Setting Goals with Nutrition

Want to know the secret to success with nutrition? It’s taking SMALL steps towards improved health.  Establishing strong habits and maintaining enough balance to sustain them.

When you read some of the literature about holistic nutrition, or watch movies on Netflix about veganism it’s easy to say, “I could never do that.”. That’s what I thought too. just five years ago I ate whatever I wanted. I never thought I’d even consider veganism but I have done it in pockets all year long.  I no longer call myself a vegan, and have moderated a little bit to allow for more choice.

I advocate for a balanced, mainly plant-based lifestyle.  Foods come down to choice.  If you say you’re vegan, you would have to choose a donut over beef barley soup.  If you’re following veto, you’d eat bacon sooner than you’d eat a banana.  Now, for me, nutrition is all about making good, educated decisions with the way you fuel your body that are good for long-term health and fighting disease.

Any changes you can make are worthwhile. Then, once they become ingrained, BUILD upon them. Take my mom, for example. I told her to start by replacing one meal a day with a superfood shake. She did that for a month and lost about 5 pounds. The next month, I told her to give up sugar and flour. More weight lost. She kept going, added more fruits and veggies, then worked on portion control, and 18 months later had lost 50 pounds and hit her goal. She still eats meat, but very little of it. Some people never quite end up vegans, that’s OK.  I consider myself a “part-time vegan” because I don’t practice it 100% of the time.

Also, keep in mind that your taste buds DO change during this process, so to say you can’t do it isn’t quite accurate. What you think you can’t do now, you may be able to do down the road. Think of the steps I have listed here as building blocks. Everyone is on a different step in their journey. It’s up to YOU to take the first/next step and see where it leads.