4 tips for Spring Cleaning the Diet

Spring cleaning – yes it’s that time of year.  The wether changes and we get our butt in gear, cleaning out closets and corners that we let get away from us during the months of hibernation.  I could write several posts on that (maybe to come?!), but this one is about reclaiming my diet, not my closets.

Where did this thought come from you ask?  Well, as I spooned “yogurt” today that included ingredients “red 40, blue 1, and aspartame” I became well aware of my need to do a little spring cleaning in the nutritional realm.  Now I’ve run the nutritional gamut in life; going from a junk foodie in my younger years to a health extremest in college, which has taught me a few things 1. Everything in moderation  2. Always allow room for a little treat  3. Choose your battles (do what you can/every bit helps) and 4. Health is the process of all you do, not each choice on its own.  So this post will probably not have the same cleaning tools you may prescribe for yourself, but maybe it’ll be a good launching pad for your own healthy endevors. Here we go…

1. Asper-what? – Reduce fake sugars – I never used to eat fake sugar.  My treat of the day of course could be anything, but in other areas such as snacks and meals, I tried not to include this man made, could be dangerous in massive amounts, chemical.  The yogurt like product mentioned above was indeed a snack and has been show up at my favorite meal of the day: breakfast. Not only that, “sugar free” has now made its way into my Starbucks orders.  Fake sugars go hand in hand with #2.

2. What is that?! – If you don’t know what it is, it is probably not natural.  This tip’s a little silly because items you may not know can simply be nutrients from vitamens.  But this # is meant to urge me back to eating true food.  Food God created – food that came from the ground to feed me.  So don’t be afraid of unknown items, just do your research if you don’t know what they are.

3. Is it white? Say no – reduce white flour – also something I never used to eat much of. White flour is proven to promote nutritional deficiencies and chronic disease and for someone like myself , it’s just an empty calorie.  Another item that didn’t often enter my lovely home has now taken up residence in my snack cabinet.

4. Reduce real sugar – also something I tried to limit to desserts and treats has wiggled into the little cracks of my nutritional choices. Why you ask?  Well read #3 – same reason. Flour acts as a sugar in the body and is also… white.

Ok – so maybe my diet isn’t that bad and the need for cleaning is not that great.  I haven’t gone away from my love for fruits, vegetables, nuts and low-fat dairy.  But, I have trained my taste buds to once again desire much sweeter items than I had before.  Therefore, a little moderation and reclaiming can’t hurt!  So reminding myself I would find very few ingredients in nature from my mom’s awesome chex-mix, reminds me that maybe that should eaten in moderation.  So enjoy your treats, but treat your diet as a source of wellness – something that truly feeds you.  Eat from God’s green earth, and less from the hand of a man. Increase the colors on your plate, and think about “white foods” that could be gently ousted from front and center.  Shop the perimeters, find a farmer’s market and if you are daring… grow a little garden.  Hope this didn’t scare you off from healthy choices, but instead encouraged you to seek out just a tweek here or there that could help your body to feel as great as mine does when it runs on the fuel we were created to eat in the first place.  Happy eating 🙂