People often ask me “what and how often do you eat?” and I always want to say “what I want and when I want”. It is my goal to help people get to this place of food freedom and simplicity. I want to help people get to a point where they crave real food a lot of the time and eat when you want. It’s so much more enjoyable and sustainable to eat healthy food that you like. It’s easy to overcomplicate it or get overwhelmed, so I like to keep it simple.

1. Don’t diet

Don’t we all want to be healthy, feel good, and look good FOR LIFE?! Never met anybody who wants these things short-term. Yes, of course it’s good to re-set to get back on track, but don’t restrict yourself too much or you are likely to end up worse off than before. Also, you’re less likely to get off track when you’re living a balanced healthy lifestyle. Restricting ourselves too much will create burnout. Let’s be healthy for life!

2. Keep it simple

Don’t overthink it! FOUCS ON REAL FOOD. There are so many different diets and approaches to eating. I like to keep it simple and focus on real ingredients. It seems to be the one thing that everyone can agree on.

3. Eat food you like

It’s so much more fun and sustainable to eat healthy food that we actually love!

4. Make social events about the people, not the food

This is a good reminder so that we don’t overeat or get anxiety about unhealthy food in social settings! Focus on the main reason your together and eat food that you like/makes you feel good.

5. Set yourself up for success!

I make my worst food choices when I am hangry or don’t know what to make/eat. Set yourself up for success/prepare, so that you always have healthy options that sound good to you ☺

6. Eat when you’re hungry

I used to think about food all day long and this was causing me unnecessary anxiety and food drama. Now, I just eat/think about food when I am hungry and then move on with my day. HOWEVER, I definitely have moments where I eat when I absolutely not hungry lol, sometimes food is fun/comfort and that’s ok!! 🙂

7. Enjoy “indulgences” guilt free!

Yes, focusing on real food most of the time makes us feel good. But sometimes we need that soul food (aka indulgences) and that is actually part of a healthy lifestyle. Allowing ourselves to enjoy a treat and then move on is called balance and I think that it’s very important when wanting to sustain a healthy lifestyle.

8. Hold onto how good real food makes you feel

10. Don’t fear certain foods

Whatever it may be.. carbs, dairy, etc. For me personally, when I am focusing on what to cut out of my diet (labeled eating, cutting out major food groups, etc.), I tend to have a bad relationship with food. Instead, I want to have a healthy and thriving relationship with food! Unrefined carbs are GOOD FOR US and give us energy, dairy in moderation is OK (unless allergic of course), we don’t need to count calories, the list goes on… Once I realized all of this, I gained food freedom to intuitively eat. It didn’t happen over night, but it is possible.

“Food freedom is feeling in control of the food that you eat, instead of food controlling you” -Melissa Hartwig

There is something so amazing about feeling good, healthy, and cleansed in your own skin! God intended for us to eat real food, so fuel yourself with real food to function properly and feel your best.

XOXO,

Courtney