We all know what better food choices we could be making,
like drinking more water or eating out less often.
Maybe having some more fruits and vegetables.
But sometimes the motivation just isn't there.
Today we're going to explore why it can be so difficult sometimes to keep with our healthy eating goals
and what we can do to get unstuck.
And if you see this little recipe alert sign,
it means that whatever food you're seeing on the screen is a recipe we have on the blog.
So I'm going to leave those links for you in the description box below. Now let's get started.
When we don't have a clear direction,
convenience and comfort and our old habits can take over.
So if we want to stick with our healthy eating goals,
we really need to have a strong "why" and we want that "why" to be as specific as we can make it.
So what we've done this time is we've come up with a
free PDF to help guide you along.
You can get yours in the link in the description box below.
And to get your started we've come up with a long list of potential "whys".
So for example, some might be "I want to maintain regular bowel movements"
or "I want to set a better example for my kids"
or "I want to feel more energetic"
What you want to do is circle two or three that resonate with you the most.
And then come up with one to two sentences of your own that explain your "why" really clearly.
You might notice as well that the why statements are always things that we're gonna frame
positively, so instead of saying I want to be less tired and groggy we would say I want to feel more energetic. the why is
something that we want to achieve focusing on that positive
forward momentum. Now, here's the most important part. We want to write it down.
It's not enough to just think it. And once we've written it down. We're then gonna post it someplace where we can see it visibly
every day. Your why is your way. Let it guide you and motivate you.
If only obstacles didn't exist this would be all so incredibly easy, but we can't get rid of our obstacles.
What we can do, though, is we can prepare and plan for them by just taking a quick second to reflect. Like, what kind of
obstacles have you run into in the past?
What ones do you think you might run into in the future?
One common obstacle, for example, is just feeling like we don't have enough time.
There isn't enough time to make a wholesome meal or to go grocery shopping
or maybe the obstacle is money. Feeling like we can't afford certain ingredients. For some people,
the obstacle is also a little bit more hidden.
Like for example being a perfectionist or maybe giving ourselves too much of a hard time if we're not being perfect at something.
Having an all-or-nothing mindset, maybe being a little bit too restrictive
All of these things can also get in the way of us achieving our "why".
So what we've done in this PDF is we've also outlined potential barriers for some people and what you can do is just go through
Circle the ones that you think apply to you star the ones that especially resonate with you and then write your obstacles down.
Awareness is the most powerful catalyst for positive change.
How we deal with our obstacles is to create some solutions and to do it ahead of time because preparation here is key.
Let's say that one obstacle is you feel like you just don't have enough time in the day to make wholesome meals.
A solution might be to meal prep. Just once a week. In an hour or two
we could whip together some granola for homemade breakfasts
We could make some hummus for quick
sandwiches, or we could roast some veggies that would help us whip together quick curries later on in the week.
Sometimes I like to freeze some bean burger patties and that makes a quick dinner that's ready in just about 10 minutes. And now meal
prep is just one solution.
If you feel like you don't have enough time
but you can come up with other solutions that resonate with you a little bit better like for example
Finding fifteen minute meal ideas or five minute breakfast ideas online someplace.
We've got some recipes like this as well. Creating wholesome meals doesn't have to mean it's going to necessarily take long
Now if the obstacle is something like you don't have enough finances,
doing a little bit of research might help you find what ingredients are more affordable in the city that you live in.
Some places let you buy grains or seeds in bulk
for example
Which can sometimes cost less.
Lentils are an affordable and incredible plant-based protein source that take just 15 minutes to cook or we could try some canned beans
Certain veggies like potatoes, carrots, and cabbage are more affordable year-round than other veggies.
And frozen veggies also tend to cost less and are just as nutritious as fresh ones.
So affordable doesn't necessarily have to mean unhealthy either. Let's explore one last obstacle.
Say you're out in the world and you're suddenly really hungry and convenience foods are the only foods that are nearby,
so that's the one you're gonna go for.
If this is a recurring problem for you one solution might be to always take a snack with you when you know you're heading out
of the house for more than an hour.
Because we all know how about one hour sometimes
becomes two or three and it takes just 10 seconds to grab a mix of nuts and some dried fruits to stash in your bag
for whenever you might need it, it's gonna keep in your bag for a long time without going bad,
it's gonna quell your hunger until you get back home.
Usually I also like to keep an emergency nut and seed bar in the car too for when commutes take longer than anticipated.
Whatever the obstacle is, all you got to do is draft some solutions that way when the obstacle rears its head,
you know what to do.
Our brains get a hit of dopamine every time we accomplish a task.
We are hardwired to want to complete things. But certain things like our "why" might not be something that we can accomplish overnight.
So if there's no reward for another couple of months, then what's the point? We tend to lose motivation.
This is where we want to break down things into smaller
action steps and then we're gonna start tracking. You might have heard of the expression "what gets measured gets managed" and with this part
it's all about the small wins.
For example,
if eating out often is something that's sabotaging your healthy eating goals,
then start tracking how often you eat meals that are homemade. Measuring these small steps gives us that feeling of forward movement.
We're moving towards our "why" and that's a huge motivator.
Now with that said, some people go into tracking calories or macros or their weight as a way to measure progress and I can see
why that can be tempting. If you'll take my advice
I'd recommend skipping calorie counting or weighing yourself as a way to measure progress--
unless there's a medical reason for it. In my experience, these things go from having health in mind to becoming a way
we create an unhealthy relationship with food.
And I think it can be a bit more of a wholesome approach to try to focus on developing new healthy habits
as opposed to focusing on perfecting numbers
For some of us we have this tendency to want to go big or go home. If we're picking up a new goal, we want
It to be perfect and from the get-go.
But being overly ambitious can also sometimes set us up for frustration or disappointment and if we feel
frustrated or disappointed enough times. We also lose motivation. We tend to give up on it a little bit too prematurely
So what I want us to do is to give ourselves permission to start at 50 percent of our potential from the beginning.
so let's say your obstacle is that you skip breakfast most mornings because you just feel you don't have enough time, and your
solution is that you want to prep some of your breakfast the night before. Let's say normally you never did this
so instead of aiming to do this now seven nights a week, we're gonna instead aim to do it three nights a week.
We're making the goal smaller so we can track the progress
and making it achievable so that we can check the boxes, which motivates us to keep at it.
Accountability goes a long way. Sometimes just buddying up with somebody and explicitly telling them our "why" and our barriers and our solutions,
it can really help to keep us going when the going gets tough and it can be somebody that we just check in with
periodically or it could even be somebody who is interested in joining
and picking up some healthy habits of their own. In that way,
you keep each other in check and this person can be a friend, or a roommate, a family member, a co-worker...
whoever it is, teamwork makes the dream work. Now,
these are just a few ways that we can be more motivated to make healthy food choices,
but these strategies also work if you're looking to be more motivated with
anything, really. Like more motivating to exercise or to stick with a new hobby.
So don't forget to grab the PDF that we've made for you
which is going to guide you through the whole process and as always it's completely free.
I'm going to leave that link for you in the description box below as well along with all the recipes that you might have seen
In this video and remember that this is all about making food more enjoyable. We're not trying to force ourselves to do something
We don't want to do because what's the point if we can't enjoy the process, right?
If you enjoyed today's video, it always means a lot it helps to support the channel when you give it a thumbs up and I
think that's it for today. Thanks a lot for watching. Pick Up Limes signing off and we'll see you in the next video.