come in, Whole Foods is a great solution. I make my orders through Amazon Smile so my grocery shopping does a little bit of good too!
I'm still overwhelmed...
Don't be. You don't need to do this all at once! Just one degree of change at a time. Let your progress and feeling better push you to do more. You will start to see change just by becoming more conscious of what you're putting into your body. It's a learning process, and it can be fun and rewarding instead of overwhelming if you allow it to be!
Healthy Living
Healthy Living: Where do I start?
Elisabeth Balistreri
April 13, 2022
Have you ever wanted to start your journey to healthy living, but felt too overwhelmed to even start? Then this article is for you!
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-My name is Johnny Reid
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There are boundless amounts of information out there telling you to do a million different things to be healthy and touting quick fixes. The reality is, if you try to do it all at once, you'll probably drop it all at once and be daunted by the idea of picking it back up.
Instead, making small changes that make you feel better will encourage and empower you to make more changes.
My favorite starting point is with Standard Process's "One Degree of Change" cookbook. It's available for free online, and it walks you through small, digestible changes that will greatly impact the way you feel! The first 8 pages give clear instructions on what changes to make. The next several de-mystify the labels you see in the grocery store and tell you what to look for/avoid to eat a balanced, toxin-free diet. It ends with pages and pages of healthy recipe ideas for you to start implementing everything you've learned!
I also recommend that everyone takes 2 weeks to eliminate gluten from your diet. Gluten is a gut irritant, and while not everyone needs to avoid it, such a large percentage of the population is sensitive to gluten that it's worth finding out if you're one of those people.
Cutting it out of your diet for 2 weeks will give you a good idea of how it's affecting your body--if your body can process it effectively, or if it's having trouble with it. After the 2 weeks, add it back in for one meal and wait 4 days to see if your body reacts negatively to it. Some things to watch for are increased swelling, bloating, acne, and brain fog.
Canyon Bakehouse, which is sold at most grocery stores, including Walmart, has the BEST gluten free bread products I've found. I love Maria Ricardo's quinoa wraps for gluten free wraps--though you're going to want to heat them with some oil in a pan before eating. They're not my favorite cold. You can find these at Whole Foods.
If you can't go without your soda, Zevia sodas are delicious and totally guilt free! They're sold at a bunch of different grocery stores, or you can order online from their website for the best price.
What if I can't find these foods at my local grocery store?
I get this a lot. The only place you can shop organic or gluten free is the tiny organic/gluten free section at your local Walmart, and it's just not enough to support true healthy eating.
Well, there's good news! I've got the scoop on ordering good-for-you groceries online and finding them locally.
Where to shop:
Find your local farmer's market. This is a great place to get connected with local vendors and farms that are actually producing clean foods that you might not see on the shelves at your grocery store.
Thrive Market. You'll need to buy a $60 membership to shop with them, but they have countless great organic groceries, and so many options to shop different types of dietary restrictions.
The groceries are so affordable compared to grocery store prices that the membership quickly pays for itself.
I use thrive mostly for pantry staples, things like protein bars, cleaning products, and non-toxic bath & beauty products. Their organic spices are super affordable compared to the grocery store too.
They often offer free gifts with your orders too, which can be a fun way to try new things!
While thrive does offer organic meats, I use Wild Fork Foods to order all my meats because they're the best prices I've found. I also spent the $30 on a membership to get free shipping, which paid for itself in about 3 orders.
Misfits Market is also really great for organic produce, dairy, and eggs. Somehow organic eggs are suddenly $6 a dozen at the grocery store, but I can get mine delivered for around $3 from Misfits Market. All of the organic dairy products I would get at the store are also on Misfits, but for way less.
The one thing I will say about Misfits Market is that some of the produce tends to go bad a lot faster than what you would buy at the grocery store, so try to avoid buying any delicate fruits or veggies. Apples, limes, potatoes and hard foods like those all do great in the mail, but I've had many a smashed zucchini, shriveled blueberries, and squished strawberries. They are super good about giving refunds if they forget something, if you receive something that's already rotted, or if something gets damaged in the mail, so there's really no risk in it.
Lastly, if you have an Amazon Prime membership and a Whole Foods even remotely nearby (mine is a good 50 minutes away), you can usually get deliveries for a $10 fee. There are a lot of things I can't get from my local grocery stores that I can get from Whole Foods, so if I can't wait 3 days for a delivery to come in, Whole Foods is a great solution. I make my orders through Amazon Smile so my grocery shopping does a little bit of good too!
I'm still overwhelmed...
Don't be. You don't need to do this all at once! Just one degree of change at a time. Let your progress and feeling better push you to do more. You will start to see change just by becoming more conscious of what you're putting into your body. It's a learning process, and it can be fun and rewarding instead of overwhelming if you allow it to be!