How to Give Up Refined Foods

How to Give Up Refined Foods
Medically Reviewed
May 7, 2015

How to Give Up Refined Foods

Having a hard time only eating whole real foods? Do you find yourself eating a lot of boxed or bagged products? When you look at your shopping cart, how much of it is just straight on produce? Do you like what you cook at home? Do you gain more pleasure from eating out at restaurants? That said, today we will be helping you learn How to Give Up Refined Foods.

It’s not your fault.

We are all addicted to refined food products. It is very hard to stop eating things that are boxed and bagged. Want to know why? Just about every product out there, that is boxed or bagged, has flavor enhancers, sugars, toxic oils, been irradiated or has refined sodium. All of those ingredients are toxic to the brain and make that food highly addictive.

The more you eat of these products, the more you want them. The more the taste buds are excited, the more they want. The high you get from sugar and packaged products creates a “detox” symptom that leaves you wanting more.

It’s not your fault.

These foods have excitotoxins that render the brain unable to say no! They also overstimulate the taste buds so that whole, natural foods, foods you are meant to eat, seem dull and boring. Most of us are caught in a vicious cycle of eating refined, wanting more refined and not being able to get off that “train.”

It’s not your fault.

If you want to stop all of this mess. If you want to feel better, reduce the bloat, get clearer in your thinking, have more energy, you will have to stop these products. Period. There, I said it. Now, here are some ways to help you get going…

1. Eat as much produce as you can.

The taste and alkaline properties of produce will help reduce cravings and bring your taste buds back down to earth.

2. Eat produce before refined foods.

In other words, if you have to eat pasta, eat a salad first. Get your mouth used to having produce.

3. Treat the gut!

Get a good probiotic and take many digestive enzymes with each meal. Treating the gut will help you reduce the inflammation and the acidity that makes you want more refined foods. If you are confused about what supplements to take for this, message me.

4. Seek the truth.

Read the ingredient label. If you are going to eat it, at least know what you are eating.

5. When you can, abstain.

If there are two choices of foods, go with the one that is “closer to the ground.”

6. Take on the habit of eating one “whole food meal” a day.

Start there. Rather than deciding to changing your whole life and becoming a food saint over night, start small. Start with one meal. Commit to having it be all whole real foods.

7. Eat raw produce at every meal.

This will boost your enzymes and help you digest. This will help you get used to whole real, raw foods. This will build the muscle of “choosing wellness.”

8. Stop beating yourself up.

Seriously. I mean it! Giving up refined foods, some of which you’ve likely been eating your entire life, is hard. But the reward is so worth it.

9. Get educated.

Learn about whole foods. Read amazing books that inspire you. Watch a food documentary like “Food Matters” or “Fat Sick and Nearly Dead.” Get inspired. Want to live again. Want to feel good. Get passionate about your health.

10. Know that going towards wellness is not like archery, but rather like the trajectory of a heat seeking missile.

This is not a straight line. None of us eat perfectly. We all fall off the wagon. What works is learning from the derailments. Picking yourself up and getting back on course. Start a notebook and write how you feel after you eat. When things go wrong, write out new actions to take to avoid the failures in the future. Learn about yourself and your body. Learn what makes you feel good both mentally and physically. Decide to change.

11. Choose to live with radiance, abundance and joy.

I laugh inside when people think my life is restricted by my food choices. What they don’t realize is that I feel good when I eat whole foods. When my belly is flat, my mind is clear and I am in a positive mood, my life is better. Not having ice cream does not make my life small!!! It enlarges my capacity to live. Ice Cream would drive me straight down into insanity. My mind would go foggy, my stomach would stick out 6 inches and I would get pimples the next day. How is that freedom??? I choose to be happy and feel good.

12. Don’t judge others.

We are all on our own path. Keep your eyes on your own plate. I bless everyone on this path. I am no better than anyone else. My choices work for me and not necessarily anyone else. I teach what I am learning. If one chooses to do something else, that is their journey. I am not a food Nazi and I don’t want others to be either.

13. Fill your shopping cart with mostly produce.

Try new fruits and vegetables. Things don’t have to be fancy. A sliced tomato with chopped basil and a touch of sea salt is delicious. The more simple, the better.

14. Get support.

Find a friend to go on this journey with you. Sign up to websites that inspire you food wise. Get on some forums. Get a coach or teacher on all of this. Sign up for a class.

Whatever your goals, however small or large, begin the process of change today. Get the facts. Then, slowly chip away at the details.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article and learning How to Give Up Refined Foods. Please let us know in the comments if we missed any tips that you’d like us to add in a new article or contact us today.