Healthy Eating

When Healthy Eating Becomes Overwhelming, Try This

Hint — small changes lead to big changes over time.

By: Rebecca Jacobs

Doing a total overhaul of your diet can be stressful and overwhelming, there’s no doubt about it. But, what if cleaning up the foods you ate didn’t have to be all that stressful at all? We’re sharing one simple trick that may completely transform how you think about healthy eating (and a guide on how to put it into practice). Plus, why this mindset may be the trick you need to make a healthy diet a part of your lifestyle. 

The Number One Healthy Eating Tip You Need When Things Feel Overwhelming

Ready for it? It all has to do with starting small. Yes, it’s that simple — baby steps sometimes wins the long-term race. Think about it — fad diets don’t tend to work in the long-term simply because they just aren’t sustainable. 

However, healthy eating habits that you establish one step at a time make it much easier to get on the healthy eating bandwagon. Plus, when you take it one step at a time, making healthy food choices becomes a lifestyle, not a fad. 

So seriously, that’s it — when healthy eating becomes overwhelming, stop what you’re doing and break it down into baby steps. Just start with ONE thing instead of thinking about everything you want to change. Once you get that one healthy habit down, move onto the next. 

Your 5 Step Guide to Making Healthy Eating Way Less Overwhelming By Taking Things One Step at a Time 

Ready to take some of the stress out of healthy eating? Here’s a quick five step-guide when things are feeling a bit overwhelming. 

#1 Take Out One Unhealthy Food Starting Today 

Think about a food (or beverage) you’ve been meaning to remove from your diet and take it out today. 

Once you’re feeling confident and ready to move to the next food, remove something else. Bit by bit, you’ll be eating much healthier without feeling stressed and totally deprived, taking everything out at once. 

#2 Find Healthy Swaps

As you’re removing one unhealthy food choice at a time, not feeling deprived is a huge part of sticking to your new healthy eating lifestyle. 

Big soda fan? Remove the soda, but think about a healthy way to enjoy a fizzy drink in place of it when cravings kick in. 

Some great options include:

  • Kombucha
  • Plain club soda with freshly squeezed lemon juice 

Tend to reach for dessert? Instead of ice cream or cookies, try blending up a frozen banana with a splash of almond milk to make nice cream instead. 

#3 Get a Friend on Board

Don’t go at it alone! If you’re making some pretty big changes to your diet, why not get a friend or family member on board? Not only will it make meal prep day more fun, but you’ll both have someone to hold each other accountable. 

#4 Pencil in a Meal Prep Day Each Week

Healthy eating doesn’t mean you have to make something from scratch every single day. This is where meal prepping comes into play. Pencil in one day each week to batch cook some of your favorite healthy recipes. 

Hey, you may even want to set aside some time each week to look through cookbooks or food blogs to make healthy eating exciting with new recipes each week. 

Prep a handful of meals to have on hand to enjoy during the busy week when home-cooked meals may not be an option. 

#5 Make it Fun!

Speaking of making healthy eating exciting, it’s important to remember that healthy eating can be fun, and it can absolutely be delicious. 

Make it fun by making a new meal plan for yourself each week, experimenting with foods you may have never tried before, and making healthy swaps that won’t leave you with a serious case of FOMO. 

One more thing — while making your meals from home as often as you can will keep you in charge of your own food choices and what ingredients you add to each recipe, it doesn’t mean you can never enjoy a meal out or order something in.  

Have fun with healthy eating by inviting some friends over and having a healthy takeout night because healthy eating definitely doesn’t have to be boring. Here are some of our go-to hacks for ordering takeout the healthy way. 

Change Your Mindset About Healthy Eating

Change can be hard, and changing our food choices can be really difficult (if we let it be). Take control over how you think about healthy eating by stopping the overwhelm and taking things slow. 

With slow and consistent effort, healthy eating can become a lifestyle that you feel really proud of.