How to improve your diet?
Throughout the years, a lot of women have told me that they want to improve their diet. They have asked how they can improve it without going on a strict diet? I believe that strict diets are unsustainable and most often emotionally hard for people. Instead, I always recommend changing your approach to food consumption and ask yourself why you feel the need to improve your diet. By asking these questions we can first set a plan to accomplish what you are after.
We are all different and our bodies need different things. Each and everyone needs to listen to their body and find a healthy diet that suits their lifestyle and wellbeing. It is all about finding an eating habit that can become sustainable and enjoyable.
Find your reason
When you have a clear reason for something it is easier to accomplish. So finding your reason is the first step. Maybe you want to be a healthier version of yourself, you feel like you need more energy, you want to limit low-quality food, or simply just want to feel better. Whatever your reason is, make it a healthy one. A trendy reason for dieting has been to “lose weight”. When losing weight is your only goal, the methods to achieve it can be very extreme. We often go all-in, completely change our diet, and become obsessive. There are healthier ways to approach diet changes. Ways that are sustainable and will make you feel better both physically and emotionally.
Start looking at food as fuel
What we eat affects our health and energy. Therefore you need to focus more on food as fuel. What is the best fuel for your body? A bad diet that is low in nutrition might give you quick energy but we need to build our body up for the long run also. We need to nourish the body in a way that it will benefit from it. What does that look like?
Nourish your body with good quality food
Start thinking about eating a clean diet that includes a limited amount of processed food, vegetable oils, and sugar. The fewer ingredients on the label, the better. A clean diet can be a plant-based diet, but that does not mean becoming vegan or vegetarian. It simply means that you included more plant-based food into your life, such as greens, grains, nuts, legumes, and beans. If you choose to have meat, then pick quality meat. Aim to follow this kind of diet the best way you can and being conscious of your choices. With more conscious choices you will realize that you deserve to nourish your body with better food, you will notice an increase in your energy levels and more appreciation towards good food choices.
Find a balance
Like with anything in life, we need to be realistic and find a balance that makes our choices sustainable. Making all the diet changes at once will be too overwhelming and might throw you off. Doubting yourself is also a trap that is easy to fall into, so really stay strong through it and allow yourself to have good and bad days. Part of the journey is to have bad days, so when they come, analyze what made those days bad and if there is a way of preventing it to happen again. Learning from your fallbacks is just as important as succeeding. It is all part of the journey and will only strengthen you.
Hi! I'm Sara, the founder of Withsara. I have been a fitness group instructor, Barre teacher and Yoga teacher for over 10 years. I am also a certified Nutritional Health Coach from IIN in New York, USA.
After giving birth to my two beautiful daughters, I have had to build up my body twice after my pregnancies. With my experience, I have created a workout that is a great combination of low impact, functional movement, pilates, barre, and yoga. It builds up deep core strength, creates sustainable and lasting change, relieves physical tension and mental stress, and gives you an overall healthier and happier body.
