Clean eating diet - is it only for people with tremendous will power?

For someone just starting examining their daily diet a prospect of eating from top two tears of the Mich’s Ladder can look like a daunting task requiring immense will power. Recently I started an on-line clean-eating challenge. One of the participants, a very motivated woman, said : “I can definitely understand why eating from the top 2 tiers(Mich’s Ladder) is working for everyone! I’ve got to say, I have a TON of respect for the will power you people have.“ To which I replied: “It has nothing to do with will power” and I meant it...
In spite of its tremendous health benefits, one cannot switch over to eating clean overnight. The process of cleaning your diet of junk has to be gradual and deliberate. Going “cold turkey” with diet will only make you feel deprived, and all your determination and will power won’t be able to sustain you for a long enough time to achieve any results. So, as with any habit change, you have to give yourself time and not aim for perfection at the start. Gradually find healthy substitutes for the unhealthy daily staples. It can be done by going from BK hamburger to lean chicken patties, from generic white bun to multi-grain one, from eating a bowl of ice cream with sprinkles to eating a cup of yogurt sprinkled with sugar-free all natural multi-grain serial, and enjoying it just as much! Impossible? Believe me, it is very doable for any person who wants to turn their diet around! Here’s why: our taste buds are adaptable! Our body needs basic building blocks: protein, carbs and fats. As long as it gets a reasonable amount of these, it will adjust! Here’s my favorite example: if you are used to drinking whole milk then at first reduced fat or fat free milk will taste watery to you. But give it a few weeks, and the whole milk will taste too rich, while reduced fat milk will be just what doctor ordered (well, mine did, anyway). Finding healthy substitutes will require some creativity on your part, and some things you may not be able to let go completely – so once in a while you can let yourself enjoy a treat – be it an ice-cream cone or a burger or fried onion rings. Let a little steam out and next day back to clean eating again!

To summarize, here are the things you need to do to clean up your daily diet:

- Come up with healthy substitutes for unhealthy food you eat now
- Don’t aim at perfect diet; slip-ups are OK.
- For hard to let go favorites allow a snack once in a while.
- If you fail off the clean-eating due to travel or holiday, get back on track without beating yourself up. Practice makes perfect.
- Remember - you are worth the effort!

Bring it!