But How Do I Start "Healthy"?

Almost everyone has been at a point where they've had the motivation or inspiration to start being healthy.

The problem is most people don't see it as changing their way of life, they see it as a "diet". There is no word I hate as much as diet. The truth about these so called solutions to loosing weight is 1) most of them do more harm to your health then help & 2) the weight lost ends up coming back, and sometimes even more. To be honest with you, I have fallen for all of these diet fads and tried everything from the all liquid diet, the protein smoothie diet, the 21 day fix diet, to the strict low calorie diet, and probably every 'cleanse' that's on the internet. But the one thing I found with each and every one was that it wasn't realistic. You will hear me talk about being realistic way too much here, but that's only because it's true. I couldn't possibly live on super low calorie intake or all liquids for the rest of my life, and if I did, I wouldn't be anywhere near healthy.
After everything I have experimented with, read about, and failed with, I have come to a very basic way to look at nutrition. As typical as this sounds, we all derived from cave men, and let's be honest, they were in pretty amazing shape, they had enough energy to live each of their days being active, and they lived pretty long lives. That being said, I love the idea of 'eating like the cavemen'. Of course, with a few modifications. The caveman diet consists of all foods that are 'real', which are all vital and so important. But in my eyes of nutrition, I also think that foods such as grains and breads are important to our nutrition if consumed in moderation, at the right times. The equation with nutrition, is that if you feel good, you're probably doing it right.

Here are a few of the basic guidelines I like to base my nutrition on:

1) Always eat within an hour of waking up, not only to jump start your metabolism, but to provide your body with a source of energy as you begin your day

2) The more colors the better - veggies veggies veggies! They are so important for natural detoxing within the body, and even more so for antioxidants! Consuming not only green veggies, but a whole array of colors provides you with more of this benefit

3) Eat your carbs, but at the right time, and not too much - moderation with carbs is the magic to them, carbs are most effective (& least likely to be stored as fat) when being consumed immediately before physical activity or right after, if consumed before our bodies use the carbs for energy in the exercise we're about to do, and when consumed after our bodies can metabolize them easier than if you ate them late at night

4) No processed carbs after 4 pm - we all have those late night cravings and once a week or so it's totally okay to let loose and have carbs later on, but generally any carbs like bread, rice, pasta, bars, or cereal should be consumed earlier in the day so your body can burn them off

5) No white bread ever! - we all know everyone always says white bread is the worst, as soon as it hits your blood stream the carbs turn into sugar, and than you have sugar and carbs in your system when originally you only thought you were getting carbs! Ideally, I only eat ezekiel bread (can be found in most health food stores), and than natural grains such as brown rice, quinoa, and steel cut oats, but if you're out to a restaurant always choose the multi grain or 100% whole wheat, it isn't the best but it's the best choice you can make in that situation

6) The secret killer is sugar - we all think carbs are the ultimate enemy but it seems like everyone is forgetting about sugar! Just like carbs, sugar is something that we need in order to function, but most people really don't even realize how much sugar they're consuming. Natural sugars are the most ideal types, such as the ones found in fruit (but be careful, some have crazy amounts you would never guess!), but if there's other sugars in your diet keep them to a minimum, ideally your total sugar intake should stay around under 30 grams a day

7) Choose foods that you actually enjoy! - No one expects you to torture yourself with endless tasteless foods that you hate, in order to be healthy. You would be stunned at how many clean eating recipe pages there are out there with tons of delicious recipes (some that don't taste like they'd be healthy at all - check out pinterest). Experiment & find what you like!

8)  Don't think about it too much! Make clean choices, and if you mess up now and again, no big deal! There's always another meal to improve your nutrition. Food is meant to be enjoyed, even when it's good for you, so do exactly that!