by Olivia Wong
For many people, a New Year’s resolution is to eat healthier or do a detox. First of all, defining healthy is hard nowadays with so much information overload. We like to go with foods that have the few ingredients / clean labels, preferably made by nature, and that don’t leave you feeling bloated or heavy. Naturally, our sprouts are a great example as they contain nothing but pure water and light.
Many times this resolution to eat healthy or to detox is broken because it’s too extreme or people find it too hard to keep up. Lots of companies are hawking January cleanses costing several hundred dollars for a complete kit that has you following a strict regimen and drastically cutting out foods and adding others you normally don't consume. They are great for those who are disciplined, but honestly would you stick it out for several weeks or would you be enthusiastic for a few days and then go back to your old habits?
It doesn’t have to be that hard (or expensive.) How about if we tell you you can still accomplish eating healthier or detoxing by just making small changes? For example, instead of drinking several cups of coffee a day try scaling it back a cup and then scale back another cup, slowly reducing your intake over several days or weeks. You can do the same with sugary drinks like sodas or even natural juice. Even though it may be 100% fruit juice the sugar content is still very high. That sugar enters your bloodstream immediately when you drink it. Eating whole fruits on the other hand allows a slower release of sugar plus the goodness of fiber intake. Be mindful of how much or in what form you have your fruits.
Whole fruits are good but also keep hydrated by drinking non-sugary fluids. If you don’t like the taste of water, try water with a drop of lemon or a strawberry. Now with flu season here, I have taken to drinking soup more (low sodium homemade vegetable soup.) It’s better than all the sugar and calories in a soda or juice. Again, it’s about slowly taking steps to scale back old habits and creating new ones that you learn to love. With time, it will feel less like a sacrifice and more like the new normal. That’s how I got to drinking more water. As a kid, I only drank it after physical education. The rest of the time I drank a lot of milk and juice. It wasn’t until college that I got a reusable water bottle and got myself to drinking one bottle a day. It was a slow habit to form because I didn’t like plain water. It was a little game I made with myself: fill up the water bottle at the start of the day and see if I could finish it by the end of the day. It was always with me and visible so I had no excuses.
Don't expect a miracle. Be realistic and patient with yourself. It will take time to retrain yourself. A lot of it is mental. Tell yourself you like whatever it is you're eating even if you initially don't. Share with us how you taught yourself to like healthy food, or what your New Year's resolutions are by creating an account and commenting below.
In our next post we will share easy ways to incorporate sprouts immediately to your eating habits.