The transition to a new diet is never easy. Especially if you’re used to eating things like pizza, burgers, spaghetti, ice cream, and other types of fast food. You’re so used to them that anything without extra salt, sugar, and artificial flavors is going to taste gross. Well, at least at first. Give it time and little effort, and you’ll soon find out how good healthy food can be. Both for your taste buds and your body! But I know how hard this can be, which is why I’m offering these tips that you can use to enjoy healthy, whole foods.

Let’s get started!

One Word: Flavor

The truth is, anything can taste terrible, depending on how it’s made. Ever copied a recipe online only for it to turn into a disaster? It had nothing to do with whether it was a vegan or paleo recipe, or that it was healthy or indulgent. The recipe just tasted awful. Remember, the flavor is what’s going to keep you from eating unhealthy foods. Here are some health food “makeovers” that show the value of flavoring your meals!

Veggies: Most people can relate to having trouble finishing their veggies at dinner time. Our parents practically wrestled with us just to get some nutrients into our bodies. And it’s not their fault! Usually, their idea of serving vegetables involved steaming a bag of broccoli or microwaving a bag of peas and carrots before giving them to us plain. Yuck! So, let’s take something like spinach and see how we can make it more appetizing.

Lightly drizzle a pan with olive oil. Next, chop a clove of garlic and let it cook for a minute. Add a bunch of spinach and let it “wilt” with the garlic. Sprinkle some sea salt on top. Turn off the heat and set the spinach aside. Put in a pinch of pepper for a kick or squeeze some lemon. Bonus, add other flavorings like a tiny drop of truffle oil, crumbled bacon, or feta cheese. Voila! You’ve turned what used to be gross, boring spinach into a fancy restaurant-quality side dish.

Meat: Here’s another food that most people don’t know how to cook. Meat. Take chicken breast, for instance. The easy thing to do is buy pre-cooked slices from the supermarket and call it a day as far as cooking goes. Wrong! Unless boring old chicken is alright with you, there are many ways to spruce it up. Try this.

In a small bowl, whisk together about a quarter cup of balsamic vinegar, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of half a lemon, and about a teaspoon each of oregano, basil, garlic powder, and onion powder; this will be your marinade. Take a small chicken breast (just enough for one serving), cut it up into thin slices, and place it in a small glass (or BPA free) container. Pour the marinade over the chicken and let it sit overnight. The next day, take the chicken out and either bake or sauté it until fully cooked. Once it’s done, you can serve it with whatever you like- salad, veggies, rice, etc. The point here is that you took plain old chicken and made it into yet another flavorful dish!

With flavor, there’s no limit to what you can do. Let the food be your canvas and condiments, spices, herbs, oils, and vinegar your paint. One day you could go for extra hot and spicy and the next you could go for savory and rich. If you like tacos, use taco seasoning! Italian? Same thing! If you turn this into a game, you’re more likely to stick with eating a better diet.

(This is the same advice I give for beating diet boredom. Eating the same boring foods is eventually going to make you fall off the wagon, so don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone!)

Re-Program Your Cravings

Think about it. No one was born with a cookie craving. We’re not addicted to unhealthy foods; we’re conditioned to prefer them over others. And this didn’t happen overnight. It happened because we repeatedly ate them. Most days, people are eating some type of processed food- fried chicken one day, grilled cheese sandwiches the next, and pop tarts after that. And so on. Not only do many processed foods contain addictive ingredients like sugar, they’re designed to make us, the consumer, want to eat more of them. And the more we eat, the more we buy and make a profit for the companies that sell them. But how we do break the cycle?

Step one is removing them. It’s the hardest step because there will be withdrawals. The cravings will hit hard, and we may relapse. That’s OK. Remember, it took years to create an addiction. Losing it is going to take some time. But stay on track.

Step two is consistently eating new, healthier foods. Flavoring them as I mentioned before will make it easier since they’ll taste good. Trying new recipes, experimenting with different foods, and learning to be consistent is what’s going to replace old habits.

Step three is to eat one “old flame” once a week after eating healthy foods consistently. Wait at least three weeks before doing this. Order something like a burger or a milkshake and see how your body responds. A lot of people who’ve done this claim the differences are incredibly significant! The burger is too greasy, the milkshake disgustingly sweet; both are like a sensory overload. These “old flames” will eventually become less satisfying!

The fourth and final step is practicing gratitude throughout the entire process. Be grateful for the opportunity to improve your health and for the food that goes on your plate. You are responsible for your well-being, after all, so the power is entirely in your hands. Think of it like caring for a plant- will you water it every day or every once in a while? Taking care of your health is a beautiful gift you get to enjoy for as long as you live!

Over to You

But I’d love to hear from you. What did you do to break up with unhealthy food? Are you still struggling with it? While it’s easier said than done, learning to like healthy food is not impossible. Trust me, give yourself enough time, and you’ll quickly see how much better everything will taste once you rediscover what real food is supposed to be!