#1 Do Enough Research To Realize You Need A Change
HEALTH IS WEALTH! If you take anything away from this post, may it be this… When you are investing in healthier Whole Foods, that is an investment in your health. Start looking at the way you eat and cook for your family as a healthcare investment because it is! Consumption of ultra-processed foods will only lead you to poor health.
#2 Learn To Make A Meal Plan
You can start this before completely switching over, and that is to learn to meal plan. Create this habit, so you are ready when you start implementing more Whole Foods. This step will save you a lot of time and money.
#3 Start Cooking From Scratch More
Don’t overload yourself, just start practicing with small things, using only basic ingredients, ingredients that you understand.
#4 Don’t Try To Switch Everything At Once
This is a big mistake. One, unless you have to do this, this will cost a lot of money. Two, this may likely be a shell shock to you and your family’s system. Start slowly…
#5 Start By Switching Out Your Processed Oils
Processed oils such as:
- Canola oil
- Vegetable oil
- Soybean
- Safflower
- Corn oils
- Margarine (or any other ‘buttery’ spread)
are extremely terrible for your health. Start by switching out with Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, and learn to implement butter. Stay away from unhealthy fats at all costs!
#6 Slowly Transitions Snacks
Instead of candy or store-baked treats, make more homemade treats! You can also bring in fresh fruit. Again, the goal is to learn to cook with basic ingredients so that when you start buying all healthy, you know how to use the ingredients.
#7 Switch Out Your Flour
Learn to use less white flour and more whole-grain flour. This switch can take a little more time however, slowly but surely understanding the reasons so many can’t handle bread from the store will make it worth your while.
#8 Read Ingredient List
If you are at the grocery store and you cannot understand the ingredients, that right there is an easy way to know to put it back on the shelf. Read nutrition labels always when you are just starting out. This helps SO much!
#9 Buy More Fresh Foods
Everyone is different. Start by buying more fresh foods that sound good to you. If you are not accustomed to whole foods, the best thing is to pick things that sound good understanding there may be lots of trial and error in the beginning. That is okay though! You are just trying to transition to making sure you and your family are eating real food and getting all the health benefits you can from your food.
#10 Making The Switch From Processed Foods To Unprocessed Foods Takes Time
Give yourself lots of grace! You are making a healthy choice, you are training your body to enjoy the taste of healthy foods that will heal your body from the inside out. However, stressing over it can cause more problems than just taking baby steps in your everyday food choices.
#11 Use Healthier Sweeteners
Honey, Coconut Sugar, Maple Syrup, Organic Cane Sugar, and Agava. I know there are many others, but these are all great places to start when you are learning how to implement whole foods. You are just looking for a sweetener that doesn’t lack nutrients and will fuel your health.
#12 Look For Simple Recipes
Make sure you are finding and making super simple recipes. Don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to be a “Five Star Chef” unless, of course, that is your thing. Enjoy the process of pushing out the junk food and bringing in nutrient dense foods.
#13 Buy In Bulk As Much As You Can
This saves us a lot of money, even if you need to buy in bulk and split with a friend 9 times out of 10 it is worth it!
#14 Batch Cook Your Healthy Meals
This saves money as you are making the switch. Before doing this, make sure everyone loves the meal. Then make it double or triple to freeze or eat two nights in a row.
#15 Think Simple
I can’t reiterate this enough… The more basic the ingredients and the more simple the recipes, the easier it is to not have burnout.
#16 Buy Frozen Veggies And Precut Produce
On a normal day, you would not see this recommendation coming from me, however, if you are just starting out and want to avoid burnout until you get your feet under you, this is a great place to start.
#17 Don’t Get Rid Of Your Favorites
Small changes are key. It is a good idea to find a way to slowly replace your favorite processed foods with recipes you can make from scratch. The goal here is to start creating healthy habits and that is going to happen one healthy meal at a time.
#18 Add Toppings To Your Steamed Veggies And Salads
This is a SUPER easy trick especially if you have kids, we will add lots of butter, cheddar cheese, and or nutritional yeast quite a lot to our veggies. Also, buy or make delicious quality salad dressings. This makes the switchover way easier and besides, toppings are a great way to implement tasty whole ingredients!
#19 Make Sure To Have Sweet Treats
You can absolutely find ways to make healthier desserts. Start by making your favorite chocolate chip cookie with organic sugar, coconut sugar, and maybe whole grains or just organic flour. Don’t deprive yourself of the things you love, just learn to make them how great grandma did.
#20 Avoid The Middle Isles At The Grocery Store
This isn’t always possible but as a rule of thumb, you will find the fresher foods on the outside isles. Fresh produce and refrigerator food products are usually on the outer isles or along the walls of grocery stores.
#21 Have Fun Experimenting
Remember just because Sue downs the street makes something, doesn’t mean you and your family will like it. There are SO many resources out there, enjoy finding healthy recipes and whole food ingredients that you and your family love.
Some may think of a whole-food way of eating as a boring less tasty way to eat. I promise it is not that way. Get ingredients in their most natural state, mix them the right way and you will be eating SO well, many restaurants won’t compare to what you can make in your own kitchen.
So excited for you as you start or continue this journey of creating new eating habits for you and your loved ones.
You can find new recipes posted here on the blog all the time! And if you enjoyed these “21 Tips For Switching From Processed Foods To Whole Foods” you may want to check out the posts below!
6 Tips For How To Eat Healthy On A Budget
IS WHOLE RAW MILK ILLEGAL TO YOUR HEALTH?
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